South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, has announced the listing of Raydium (RAY). The trading will begin at 12:00 PM Korean Standard Time (KST). 

In addition, Bithumb will list Huma Finance (HUMA) and Forta (FORT) today at 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM KST, respectively. These listings sparked double-digit rallies for all three tokens.

Upbit Announces Raydium (RAY) Listing

Raydium is a decentralized exchange (DEX) and automated market maker (AMM) built on the Solana (SOL) blockchain. Its native token, RAY, has struggled recently, posting a 27.3% decline over the past 30 days.

This decline also halved its market value from over $1 billion to around $500 million. However, Upbit’s decision to support RAY trading has infused some optimism into the market. 

“Raydium (RAY) KRW, USDT Market Support. Supported Market: KRW, USDT Market. Trading opens at: 2025-06-19 12:00 KST estimated,” Upbit posted.

This announcement led to a 34.3% surge in the price of the RAY token during the early hours of Asian trading. BeInCrypto data showed that the price rose from around $2.07 to $2.78 within minutes. Moreover, the market capitalization also increased to over $655 million.

A modest correction followed, but RAY still managed to retain some gains. At the time of writing, RAY’s trading price stood at $2.32, up 11.3%. The market cap was also adjusted to around $637 million. 

This uptick aligns with historical patterns observed with Upbit listings. Earlier this week, AltLayer (ALT) and Haedal Protocol (HAEDAL) saw similar surges. Furthermore, last month, four altcoins gained on the back of Upbit’s support.

Bithumb Listing Boosts HUMA and FORT 

Besides Upbit, Bithumb also revealed two new token listings today. HUMA and FORT will be added to the exchange’s KRW market, and trading will start later today.

HUMA saw a notable increase in price, rising by 12.0% before pulling back to $0.037. Despite the retracement, this brief spike highlighted market interest in the token post-listing. 

Meanwhile, FORT demonstrated an impressive upward movement, climbing by 52.2% and reaching $0.10 at the time of writing. The continued appreciation for FORT reflected strong market sentiment and growing demand. In fact, the token has even become the top daily gainer on CoinGecko.

The expansion of offerings by both exchanges aligns with the growing momentum in South Korea’s cryptocurrency market. According to Kaiko Research, in 2025, KRW-denominated crypto trading reached $663 billion.

This positions South Korea as the second-largest crypto market globally, behind only the US. Moreover, nearly one in three adults in the country owns cryptocurrency, twice the adoption rate in the US.

“However, persistent barriers—like fragmented markets, low stablecoin adoption, and the enduring ‘kimchi premium’—continue to challenge institutional growth and product innovation in Korea’s crypto sector,” Kaiko added.