Aztec rockets 80% following simultaneous Upbit and Bithumb listings

Aztec (AZTEC), the native utility and governance token of Aztec Network, a hybrid public-private Ethereum layer 2 protocol, shot up over 80% today after Upbit and Bithumb, South Korea’s two dominant digital asset exchanges, listed the token.

The dual debut unleashed a wave of Korean won-denominated buying, pushing the token from $0.019 to $0.037 and lifting its market capitalization to approximately $100 million from $57 million before the announcement.

AZTEC is now trading at $0.033, up 73% in the last 24 hours, CoinGecko data shows.

Trading volume also ballooned as retail investors piled in, a pattern consistent with the so-called kimchi premium that frequently inflates prices on Korean platforms.

Aztec Network is a zero-knowledge smart contract platform that enables developers to build applications with built-in privacy. The project aims to solve default transparency, one of Ethereum’s biggest limitations, by letting users keep balances, transactions, and smart contract logic confidential without sacrificing security or decentralization.

The AZTEC token generation event took place on February 12 and has seen rapid expansion across major global exchanges, such as Coinbase, Kraken, Bybit, and KuCoin.

AZTEC powers the Aztec Network ecosystem, serving as the backbone for staking, governance, and future transaction fees.