How Korean Traders Fueled GAS’s 10x Rally in a Month
GAS, the utility token of Neo blockchain, has surged by 10 times in 3 weeks, reaching a high of $29.9. The main driver of this rally is the high demand from Korean traders, especially on the Upbit exchange. Two weeks ago, Gas was trading at less then $3, ranking 138th by market capitalization. Today, it is worth $23, making it the 56th largest crypto asset. That’s an impressive increase of 900% in a short period of time.
What drove this massive rally? One of the main factors was the listing of Gas perpetual contracts on two crypto exchanges: BitMEX and Demex. Perpetual contracts are a type of derivative that allow traders to speculate on the price movements of an underlying asset, such as Gas, without having to own it. They also offer leverage, which means traders can amplify their profits (or losses) by borrowing funds from the exchange.
BitMEX, one of the largest and most popular crypto derivatives platforms, announced the launch of Gas perpetual contracts on October 28th. The contracts are denominated in Tether (USDT), the leading stablecoin, and offer up to 10x leverage.
Demex, a decentralized exchange (DEX) that runs on the Switcheo TradeHub protocol, followed suit on November 10th. It also introduced Gas perpetual contracts with up to 10x leverage, as well as spot trading for Gas.
These listings gave Gas more exposure and liquidity, attracting more traders and investors to the NEO ecosystem. They also coincided with a favorable market environment, as the overall crypto market cap rose by 12% in the past two weeks.
According to Lookonchain, a cryptocurrency research platform, 61% of GAS trading volume came from Upbit, where GAS was trading at a premium compared to other exchanges. The upcoming Upbit D Conference on Nov. 13, where Neo’s Head of Eco Growth Jiachao Wang will speak, may also boost the interest in GAS.
Another factor that may increase GAS consumption is the announcement of a new sidechain by Neo founder Da Hongfei. The sidechain will be resistant to MEV attacks and censorship, enhancing the security and scalability of Neo. Neo is one of the first smart contract platforms, often dubbed as “Chinese Ethereum”. It supports multiple programming languages and has a loyal community. However, it has not been able to attract many DeFi applications. As of now, Neo is ranked 52nd by market capitalization, with $933 million.
Here is a real expert @NasiriQudrat called $GAS at $6 before the explosion to $30:
We also called at around the same time since great minds think alike!
And we called it at the top for a correction as well: