Exchange Listings and Altcoin Surge Boost Korean Market Activity

1. Market Overview

Last week, major Korean exchanges Upbit and Bithumb introduced several new tokens, signaling a proactive listing strategy amid rising user interest. Upbit listed Celestia (TIA) and Pudgy Penguins (PENGU), while Bithumb added Particle Network (PARTI) and Balance (EPT). Notably, Particle Network's debut was amplified by its chain abstraction narrative and prior testnet activities in Korea, supported by KOL-driven educational content. Pudgy Penguins, on the other hand, gained traction in Korea without any formal marketing, largely thanks to the influence of the prominent KOL Edward__Park. Meanwhile, Celestia still lacks wide recognition in Korea due to minimal local engagement and a niche ecosystem.

Trading volumes on Korean exchanges surged alongside the broader altcoin rally. Upbit saw an average daily volume of $2.68 billion, while Bithumb recorded $1.03 million, with the overall KRW-based transaction volume increasing from the previous week. Bitcoin dominance dipped after crossing the $100,000 mark, fueling demand for altcoins such as Ethereum and SUI. USDT demand also rose, partly due to the weakening won, with Bithumb's USDT volume ($764M) outpacing Upbit's ($570M). The most traded asset was LAYER ($1.84B), followed by XRP, ETH, and BTC, while other notable movers included DOGE, KAITO, TRUMP, MOVE, and VIRTUAL.

Community interest in listings like Pudgy Penguins and Particle Network shows the continued importance of local KOLs in driving adoption. Despite limited native marketing, projects that gain social momentum through influential figures can secure strong engagement. This trend, along with Korea’s increasing responsiveness to emerging narratives like chain abstraction and modular blockchain tech, highlights the need for Web3 teams to localize narratives through trusted voices and well-timed listings.

2. Exchanges

2-1. Newly Listed Coins

Last week, major Korean exchanges introduced several new listings:

• Upbit listed Celestia and Pudgy Penguins.
• Bithumb listed Particle Network and Balance.

Key Marketing Strategies & Takeaways

🔹 Particle Network

Particle Network emerged just as the concept of chain abstraction was beginning to gain traction in Korea. The project launched with strong momentum, forming the ‘People's Alliance’ alongside more than 50 other projects. At the time, Bitcoin L2 solutions were gaining attention, and Particle made a strong debut by hosting the launch of Merlin Chain’s $MERL on the Alliance's first product, the ‘People's Launchpad’.

Since then, the team has rolled out various initiatives, including the inscription token $ALLY, Capybara NFTs, a testnet campaign, and UniversalX. These efforts were frequently covered by KOLs on their channels, which helped bring in a notable Korean user base.

It’s worth noting that there was a 14-month gap between the project's initial appearance and its TGE, and that the airdrop tasks were relatively complex. Because of this, KOLs played a crucial role in consistently guiding and onboarding users through step-by-step breakdowns and summaries throughout the campaign.

🔹 Pudgy Penguins (PENGU)

Pudgy Penguins launched in 2021 as an Ethereum-based NFT project featuring cute penguin-themed PFPs. It quickly rose to prominence alongside leading PFP collections of the time and even reached the top spot in trading volume on OpenSea.

However, the project faced a major setback when one of its co-founders was accused of a rug pull and mishandling internal funds, which caused a sharp decline in community trust.

In February 2022, Luca Netz, now the current CEO, acquired the project. Since then, Pudgy Penguins has pivoted toward becoming an IP-driven brand, marking the beginning of a new growth phase.

Under Luca's leadership, the project expanded into public-facing brand initiatives including Instagram content, comic series, toy products, and meme marketing. Pudgy Penguins has now established itself as a leading example of how Web3 IPs can bridge into Web2 through mass-market appeal and brand accessibility.

A unique aspect of its presence in the Korean market is the lack of any formal marketing campaigns. Despite this, Pudgy Penguins is widely recognized within the Korean crypto community. This is largely thanks to the influence of Wecryptotogether (@Edward__Park), who has played a key role in the project’s visibility.

As an early holder, Edward experienced all the ups and downs of the project and continues to use a Pudgy Penguin as his PFP. As both a holder and active community member, he consistently shared updates and insights on the project. Over time, he has grown into one of the most influential KOLs in Korea, helping elevate the project's status alongside his own.

His role has also contributed to growing expectations around Abstract, the ecosystem’s next major development. As the blockchain industry expands further into real-world use cases like payments and infrastructure, both Pudgy Penguins and Abstract are increasingly being viewed as projects with strong long-term potential.

🔹 Celestia (TIA)

While Celestia is widely recognized as a leading modular blockchain project, it has not conducted any dedicated marketing efforts in Korea. As a result, general awareness remains low, especially considering that its related ecosystem, IBC (Inter-Blockchain Communication), is still niche and has only a small number of active participants. Although a Korean community has recently formed and activity is beginning to increase, overall recognition is still relatively limited.

