This Token Surged 970% On Upbit. Now Regulators Are Watching

In Brief

• A little-traded token surged nearly 1,000% on Upbit.
• South Korean regulators are investigating possible manipulation.
• Exchange-specific spikes are drawing closer scrutiny.

A little-traded token called ZKsync just became the focus of South Korea’s cryptocurrency industry watchdogs after surging nearly 1,000% in just three hours on Upbit.

As it happens, regulators confirmed they were examining whether the move was artificially engineered, according to a Hankyung report from February 3. The case strikes at how malicious actors can exploit exchanges, liquidity gaps, and maintenance windows.

What Happened During The Upbit ZKsync Spike

On February 1, ZKsync was trading near $0.023 ahead of scheduled system maintenance on Upbt. Shortly before trading paused, the token spiked to around $0.24, before collapsing back near its original price once maintenance ended.

South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service confirmed it is reviewing the incident. A spokesperson from its Virtual Asset Investigation Bureau said:

“We are aware that ZKsync experienced a rapid price fluctuation in a short period of time. We are looking into the matter and may quickly transition to a formal investigation after determining the severity of the case.”

Legal experts cited by local media said buy orders concentrated heavily just before the outage, forming a temporary “buy wall,” followed by aggressive selling once trading resumed.

Why This Case Matters Beyond One Token

The numbers underline why regulators are paying attention. Trading volume for ZKsync on Upbit jumped more than 4,000% that day, whereas volume on Coinbase rose only about 150%, with prices up less than 40%.

Despite limited historical activity in South Korea, nearly 40% of ZKsync’s total trading volume now routes through Upbit, according to the data from CoinGecko. That imbalance raises red flags when paired with abrupt price swings.

If manipulation is confirmed, legal experts say the activity could violate South Korea’s 2023 Act on the Protection of Virtual Asset Users, which allows for prison sentences of over a year and fines up to five times the illicit profit.

The case also fits into a broader crackdown. Regulators recently jailed a crypto firm executive over price manipulation and have announced plans to deploy AI-powered surveillance tools to detect coordinated trading patterns earlier.

The takeaway for traders is that exchange-specific spikes are no longer just market noise; they’re now regulatory risk events.