BIO Token Surges Over 50% Following Upbit Listing, Igniting DeSci Market Rally

Upbit, South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, announced the listing of BIO Protocol's native token BIO on October 20, 2025. Trading commenced at 18:00 Korean Standard Time (KST) with pairs against the Korean Won (KRW), Bitcoin (BTC), and Tether (USDT). The exchange specified that deposits and withdrawals are supported only through the BIO-Ethereum network, with the contract address 0xcb1592591996765ec0efc1f92599a19767ee5ffa.

Following the announcement, BIO's price surged by 58%, rising from approximately $0.086 to an intraday high of $0.136. It later settled around $0.111, still up over 30% from pre-announcement levels. Daily trading volume skyrocketed by 532% to $134 million, reflecting intense investor demand. Upbit implemented temporary trading restrictions to curb volatility, including a five-minute period with no buy orders and a two-hour limit where only limit orders were accepted, along with price bands to prevent extreme swings.

The listing had a broader impact on the decentralized science (DeSci) sector. The DeSci market capitalization increased by 11.5% to $820 million, with tokens like VitaDAO (VITA), Curetopia (CURES), and Pinealon (PNL) recording double-digit gains. Simon Dedic remarked, "Everyone knows what an Upbit listing can do by now. But have you ever seen a single Upbit listing send an entire category? Just when you think DeSci is dead, BIO comes out and single-handedly runs it back." This surge outpaced gains in other categories like meme coins and NFTs.

Bio Protocol, a DeSci initiative, aims to transform biotechnology research through blockchain by tokenizing intellectual property and enabling decentralized funding. The project has seen increased engagement recently, with over 8,000 participants joining its Bio Launchpad initiatives. Technically, BIO's RSI indicated overbought conditions, suggesting potential for a short-term pullback, but the MACD showed bullish momentum, with resistance near $0.125 and a possible target of $0.15 if broken.