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LK-99, a gray-black compound of lead, copper, phosphorus, and oxygen, formally known as copper-substituted lead phosphate apatite, has emerged as the leading candidate for room-temperature superconductivity, which was considered an impossible feat not too long ago. The public sentiment around LK-99 is quite volatile at the moment, marred by the ebb and flow of claims and counter-claims. This has not, however, prevented investors from plowing their money into stocks that are perceived to benefit from the emergence of superconductivity at ambient temperature and pressure.

Where Do Things Stand at the Moment?

In two key pre-print studies (here and here), a group of researchers hailing from Korea University recently claimed that as copper cations substitute lead cations within the insulating structure of lead phosphate (LK-99), stress-induced structural shrinkage occurs, which creates “superconducting quantum wells (SQWs)” within the structure. More importantly, the unique construct of LK-99 allows these structural distortions to perpetuate, thereby giving rise to room-temperature superconductivity characteristics.

Since then, social media has been literally lit on fire, with multiple replications of LK-99 continuing to fuel the fervor in select stocks listed on the South Korean bourse.

In our last post, we noted that the Korean Society of Superconductivity and Low Temperature has, so far, not certified LK-99’s status as a room-temperature superconductor owing to “insufficient” evidence. Specifically, the society’s verification committee found that in an official video, where LK-99 is shown floating on a magnet (which is a hallmark of superconductivity), a part of the sample was attached to the magnet itself, which precludes the “magnetic flux fixation effect.”

The attached tweet shows a video of what would be the world’s first fully levitating LK-99 superconductor sample.

I am leaning towards there being some validity to the video, because the uploader “炼丹师阿翔” had previously documented another replication attempt of his which… https://t.co/5EndkKfRJs pic.twitter.com/oAIdM9Aojv

— Floates0x (@floates0x) August 5, 2023

Last week, however, a Chinese researcher posted a video that showed a fully levitating sample of LK-99.

"Alchemist Xiang", who posted the claimed fully levitating LK-99 superconductor video to chinese socials yesterday, has made a follow up audio where he makes the following statements:

- He is "working with a team"

- Team is doing measurements, has only found diamagnetism so far… pic.twitter.com/NtnTS5WwnL

— Floates0x (@floates0x) August 6, 2023

Later on, a researcher who goes by the pseudonym “Alchemist Xiang,” issued a series of qualifiers that degraded the initial euphoria around his video. Xiang has stated that he has only found diamagnetism in his LK-99 sample so far and that his team has been encountering difficulties in measurements.

What’s more, all of the LK-99 replications so far have involved tiny amounts. While much remains uncertain at the moment, the researchers’ failure to produce commercial-scale samples will become a giant problem for those banking on LK-99’s viability in the not-too-distant future. Does the structure of LK-99 disintegrate at commercial scales? We do not yet know.

Korean investors, however, appear to be in no mood to listen to these qualifiers.

SuNam (KOSDAQ: 294630), Mobiis (KOSDAQ: 250060), and Shinsung Delta Tech (KOSDAQ: 065350) Best Encapsulate the LK-99 Fever

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At the time of writing, the manufacturer of high-temperature wiring and electromagnets, SuNam, is up over 17 percent on the Korean stock exchange. Mobiis, a company that is involved with nuclear fusion and particle-accelerator technology, is currently up nearly 19 percent. Surprisingly, Shinsung Delta Tech, which does not have any direct links to superconductor technology but retains a stake in a VC that has invested in the Quantum Research Institute, is currently approaching the daily increase limit of 30 percent.

Contingent upon “Alchemist Xiang’s” (the Chinese guy who replicated the fully levitating “LK-99” superconductor sample today) upcoming paper, we might see the prediction markets @ManifoldMarkets and @Polymarket no longer accurately track the likelihood of a Room Temperature…

— Floates0x (@floates0x) August 5, 2023

In our last post, we had noted the subdued nature of a popular betting contract that emerged as a key sentiment gauge for everything related to LK-99. However, Alchemist Xiang chemically deviated from the process outlined in the original papers. Given the betting contract’s fixation with the original paper’s construct, it might well lose its signaling value should Xiang’s approach become the next yardstick for LK-99. This leaves the above-mentioned Korean stocks as the next best alternative to gauge the public sentiment around the room-temperature superconductor candidate.

Do you think Korean investors are going overboard on the LK-99 fever? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.