VIRTUAL, the native token of the AI agent generator platform Virtuals Protocol, climbed during European trading hours after Upbit, South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, said it would list the coin.

The price surged 28% to $2.61, almost testing the downtrend line that characterizes the sell-off from the Jan. 2 record high of around $5.25, data tracked by TradingView and CoinDesk show. The price jump followed Upbit’s decision to list the VIRTUAL/KRW, VIRTUAL/USDT and VIRTUAL/BTC markets, exposing the token to altcoin savvy Korean traders.

Early this month, Virtuals Protocol announced a program to buy back and destroy ecosystem agent tokens using the almost 13 million VIRTUAL tokens accumulated from post-bonding trading income. The protocol, a Base native, recently expanded to Solana via LayerZero, launching a Meteora pool to enhance trading and engagement and announced the creation of a SOL reserve through conversion of 1% of trading fees to SOL.