The AVA token surged as much as 112% intraday on Thursday, climbing from a low near $0.155 to a high of $0.329. The rally followed Bithumb, one of South Korea's largest won-based exchanges, opening a new AVA/KRW trading pair. By the time of reporting, AVA had settled to around $0.27, up approximately 72% over the 24-hour period.
Bithumb opened trading on the AVA/KRW pair at 2 p.m. Korea time, with ether deposits supported. Travala and the AVA Foundation, which manages the token, confirmed the listing. The new pair generated close to $40 million in trading volume, compared with roughly $26 million on Binance's AVA/USDT market over the same period.
Leverage and Liquidations Extended the Move
Futures trading appears to have amplified the price movement once it began. Binance's AVA open interest—the dollar value of outstanding futures bets—rose roughly 454% to $6.9 million, according to CoinGlass data. Short liquidations on Binance reached approximately $784,000 over 24 hours, against roughly $433,000 in long liquidations, indicating forced buy-backs added additional pressure.
Historical Context
South Korean exchange listings have moved token prices previously. The DRV token, associated with Derive, jumped nearly 30% following its listing on Upbit and Bithumb in July.
Foundation Activity
The AVA Foundation reported repurchasing nearly 370,000 AVA tokens on September 15 as part of its monthly buyback program. The program has now locked more than 13% of circulating supply. While this repurchase predated Thursday's listing, it may have reduced the amount of tokens available to sell during the rally.
