Korean Drama ’To The Moon’ Explodes Onto Screens - Retail Crypto Investment Takes Center Stage
Forget traditional finance—Korea's latest television sensation dives headfirst into the volatile world of retail crypto investing.
The Main Event
'To The Moon' captures the frenzy of everyday investors chasing digital fortunes, bypassing conventional markets for decentralized alternatives. Main characters navigate bull runs, rug pulls, and that special brand of existential dread only a 50% overnight crash can provide.
Cultural Shift
The series mirrors Korea's real-world crypto obsession—where grandmothers debate altcoins and students skip classes for trading sessions. Shows how blockchain technology cuts through traditional financial gatekeepers, for better or worse.
Wall Street's Nightmare
Portrays the raw emotion missing from institutional investing—the group chats blowing up during pumps, the frantic margin calls, the life savings riding on memecoins. Because nothing says financial security like trusting internet strangers with your retirement fund.
Final Take
While bankers fret over regulatory compliance, 'To The Moon' celebrates the chaotic democracy of crypto—where anyone with a smartphone can join the revolution, and occasionally lose their shirt in the process.
Korean Drama To The Moon ‘Does Not Encourage Crypto Speculation’
The drama’s producers were keen to emphasize that “although the three main characters have a common interest in cryptocurrency investment, the drama does not encourage speculation.”
At a media event on September 16, Oh Da-young, the drama’s chief producer, said:
“We are not trying to tell viewers that they can make a lot of money from [crypto investment]. We aren’t trying to stoke speculation.”
WATCH: #LeeSunBin, #RaMiRan, #JoAram, And #KimYoungDae Prepare To Board The Cryptocurrency Train In "#ToTheMoon" Teaserhttps://t.co/KEoy2W1A26 pic.twitter.com/K3KYTlPXZr
— Soompi (@soompi) September 10, 2025However, it appears that the drama’s cast members are no strangers to crypto. Ra said that she holds a small amount of ethereum (ETH). The veteran actress explained:
“I actually have 500,000 won [$362] worth of Ethereum. Sometimes its value goes up to 600,000 won, and sometimes it goes down to 400,000 won. But I don’t know how to withdraw my money, so I just leave it alone. I’ll hold on to it until the day it reaches 500 million won [$361,721]!”
Drama’s Backdrop Is 2017-2018 Bitcoin Bull Market
The drama is set in 2017-2018, at the time of the crypto bull market. At the time, crypto investment was entirely unregulated in South Korea, and media outlets were full of news stories about pensioners and schoolchildren investing their money in little-known altcoins.
The action centers around three women from poor families who have grand dreams. However, they are frustrated by their low-salary office jobs at a large confectionery retailer.
When one of the trio starts to see positive results from investing in crypto, she shares her experience with the other two, who also follow suit.
A trailer for the series appears to show that the three women’s investment experience yields decidedly mixed results.
“This is a story that will resonate very well with female office workers,” Oh said.
조아람-이선빈-라미란 '달까지 가자'[엑's HD포토] #달까지가자 #ToTheMoon #이선빈 #LeeSunbin #라미란 #RaMiran #조아람 #JOARAM https://t.co/nqcoCjgfvO
— 엑스포츠뉴스 (@xportsnews) September 16, 2025South Korean Scriptwriters’ Crypto Inspiration
Crypto has proved a rich source of subject matter for South Korean drama producers and movie script writers in recent years.
This appears to reflect the continuing rise of retail crypto investment in the country, as the domestic stock market remains stagnant and real estate prices remain prohibitively high.
South Korean companies are still unable to buy crypto with their balance sheets. And this means that the country’s vibrant crypto scene remains purely retail-based.
Earlier this year, the film Crypto Man, starring the late Song Jae-rim, proved a box office smash in South Korea.
The movie, based loosely on the story of the Terra-LUNA/LUNC crash, told the tale of a man who exploited loopholes in government grant programs to fund his cryptocurrency project.
Several K-pop stars also appeared in the 2021 movie Twenty Hacker, the story of a data breach that compromises the users of a major domestic crypto exchange.
