NFT platform Immutablex's IMX token surges 35% with upbit leading volume growth

IMX, the native token of non-fungible tokens platform ImmutableX, surged on Thursday, led by South Korean traders.

The cryptocurrency rose 35% to 74 cents during the Asian trading hours, CoinDesk data show. Major cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), XRP and BNB traded 0.5% to 1% lower.

The price rally is accompanied by over 22% increase in the 24-hour global trading volume, which rose to $556 million. The IMX-Korean won (IMX/KRW) pair listed on South Korea's Upbit exchange accounted for nearly 20% of the global activity, followed by Binance's IMX-tether (IMX/USDT) pair, which contributed 7% to the total volume, per data source Coingecko.

According to blockchain sleuth LookonChain, wallets tied to Upbit accumulated 12.53 million IMX ($9.27 million) as the cryptocurrency surged. The balance was then transferred to address 0x2F77AEd5B7259ABD27077f9F99772aDDF913E62E, which now holds over 21 million IMX.

The price rise saw some market participants move their coins to exchanges, perhaps in a bid to liquidate holdings.

"Investors unlocked 3.05M IMX ($2.3M) from the Foundation Treasury Locked wallet after the IMX price increased, possibly dumping to the market," LookOnChain said on X.

Open interest hits record high

The number of active or open positions in perpetual futures tied to IMX, surged over 400% to a record high of 115.42 IMX ($80 million).

An increase in the so-called open interest alongside a rise in a price is said to represent an influx of new money in the market.

Open interest has skyrocketed by more than 400% (Coinglass) (Coinglass)