2-2. Trading Volume

Trading activity on South Korea's top two cryptocurrency exchanges, Upbit and Bithumb, showed daily average volumes of $2.68 billion and $1.03 million respectively last week. Compared to the previous week, trading volumes in Korean won have increased, with most altcoins experiencing a rise in trading activity.

Bitcoin dominance decreased following its breakthrough of the $100,000 mark, leading to a strong performance among altcoins, particularly Ethereum and other top-tier altcoins like SUI. The demand for Tether (USDT) also increased amid the altcoin surge and a decline in exchange rates, with Bithumb's Tether trading volume reaching $764 million, surpassing Upbit's $570 million.

LAYER recorded the highest trading volume among all assets this week, reaching $1.84 billion. Following LAYER, XRP maintained its position as the second most traded asset on both exchanges, with Upbit’s trading volume nearly double that of Bithumb.

Ethereum also made a notable appearance in the top trading volume rankings for the first time in a while, ranking third on Upbit and fourth on Bithumb, with a combined trading volume of approximately $1.45 billion across the two exchanges.

Other assets that demonstrated significant trading volumes included DOGE, WLD, TRUMP, KAITO, and VIRTUAL.

2-3. Top 10 Gainers

This week was marked by overwhelmingly higher returns among assets listed on Bithumb, with most altcoins experiencing an upward trend, leading to five assets posting weekly returns exceeding 100%

One notable aspect this week was the shift in momentum, with the market rally being led primarily by Ethereum-based tokens, in contrast to the previous uptrend seen at the end of last year and the beginning of this year.

Notably, MOODENG led the pack with an impressive 524% gain on Bithumb. This surge was primarily driven by meme coins such as GOAT, PEPE, and DOGE, as well as newly listed assets, which exhibited strong upward momentum.

ETHFI and NEIRO also recorded substantial gains on Bithumb, with returns of 110.9% and 109%, respectively. Meanwhile, KAITO posted a 96% return on Bithumb and an outstanding 100.5% return on Upbit, making it the top-performing asset on Upbit this week.

3. Korean Community Buzz

3-1 Buddha Beam: Holiday Volatility & Korean Crypto Superstitions

Last week in Korea was packed with holidays: Children’s Day (May 5), Buddha’s Birthday (also May 5), and Parents’ Day (May 8). Among Korean crypto users, there's even a meme term for the market behavior around Buddha’s Birthday — “Buddha Beam” — referring to the notorious price crashes that have historically occurred around this time.

Most famously, in 2021, Bitcoin began dropping on May 13 and plunged 34% in a single day on May 19, despite no clear negative catalysts. Since then, traders jokingly brace themselves for a “Buddha Beam” every year.

This year, the market did experience a brief dip during the holiday, but recovered soon after. The Korean community responded in kind with typical wit: “"Looks like the market is picking up now that Buddha’s holiday outing is over.” and “Thanks for lifting the curse, Buddha.”

3-2. Pudgy Penguins ($PENGU) Gets Listed on Upbit

With Pudgy Penguins landing a spot on Upbit, all three of the main speakers from Upbit Developer Conference (UDC) 2024 — Magic Eden, Mantle, and now Pudgy Penguins — have officially made it onto Korea’s top exchange.

With UDC 2025 coming up later this year, Korean users are already speculating which pre-TGE projects might attend — and potentially get listed next. The connection between UDC and Upbit listings has become an increasingly fun thread for local communities to follow.

3-3. Bithumb Launches Automated Arbitrage Service

In a move that surprised many, Bithumb quietly rolled out a limited auto-arbitrage service allowing users to take advantage of price differences between different exchanges.

This is notable because Korean exchanges are typically very strict about transfers and suspicious trading activity, often freezing accounts without notice. The new arbitrage service is official and promises no account freezes, finally offering a safer way to execute inter-exchange strategies.

For now, it's only available between Bithumb and Upbit to a small group of early users, but many are watching closely to see if this service will expand and become a core feature for local traders.

🔗 More about the service (KR)

4. Events

The AMA is kicking off this Monday as the new week begins. The weather has been getting really nice lately, and offline side events are starting to pop up one by one here in Korea. If you've been trading crypto from your room, it might be a good idea to take a break and get some fresh air.

4-1. Sign AMA with Marine

In this AMA, we’ll discuss what Sign has been focusing on since its listing on Korean exchanges, upcoming plans for the project, and whether SBT will return in Season 2, along with other exciting topics.

If you are keen to participate the AMA, please join the twitter space at 9 PM KST on 12th May.

Twitter Space AMA

4-2. Humanity Protocol Korea Meetup

The Humanity Protocol meetup is happening on May 13th. There will be a live demo of their palm biometric recognition technology, and participants will have a chance to meet and talk with the Humanity team.

🟡 Date: Tuesday, May 13
🟡 Time: 6:00 PM – 9:30 PM
🟡 RSVP via Luma

It’s been an exciting week in Korea, with various events taking place and a dynamic market keeping us all on our toes! Stay tuned for more updates, and if you'd like to receive this report every week, make sure to subscribe. For the latest news and insights on the Korean market, follow us on Twitter for all the action!