Irys Token Gains 1,200% Then Plunges 74% Amid Korean Trading Frenzy

- IRYS price spikes to record highs before crashing, with market cap briefly nearing $600 million - Extraordinary Korean exchange volume and liquidations fuel volatility, with no obvious catalyst On October 24, 2026 (UTC), CoinDesk reported that Irys’s IRYS token experienced unprecedented volatility as the token surged by over 1,200% in a single day, reaching new all-time highs across Bitget and Upbit exchanges. The market cap therefore soared to nearly $600 million before sentiment rapidly reversed. Within hours, IRYS plummeted more than 74% from its peak, erasing most of the day’s gains and leaving traders grappling with sharp losses. The dramatic activity was centered on Korean platforms, and Upbit’s won pair registered approximately 954 billion won in 24-hour turnover and $24 million in liquidations, mostly affecting short sellers, according to CoinDesk on October 24, 2026. Despite the massive trading volumes, no fundamental news or clear catalyst emerged to explain the sudden price action, and market participants were left to speculate about the causes. Analysts suggested that a massive short squeeze, compounded by high leverage on derivatives platforms, drove the extreme price swings, and they pointed to structural factors in the market rather than project-specific developments. In addition, tokenomics data indicated that only 20% of IRYS’s total supply was circulating, while team and investor allocations remained locked for one year, which may have amplified the impact of speculative flows on price. By the morning after the surge, IRYS traded near $0.086 with a circulating market cap around $174 million, and the token remained up over 200% in the prior 24 hours, according to CoinGecko’s historical pricing data.