Crypto-loving South Koreans bet on Luna rising from ashes, worrying regulator

Luna was once a major coin of top-ten market capitalisation, so they will do whatever it takes to revive it," one hopeful investor wrote in a blog on South Korea's internet platform Naver, without saying who "they" could be.

The blogger said he had bought 300,000 Luna over the weekend at 0.33 won ($0.0003) each, using an international crypto exchange.

As the sudden resurgence of buying crossed its radar, South Korea's Financial Services Commission warned people on Tuesday against investing in Luna.

The number of investors in the failed cryptocurrency rose more than 50% in just over two days at South Korea's major exchanges to stand at 280,000 as of May 15, according to a source at the FSC who, as is customary for South Korean bureaucrats.

The buying mostly came from domestic speculators, though there were some inflows from abroad, the source said.

The window for speculation is limited as Bithumb and Upbit, two of South Korea's largest exchanges, said they will suspend trading support for Luna on May 27 and May 20, respectively, while another, Coinone, has halted deposits in the crypto-currency ahead of a possible de-listing on May 25