How to buy Samsung Electronics stock in the US
Samsung is the largest memory maker on earth, a top-two chip foundry, and the company behind Galaxy phones. It also trades only in Seoul, which makes it surprisingly hard to buy from the US. Here is an honest tour of the options, including the one this page is obviously building up to.
Option 1: the SSNLF OTC line
Samsung has no ADR on a major US exchange. What exists is SSNLF, an unsponsored foreign ordinary trading over the counter. Unsponsored means Samsung itself has nothing to do with it. Volume is thin, spreads are wide, and the price mostly just follows wherever Seoul last closed. Some brokerages charge extra for OTC foreign ordinaries or refuse them entirely. Usable for a patient long-term position. Poor for actually trading the stock.
Option 2: a Korean brokerage account
Direct access to the Korea Exchange means opening an account with a Korean securities firm. For a non-resident that is paperwork-heavy, most firms will not onboard US retail customers, and you inherit Seoul trading hours, roughly 7pm to 2:30am Eastern depending on the season. You would be trading the largest position in your portfolio in the middle of your night.
Option 3: Korea ETFs
Funds like EWY carry Samsung as their single largest holding and trade on US exchanges like any other ETF. The catch is dilution: you are buying the entire Korean market, so a Samsung-specific move gets watered down by shipbuilders, banks and carmakers. It is exposure, but it is not the trade.
Option 4: trade it through Based
Hyperliquid, a decentralised trading platform, carries a direct Samsung market, quoted in USD, open 24 hours a day, every day. Based is the self-custody wallet that makes trading it easy. No Korean paperwork, no OTC spread, no waiting for Seoul, no brokerage account, no bank account. To be clear about the instrument: it is a perpetual future that tracks the Samsung share price. You get pure price exposure, long or short, not the share itself, and like any perp it carries liquidation risk and funding fees. Based is not a broker.
Samsung Electronics (SMSN)
$164.50+2.1%24h
Mark price at , refreshed hourly. Live price in the app.
KRX (Seoul) · South Korea · quoted in USD
What to watch
The biggest is HBM4, the memory stacked next to Nvidia's AI accelerators. After two generations of watching SK Hynix lead, Samsung's HBM4 passed Nvidia qualification, per Bloomberg reporting in January 2026, and entered mass production in February. Nvidia said in June 2026 that its Vera Rubin platform had entered full production, with Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron as HBM4 suppliers. How much of that supply Samsung wins is the number to track.
The second is the next set of numbers. Samsung publishes preliminary earnings guidance shortly after each quarter ends (the second-quarter figure came on July 7, 2026), so third-quarter guidance is due in early October, with full results later in the month. Those numbers land in Seoul hours, while US brokers are closed.
The risks are real too. Samsung has more revenue geared to memory pricing than any listed company, and TrendForce expects price gains to slow sharply in the third quarter of 2026: conventional DRAM contract prices up 13 to 18 percent, after 93 to 98 percent in the first quarter and 58 to 63 percent in the second, as PC and phone buyers hit their limit. Its foundry business, the only operation besides TSMC and Intel attempting leading-edge contract manufacturing, still has to prove it can win large outside customers.
The same logic applies to SK Hynix, Samsung's smaller Korean rival with the larger HBM share, and the memory stocks hub covers how the whole sector fits together. US-listed proxies like Micron trade here around the clock as well.
Fees are flat and public: stock perps start at 0.014% taker and 0.008% maker, all-in, before any staking discounts. The full schedule is on the fees page.
Related markets on Based
The bull and bear case for Samsung
Bull case
- The largest memory producer in the world, plus phones, displays and a foundry business.
- Its HBM4 entered mass production in February 2026 and ships into Nvidia's Vera Rubin platform.
- Diversified revenue cushions a downturn in any single product line.
Bear case
- As the biggest memory maker, it has the most revenue geared to DRAM and NAND pricing.
- TrendForce expects those prices to rise more slowly in the third quarter of 2026.
Facts as of September 2026. For information only, not financial advice. Both cases describe the underlying company; on Based you trade a perpetual future that tracks its price, with liquidation risk and funding fees.
Frequently asked questions
- Can Americans buy Samsung stock?
- Not easily. Samsung Electronics is listed on the Korea Exchange, and most US brokerages do not offer direct access to Korean shares. The usual workarounds are the thin SSNLF line on the US over-the-counter market, a Korean brokerage account, or a Korea ETF like EWY. Through Based you can trade a 24/7 Samsung market on Hyperliquid from a self-custodial wallet, with no brokerage account and no bank account.
- Is there a Samsung ADR?
- There is no Samsung ADR on a major US exchange. SSNLF trades over the counter as an unsponsored foreign ordinary, meaning Samsung has no involvement in it. Volume is thin, spreads are wide, and the price mostly echoes the last Seoul close. Some brokers add surcharges on OTC foreign names or will not touch them at all.
- How do I trade Samsung from the US?
- Four realistic routes: the SSNLF OTC line, opening an account with a Korean securities firm, a Korea ETF, or trading the Samsung market on Hyperliquid through a self-custody wallet like Based. The first three keep you inside someone else's hours and paperwork. Through Based the market runs 24/7, quoted in USD, from a wallet you control.
- Does Samsung trade on weekends on Based?
- Yes. The Hyperliquid market never closes, so through Based you can trade Samsung on a Saturday even though the Korea Exchange will not reopen until Sunday evening US time. You are trading a perpetual future that tracks the Samsung share price, not the Seoul-listed share itself, with liquidation risk and funding fees like any perp.
Start in three steps
- Step 1
Log in
Log in with your email or Google account. Based supports social logins for convenience, provided by Privy, a Stripe company. Wallets are self-custodial: only you have access to your funds. Neither Based nor Privy can access your wallet or account.
- Step 2
Fund it
Deposit USDC. You do not need a bank account to do it.
- Step 3
Trade 24/7
Stock and crypto perps. Nights, weekends, holidays.
Based is a self-custody wallet, not a broker. Markets are perpetual futures on Hyperliquid: derivatives with liquidation risk and funding fees, not the underlying stocks or coins. For information only, not financial advice.