# The estimated $1.5 billion in orders for dollar purchases has reached its final stage.

*aerospace, business · news · 2026-06-10 · Reuters*

## Key points

- The $1.5 billion dollar demand tied to SpaceX's IPO has been fully processed in Korea.
- Pressure on the won from SpaceX IPO-related dollar demand is over, resolving recent FX market distortions.
- This is the first joint FX inspection by the Bank of Korea and Financial Supervisory Service in 14 years.
- Despite the IPO impact ending, the won has still fallen about 5% against the dollar in 2024.

SEOUL, June 10 (Reuters) - The massive demand for foreign exchange conversions tied to SpaceX's IPO, which has weighed heavily on the South Korean ​won in recent weeks, has been cleared, a source familiar with the ‌matter told Reuters on Wednesday. The estimated $1.5 billion in orders for dollar purchases has reached its final stage, said the source who has information on dollar-won onshore market transactions. Sign up here. The source asked not to ​be named because of the sensitivity of the matter. The IPO is set to be priced on Thursday, after which allocations to institutional and ​retail investors will be determined. The won gained further after the report and fetched 1,524.1 per dollar, up 0.56%, in afternoon trade. “There was significant interest in how much dollar demand the SpaceX IPO would generate in ​the dollar-won foreign exchange market. The volume itself sits around $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion," the ​source said. "However, the process has been split and is nearly complete, so there won’t be downward ‌pressure (on ⁠the won) on the FX market going forward. The supply and demand issues related to this have been resolved." Surging demand for dollars helped drive the won to a 17-year low last week, as domestic institutions and affluent retail investors sought funding to join ​pre-IPO allocations for Elon ​Musk's aerospace giant. The ⁠estimated $1.5 billion outflow weighed on the won, despite the country's near-record $28.3 billion current-account surplus in April. That reflects the relative shallowness ​of the dollar-won spot market, where roughly $14 billion in daily turnover ​leaves it ⁠vulnerable to one-off dollar demand during periods of volatility. The won remains one of Asia’s worst performers, down about 5% this year against the dollar. FX authorities have been escalating their defence ⁠of the ​currency. The Bank of Korea and the Financial Supervisory ​Service will launch joint inspections of major FX banks for the first time in 14 years to root out any attempts to ​manipulate exchange rates for profit. Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by Tom Hogue and Shri Navaratnam

**Companies:** SpaceX
**Countries:** South Korea, United States

[Read the full story on Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/dollar-demand-estimated-15-billion-cleared-south-korea-source-2026-06-10/)

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