WLFI Listings, Redstone Rally, and Korea’s Altcoin Momentum
1. Market Overview
Last week saw several notable listings in Korea, including WLFI, USD1, and Redstone on Upbit, alongside WLFI, USD1, and Euler Finance on Bithumb. Trading volumes remained strong, with ETH ($1.40B) and XRP ($1.28B) leading on Upbit, followed by WLFI ($1.17B) and large-cap tokens like BTC ($740M) and SOL ($674M). Bithumb showed a different composition, where USDT ($877M) took the top spot ahead of XRP ($683M) and ETH ($639M), highlighting a heavier reliance on stablecoin-driven trading. Meanwhile, altcoins such as ENA, DOGE, SOL, and PENGU maintained solid activity across both exchanges, signaling steady retail interest beyond the majors.
Price action diverged sharply between platforms. On Upbit, mid-cap tokens drove gains, led by ENA (+17.2%), IP (+16.4%), and WAL (+12.8%), while MANA, TREE, and BCH also posted solid single-digit rises, indicating renewed focus on established ecosystems. Bithumb, by contrast, displayed much higher volatility, with RED (+75%) and NMR (+49%) soaring alongside strong moves from TOWNS, SOON, and EIGEN. This contrast highlights different trading dynamics: Upbit favored steady growth in liquid mid-caps, while Bithumb attracted speculative flows into high-beta assets.
2. Exchanges
2-1. Newly Listed Coins
Last week, major Korean exchanges introduced several new listings:
- Upbit listed World Liberty Financial USD, World Liberty Financial and Redstone.
- Bithumb listed World Liberty Financial USD, World Liberty Financial and Euler Finance.
| Date | Upbit | Bithumb |
|---|---|---|
| 9/1 (Mon) | World Liberty Financial USD (USD1), World Liberty Financial (WLFI) | World Liberty Financial USD (USD1),World Liberty Financial (WLFI) |
| 9/2 (Tue) | ||
| 9/3 (Wed) | ||
| 9/4(Thu) | ||
| 9/5 (Fri) | Redstone (RED) | Euler Finance (EUL) |
Key Marketing Strategies & Takeaways
🔹World Liberty Financial (WLFI)
Last week, USD1, WLFI, and Euler were listed domestically, but it seems they did not carry out any dedicated marketing efforts in the Korean market.
That said, WLFI and USD1—backed by the Trump family—represent a special case, so here we’ll examine how such projects spread into the Korean market.
WLFI, a DeFi platform established by the Trump family in September 2024, first became widely known when President Trump, who had been promoting pro-crypto policies, officially announced it through Truth Social. This news quickly circulated through Telegram channels known for delivering updates at speed, making the entire Korean crypto community aware of WLFI’s existence.
Not long after, in October 2024, WLFI announced its token sale. While this was considered significant news at the time, the direct connection to Trump had grown unclear, and the complicated token sale terms shared in communities caused many to hesitate. As a result, a large portion of the Korean community ultimately chose not to participate.
Looking back now—after the TGE and with WLFI demonstrating strong price performance and value—there’s a prevailing sentiment that it was a sale one simply shouldn’t have missed.
It may be an overstatement to attribute this entirely to the uniqueness of the Korean market, but it does highlight an important point: market influence often depends heavily on positioning and perception.
2-2. Trading Volume
Last week, Upbit's trading activity was dominated by ETH, which led with a volume of 1.40 billion USD, followed closely by XRP at 1.28 billion USD and WLFI at 1.17 billion USD. BTC and USDT both recorded volumes around 740 million USD and 727 million USD respectively, while SOL saw 674 million USD, showing strong interest in both large-cap and emerging tokens. Smaller-cap tokens like RED, ENA, DOGE, CRO, PYTH, and TREE also contributed notable volumes ranging from 139 million USD to 450 million USD, reflecting diverse trading activity across multiple sectors.
