SAFE, the native token of Safe Wallet, surged 20% as Bithumb listed the token on its platform.

Safe (SAFE) rose to $1.10 on Jan. 10, marking a 20% surge from its monthly low of $0.924 while bringing its market cap to nearly $600 million at the time of writing.

The altcoin’s rally occurred in a high-volume environment. Its daily trading volume surged by 429%, climbing from $15 million early Thursday morning to over $80 million.

Despite the recent rally, the altcoin still holds significant growth potential, considering that SAFE’s price remains 69% below its all-time high of $3.56 in April last year.

SAFE rallied as Bithumb, a major South Korea-based crypto exchange, announced it would add a KRW trading pair for the SAFE token on Jan. 10, along with SONIC and AHT tokens.

A SAFE/KRW trading pair will allow direct trading between the SAFE token and the South Korean won, making it more accessible to a wider audience, particularly in the South Korean market.

Typically, a listing on a premier South Korean exchange such as Upbit or Bithumb results in a strong rally in the related token. One such instance was reported earlier in October last year when SAFE secured a listing on Upbit, leading to a 72% surge in just one day. 

SAFE also rallied as a result of increased demand among its derivatives traders. According to CoinGlass, open interest for SAFE in the futures market surged by 151% over the past day, reaching $19.5 million, much higher than the $5.5 million recorded at the beginning of the year.

However, it’s important to note that rallies following exchange listings often face a reversal as investors sell their holdings to secure profits. Notably, data from CoinGlass shows that over $5.96 million SAFE was sent to centralized exchanges on Dec. 10, compared to the $5.65 million withdrawn.

Additionally, the weighted funding rate for SAFE at press time was -0.6690%, which means short sellers were dominating the market, with more traders betting on its price to dip lower.

Such levels also increase the possibility of a short squeeze if the price reverses upwards, potentially forcing short positions to close.

At press time, SAFE had wiped most of its gains, falling 7% from its daily high, and was trading at $1.01 per coin.

South Korea’s Cube Entertainment is under scrutiny after its CEO, Kang Seung-gon, was accused of allegedly misleading investors into a cryptocurrency investment that resulted in significant financial losses.

A coalition of investors has accused Kang of promoting Nestree, a cryptocurrency launched by South Korean blockchain firm Nestree Media Group, as a promising investment with guaranteed returns, according to a Jan. 9 report by local media outlet The Korea Economic Daily.

Nestree Media Group advertised itself as a blockchain-based technology company specializing in community-focused messenger services and e-commerce platforms. Its cryptocurrency, Nestree, was listed on major South Korean exchanges, including Coinone in August 2019 and Bithumb in April 2020.

Notably, the K-pop company’s CEO made these claims following reports of Cube Entertainment’s 100 million won ($68,376) investment in Nestree Media Group through a capital increase in March 2022, which triggered a tenfold surge in the cryptocurrency’s price in less than a month’s time.

However, not long after Kang’s comments, the token’s value reportedly crashed from a high of 59 won to around 39 won within a month, ultimately plummeting to single digits by the end of 2022.

Around this time, investors, some of whom reportedly invested as much as 80 million KRW (roughly $54,567) in the cryptocurrency, demanded their principal be returned, but Kang denied ever guaranteeing such returns.

Further investors alleged that at the time, Kang suggested they could recoup their losses by investing in other cryptocurrencies he claimed to be working on listing on domestic exchanges.

According to The Korea Economic Daily, Kang has dismissed all allegations as baseless and said he never advised anyone to invest in Nestree with a guarantee of principal protection. 

Regarding Cube Entertainment’s investment in the project, he said it was a move to expand the company’s blockchain portfolio and affirmed that their collaboration with Nestree Media Group would continue as planned. 

Kang also admitted to personally investing in Nestree but claimed he did not profit from the investment.

Investors are reportedly considering legal action against Kang, who could face serious consequences if the allegations are proven true, and his actions might be deemed a form of market manipulation under South Korean law.

South Korea’s crackdown on market manipulation

South Korean regulators do not take allegations of market manipulation lightly, having charged several individuals in the past who were found guilty of such activities.

On Jan. 3, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office’s Virtual Asset Joint Investigation Team arrested two individuals who allegedly profited from manipulating the price of the ACE cryptocurrency on Bithumb. 

Similar charges were brought against an individual market maker in July, while four employees of crypto exchange Coinone were indicted in May 2023 for alleged market manipulation involving 46 coins during its listing process.

In May of 2024, South Korea’s Ministry of Justice established a special task force to monitor and mitigate market manipulation and fraud in the crypto sector.