Bumo Sarang, a South Korean funeral service company, is facing approximately 49.3 billion won in unrealized losses after investing around $40 million in customer prepaid funds into the T-REX 2X Long BMNR Daily Target ETF, a leveraged product that doubles the daily returns of Ethereum treasury company Bitmine. The investment was revealed in the company's 2025 audit report and has drawn significant scrutiny given that the funds belong to customers who paid in advance for funeral services rather than discretionary capital the company raised for investment purposes. Bumo Sarang's spokesperson described the situation as a short-term unrealized loss due to global market volatility that remains controllable within the company's financial buffer, though the company did not respond to further requests for comment.The losses reflect the brutal performance of Ether-linked assets in 2026, with ETH down more than 28% year to date and Bitmine's stock price falling nearly 40% over the same period.

A leveraged ETF that doubles daily returns amplifies both gains and losses, making it an exceptionally high-risk vehicle for what should be conservative customer fund management. A second funeral company, Christian Funeral Family of Faith, recorded a $331,700 net loss last year from similar activity. Korea Economic Daily reported that approximately 43% of local funeral service providers hold fewer assets than customer advance payments, raising serious questions about whether some companies could repay customers in the event of mass cancellations. The funeral mutual aid industry in South Korea is supervised by the Fair Trade Commission rather than financial regulators, a gap in oversight that the Bumo Sarang situation is now highlighting in a very public way.