Bithumb listing pushes two altcoins to 6-month high

Bithumb, the second-largest cryptoasset exchange in South Korea, has announced the listing of two new altcoins today.

The new tokens supported include Lista DAO (LISTA) and Merlin Chain (MERL). The listing announcement triggered double-digit price increases for both cryptoassets, pushing them to their highest levels in 6 months.

Bithumb Announces Listing of LISTA and MERL

According to Bithumb's official announcement, the tokens will be available for trading with Korean Won (KRW). Deposits and withdrawals will be available within 3 hours after the announcement.

"In compliance with the Travel Rule, deposits and withdrawals are only supported through virtual asset service providers supported by Bithumb," according to the announcement.

The exchange stated that LISTA trading is expected to start at 4:00 PM Korean Standard Time (KST) on 07/24. The reference price will be 354 KRW.

Subsequently, Bithumb will launch MERL trading at 6:00 PM KST. The reference price for the altcoin is 161 KRW.

Following this information, prices reacted strongly. LISTA, the native token of an open-source lending and liquidation protocol, Lista DAO, increased by 33.97%. The price reached 0.36 USD, marking LISTA's highest level since 01/2025.

Similarly, MERL, the native token of Merlin Chain, a Bitcoin layer-2 network, rose 20.53% to 0.168 USD, a price last seen in late 01.

These price fluctuations highlight the significant influence of South Korean exchanges on the altcoin market. Upbit and Bithumb previously boosted tokens like Hyperlane (HYPER), Babylon (BABY), Huma Finance (HUMA), and more to achieve substantial increases through listing strategies.

Notably, the strong presence of exchanges in one of the largest cryptoasset markets could be the key factor behind their impact. According to Ledger, in South Korea, 27% of people aged 20 to 50 currently hold digital assets, with 70% expressing interest in expanding their cryptoasset portfolio this year.

The combined value of digital assets held on the country's top five exchanges - Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and GOPAX - has exceeded 100 trillion Won (~73 billion USD), solidifying South Korea's position as a global blockchain adoption pioneer.

This dominance in South Korea has also benefited the exchanges. For example, Bithumb has seen its trading volume triple in the past month.

Data from CoinGecko reveals that the volume increased from around 758 million USD to 2.7 billion USD, marking an impressive 256.2% increase.

Similarly, Upbit has experienced a significant volume surge. It increased from 1.7 billion USD to 8.3 billion USD, reflecting a 388.24% increase, emphasizing its growing dominance.