On Bithumb, USDT led last week with 877 million USD, surpassing ETH and XRP, which recorded 639 million USD and 683 million USD respectively. BTC followed with 386 million USD, and SOL and WLFI also maintained significant activity with 320 million USD and 264 million USD. Other tokens such as ENA, DOGE, PENGU, WLD, TRUMP, and NMR recorded moderate volumes from 88 million USD up to 246 million USD, indicating a mixture of stablecoin-driven trading and emerging token interest.
Comparing the two exchanges, ETH and XRP showed consistently high trading volumes on both platforms, while USDT dominated Bithumb but ranked fifth on Upbit, highlighting exchange-specific preferences. WLFI displayed strong activity on Upbit, ranking third, whereas its volume on Bithumb was more moderate. SOL, ENA, and DOGE maintained a presence across both exchanges, illustrating ongoing investor interest in these altcoins alongside the established market leaders.
2-3. Top 10 Gainers
Last week, Upbit's market saw strong momentum from mid-cap and emerging tokens, with ENA leading the gains at 17.20%, followed by IP at 16.37% and WAL at 12.76%. Other notable performers included MANA, TREE, VIRTUAL, BCH, PUNDIX, SIGN, and VANA, which all recorded weekly increases between 8.95% and 11.94%, highlighting active trading and investor interest in growth-oriented altcoins.
On Bithumb, the market experienced even more pronounced weekly surges, particularly from RED, which soared 75.17%, followed by NMR at 49.12% and C at 29.01%. Additional significant gainers included TOWNS, SOON, H, WLD, PUMP, NIL, and EIGEN, with increases ranging from 15.72% to 25.53%, demonstrating strong speculative activity and high volatility among both established and newer tokens.
Comparing the two exchanges, Upbit’s top gainers were generally mid-cap tokens with moderate growth, whereas Bithumb displayed extreme short-term volatility with very large percentage increases, especially for RED and NMR. This contrast highlights differing investor behavior and market dynamics across platforms, with Upbit showing steady altcoin growth and Bithumb reflecting aggressive trading patterns on high-momentum assets.
3. Korean Community Buzz
1. Pengu Takes Over Seoul Ahead of KBW
Ahead of Korea Blockchain Week, Pudgy Penguins is ramping up its presence in Korea. Branded buses featuring Pengu are running from Incheon Airport to Gangnam, and Pengu videos are playing on digital billboards in Gangnam Station. The project also launched an official Korean Telegram announcement channel and a Naver Café, both quickly attracting users. Community members have even started verifying themselves under founder Luca Netz’s name. Many are watching closely to see if Pengu’s cute IP can drive real mass adoption in Korea.
2. Korean Traders Dive Into WLFI
With WLFI’s listing on major Korean exchanges, retail excitement has surged. Community discussions went viral after traders compared WLFI’s $30B+ market cap to leading Korean companies like KB Financial, Celltrion, and Doosan Enerbility — discovering WLFI is actually larger than some household names. Stories of savvy traders making significant profits also spread, from pre-listing positioning to cross-chain arbitrage between ETH, BSC, SOL, and Korean exchanges. WLFI’s debut has sparked strong FOMO and cemented its status as one of the most talked-about listings this season.
3. Bithumb’s Emergency System Downtime
On September 2, Bithumb experienced an unexpected 1.5-hour emergency system maintenance starting around 11:30 PM KST. Trading services were completely halted due to order processing delays, leaving many users unable to access the platform. While the downtime raised concerns about potential losses, Bithumb quickly announced it would fully compensate users for any damages caused during the disruption. Community sentiment remains mixed, with some praising the swift response and others raising reliability concerns ahead of heightened trading activity during KBW.
(Source)
4. Web3 Event
Finally, the busy Korea Blockchain Week is coming this September. Throughout this month, starting from mid-September, a variety of Web3 side events are expected to take place. To make it easier for you to keep track, we are sharing the KBW Sheet.
Through this sheet, you can check events, registrations, locations, and more throughout the month.
✅ All about Korea Blockchain Week 2025 ➡ Link
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!