Tron (TRX) Experiences 80% Rally Amid South Korean Political Chaos

Tron (TRX), the native token of Justin Sun's Tron network, has experienced a surge of about 80% in the past day, driven by various factors, including political instability in South Korea, known for having one of the largest and most reactive retail cryptocurrency markets globally.

TRX increased by 78.4%, trading at $0.40, with a peak above $0.43 at approximately 11 p.m. (JST) on Tuesday. Additionally, Just (JST), the token for Tron-based DeFi protocols, rose by 50% to $0.06.

Social media discussions on platform X have pointed to the unrest in South Korea as a catalyst for TRX's rally. On Tuesday evening, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol declared emergency martial law for the first time in over 40 years, imposing military control over civilian functions in response to severe threats to public order. However, the martial law was rescinded five hours later after lawmakers voted unanimously against it.

Comments from users like @toy7594 highlighted that during the martial law period, cryptocurrencies were being moved to foreign exchanges as local platforms experienced disruptions.

The two major centralized exchanges, Upbit and Bithumb, reported service outages of one to two hours due to a spike in activity.

Rachael Lucas, a crypto analyst at BTC Markets, noted that the political turmoil appears to be incentivizing trading in TRX, especially in South Korea where TRX serves as a widely used transfer token across exchanges. Trading limitations on Upbit, which sometimes accounts for over 80% of the spot trading volume in South Korea, could prompt traders to seek alternatives, enhancing TRX's trading volume.

Presto Research analyst Min Jung acknowledged the political situation's influence on the TRX rally but emphasized that other factors might also contribute. Trends like a 'Dino rotation', where traditional cryptocurrencies like XRP have recently surged, might also play a role. Other legacy tokens, including Iota and Vechain, have exhibited similar upward movement.

Concerns have been raised regarding Justin Sun's significant control over TRX's supply, suggesting that the rally might not solely stem from organic market demand. As the founder of the TRON Foundation, Sun has made headlines recently due to his new advisory role with World Liberty Financial, a DeFi project associated with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump. Last month, he also made waves by purchasing Maurizio Cattelan's duct-taped banana artwork "Comedian" for $6.2 million and famously consumed it during a press conference.