AVA, the token associated with Binance-backed travel platform Travala, climbed sharply after South Korean exchange Bithumb opened a new AVA/KRW trading pair on Thursday. The token rose as much as 112% during the move, jumping from about $0.155 to roughly $0.329 before pulling back.

By the time the rally cooled, AVA was trading near $0.27, still about 72% higher over 24 hours. Market data cited in the report suggests the initial push came from fresh spot demand tied to the won listing, while leveraged futures trading helped extend the advance.

Bithumb listing appears to be the main catalyst

Bithumb, one of South Korea’s largest won-based exchanges, said Thursday that it was opening an AVA/KRW market. Trading began at 2 p.m. Korea time, with ether deposits supported for the launch. Travala and the AVA Foundation, which oversees the token, both confirmed the listing.

The timing of AVA’s price jump closely matched that exchange debut. According to the source report, nearly $40 million in volume was recorded on the new Bithumb pair. Over the same period, Binance’s AVA/USDT market handled roughly $26 million. Those figures reflect trading volume rather than net new money, but they indicate where liquidity was concentrated after the listing went live.

South Korean exchange access has moved tokens before

Listings on major South Korean exchanges have previously coincided with abrupt price swings in smaller tokens. The report points to Derive’s DRV token, which gained nearly 30% after joining Upbit and Bithumb in July.

That history does not prove the same pattern will persist, but it gives context for why a new KRW market can matter. Opening direct won trading can broaden access for local traders and quickly shift where the most active market for a token sits.

Futures positions and liquidations added to the rally

After spot buying started the move, derivatives activity appears to have added momentum. CoinGlass data cited in the report showed Binance futures open interest in AVA rising about 454% to $6.9 million, indicating a rapid build-up in outstanding leveraged bets as the price moved higher.

Liquidation data pointed in the same direction. Short liquidations on Binance reached about $784,000 over 24 hours, compared with roughly $433,000 in long liquidations. That imbalance suggests traders positioned against AVA were forced to close positions into the rally, creating additional buying pressure. The report characterizes short covering as an amplifier rather than the original cause of the surge.

Buyback program may have tightened supply ahead of the jump

The report also noted a separate background factor that predated the Bithumb listing. On September 15, the AVA Foundation said it had repurchased nearly 370,000 AVA as part of its monthly buyback program.

According to the foundation, that program has now locked more than 13% of circulating supply. The buyback was not presented as the trigger for Thursday’s move, but it may have reduced the amount of token supply readily available to be sold during the rally.

Attention turns to whether the gain can hold

The immediate facts are clearer than the longer-term outcome: AVA surged after Bithumb launched won trading, and futures speculation intensified once the rally was underway. The token later gave back part of the intraday spike but remained far above its pre-listing level.

The next confirmed point to watch is whether trading stays active after the first wave of Bithumb volume fades. As framed in the source report, the open question is whether AVA can maintain roughly a 72% daily gain once the early listing-driven excitement begins to cool.

Source: beincrypto.com