What To Know:
- KernelDAO’s token $KERN jumped 35% after its listing on Upbit, hitting a high of $0.267 before settling near $0.2023.
- The KRW market listing marks a milestone for KernelDAO, a project focused on restaking and LRT infrastructure.
- Upbit set trading limits and reminded investors about volatility and cross-exchange price gaps.
KernelDAO Protocol’s native crypto, $KERNEL, surged 35% after South Korea’s leading exchange, Upbit, announced its listing. At the time of writing, it was seen trading around $0.1927 and maintaining a strong 18% rebound in investor sentiment.
$KERNEL Surges Post Listing on Upbit
The rally came after Upbit confirmed that it will list KERNEL on its Korean Won (KRW) market, opening trading at 4:30 PM local time on October 28, 2025.
Within hours of the announcement, the crypto jumped by nearly 35%, and reached a high of $0.267, according to Binance market data.
The listing marks another milestone for KernelDAO, a project that focuses on restaking infrastructure and the broader liquid restaking (LRT) ecosystem.
In its official notice, Upbit described KernelDAO as a protocol that issues LRTs backed by baskets of correlated assets. These LRTs can be restaked on Karak, and allows users to unlock additional liquidity and maximize their yield opportunities. Upbit added that deposits and withdrawals will only be supported on the Ethereum network, with the official contract address confirmed as 0x3f80b1c54ae920be41a77f8b902259d48cf24ccf.
The exchange has urged users to double-check the network before transferring funds, and has warned that deposits made via unsupported networks will not be reflected and may take time to recover. It also mentioned that in the early hours of listing.
For the first five minutes after trading opens, buy orders will be limited, while sell orders priced more than 10% below the previous day’s closing price will be restricted. Moreover, for the first two hours, only limit orders will be permitted, with all other order types temporarily disabled.
Upbit emphasized that trading restrictions are based on prices from its BTC market, where KERNEL’s previous closing price stood at 0.00000144 BTC, equivalent to 243.3 KRW. The exchange added that if sufficient liquidity is not secured, the listing time may be delayed.
- KernelDAO’s ecosystem consists of three main services: Kernel, Kelp, and Gain.
- Kernel focuses on providing restaking services on the BNB Chain, supporting BNB LRT and BTC LRT.
- Kelp operates as an Ethereum restaking protocol, giving users access to ETH-based restaking options.
Gain functions as a vault-type smart contract, managing deposits of ETH, rsETH, and LSTs to optimize yield strategies.
The KERNEL token serves multiple roles across this ecosystem, including governance participation, restaking, and slashing insurance. It is also used as a reward mechanism within the network, which provides incentives for node operators and liquidity providers.
Following the listing news, trading activity around KERNEL increased on both Upbit and international platforms. South Korea’s crypto market remains one of the most active, with Upbit commanding more than 80% of local trading volume.
While investor enthusiasm surged, Upbit’s compliance team has issued a reminder of potential risks and issues. The exchange said that digital assets can experience extreme price volatility driven by speculative demand and regulatory changes. It warned that investment decisions should be made independently and that any resulting losses would be the responsibility of the investor.
The platform also noted the persistent price differences between domestic and international exchanges, which cautioned traders to account for discrepancies before placing orders. Upbit said it continues to enforce measures such as minimum order limits to maintain stable trading conditions . As per the notice, the platform also acknowledged that members may encounter order stabilization messages during high-traffic periods.
The project’s team has previously positioned Kernel as a core component of the emerging restaking infrastructure layer. The project bridges liquidity between different chains while reducing fragmentation.
As of press time, KERNEL remains among the top-performing tokens of the day on Upbit’s KRW market. The listing has brought fresh attention to restaking protocols and their growing role in decentralized finance.
Also Read: Binance Clarifies: No Fees, No Hidden Costs For Listing
