Yen-pegged stablecoin JPYC experienced extreme volatility on its first day of trading on Upbit in South Korea. 📈 JPYC opened at ₩12 at 6:05 PM on September 17 before surging to a peak of ₩37.6 just over an hour later. The token then plunged rapidly, falling to ₩8.92 by 2:32 AM on September 18. As JPYC is designed around a reference value of 1 JPYC = 1 JPY, a more than fourfold price swing is highly unusual for a stablecoin. The sharp move appears to have been influenced by initial liquidity and the availability of deposit networks. When trading began, Upbit initially supported deposits and withdrawals only through Ethereum, limiting the ability of JPYC held elsewhere to flow into the exchange. Upbit later added support for Kaia and Polygon deposits, increasing the potential supply of JPYC available for trading. The price began falling sharply shortly after the additional deposit routes went live. Trading volume in the KRW market reached approximately ₩130.4 billion within the first two hours. The episode highlights how even stablecoins can experience significant price gaps from their underlying reference value when exchange liquidity is limited. As cross-chain transfers and arbitrage become more accessible, such price discrepancies can be reduced. Overall, JPYC’s Korean debut shows that exchange liquidity and cross-chain asset mobility can play a major role in maintaining stablecoin price stability, especially during an initial listing. 👀
