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.