South Korea's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, Bithumb, announced the listing of Lista DAO (LISTA) and Merlin Chain (MERL) tokens for trading against the Korean Won (KRW) on July 24, 2025. LISTA trading commenced at 4:00 PM KST with a reference price of 354 KRW (~$0.26), exclusively supporting BNB Smart Chain deposits. MERL followed at 6:00 PM KST with a starting price of 161 KRW (~$0.12), using its native Merlin Chain network.
The announcement triggered immediate double-digit price surges: LISTA soared 33.97% to $0.36, while MERL jumped 20.53% to $0.168, propelling both tokens to their highest valuations since January 2025. Deposits and withdrawals activated within three hours of the listing, adhering to Travel Rule compliance through Bithumb-supported virtual asset providers.
Bithumb enforced protective measures during the launch, blocking buy orders for the first five minutes and restricting sell orders to within 10% below or 100% above the starting price. These listings align with Bithumb's strategy to diversify digital asset offerings, capitalizing on South Korea's crypto adoption surge where 27% of 20-50 year olds hold digital assets and 70% plan portfolio expansions in 2025.
Market impact was amplified by surging exchange volumes: Bithumb's trading activity increased 256.2% to $2.7 billion monthly, while Upbit saw a 388.24% spike to $8.3 billion. Combined assets across South Korea's top five exchanges now exceed 100 trillion KRW (~$73 billion), reinforcing the region's influence on altcoin valuations.