Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are pulling forward semiconductor expansion plans by roughly a decade to meet surging demand for AI memory chips, underscoring the depth of the artificial intelligence investment cycle that has diverted capital away from crypto throughout the year.

The two South Korean chipmakers plan to invest about 800 trillion won ($518 billion) to build four new fabrication plants in the country’s southwest, according to a Monday announcement. The project is part of a national strategy to double DRAM output—critical memory used in smartphones and computers—over the next five years.

A South Korean presidential adviser said AI-driven demand could accelerate completion timelines to 2034 or 2035, more than a decade ahead of the original 2044 target. SK Hynix has also unveiled plans for a roughly $29 billion U.S. listing to support further expansion.

The investment wave is centered on high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a key component used in training AI models and powering systems like ChatGPT and Claude.

SK Hynix has emerged as the dominant HBM supplier, briefly overtaking Samsung as South Korea’s most valuable listed company for the first time in 25 years. Together, the firms supply most of the global HBM market and have secured major contracts with Nvidia and OpenAI.

The scale of AI infrastructure spending highlights a broader rotation in global capital that has weighed on crypto markets. Digital assets have underperformed for much of the year, even during AI-led equity rebounds, reflecting shifting investor focus.

According to Gabe Selby of CF Benchmarks, a growing share of risk capital has moved into AI-related trades, reducing crypto’s share of overall market appetite.

The shift is also visible across traditional hedge assets. Recent declines in gold, silver, and bitcoin during a unwind of defensive positioning saw capital flow into AI equities rather than return to crypto.

Even within the industry, the trend is clear, with some bitcoin miners reallocating computing power toward AI hosting services that offer steadier, contract-based revenues compared with mining volatility.

South Korea’s $518 billion investment signals a long-term view that AI infrastructure demand is structural rather than cyclical. Crypto, meanwhile, has remained on the other side of that capital flow, raising questions about whether sidelined liquidity will eventually rotate back.

Bitcoin is now on track to finish the first half of 2026 below $60,000 and is trading near its 200-week moving average, a key long-term technical level that has historically marked extended periods of weakness, with limited catalysts ahead as capital continues to favor AI and semiconductor investments.