- $BERA’s price plummeted 64% after launch, from $14.83 to around $5.5, despite listings on major exchanges.
- Korean exchange listings triggered wild price swings, from $7 to over $15, followed by a dramatic sell-off.
- Unrestricted Binance withdrawals enabled arbitrage, flooding Korean markets with $BERA and causing a price crash.
The initial excitement surrounding BERA, the native gas token of the Berachain network has waned. Since it launched at $14.83 on Kraken the token’s value has fallen to around $5.5. This represents a loss of approximately 64% from its initial listing price.
Berachain launched the native token on February 6th. It’s an Ethereum-compatible Layer-1 blockchain, that uses a unique “Proof-of-Liquidity” system to secure its network. It’s built using BeaconKit, a framework that makes it easier to create and manage blockchains.
A community known as “Kaito yappers” heavily promoted the project and received $BERA tokens through an airdrop. The token was immediately listed on major cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance and Kraken on the launch day.
Market experts took note of the dramatic wild swings noting its rapid rise from “$7 → $15… to the unexpected drop.” One analyst pointed out Korean CEX listings (Upbit, Bithumb) where both the exchanges announced listings at the same time as Binance (1 PM UTC). But then unexpectedly delayed “until further notice.”
Upbit, a major Korean exchange, initially scheduled the $BERA listing for 2:50 PM UTC, triggering the price to jump from $10.7 to $14.3. Bithumb, another Korean exchange, then unexpectedly announced their own listing for 2:30 PM UTC, 20 minutes before Upbit. This caused another price surge, pushing the token above $15.
$BERA’s Korean Listing: A Pump and Dump Fueled by Arbitrage
Unlike previous exchange listings, Binance did not restrict $BERA withdrawals. This meant that traders could easily deposit the token into Upbit and Bithumb to take advantage of any price differences (a process called arbitrage).
When trading finally opened on the Korean exchanges, instead of a “moonshot”, a massive sell-off ensued. Traders who had bought the token elsewhere and deposited it into Upbit/Bithumb quickly sold their tokens, driving the price down rapidly (from $13 to $8 in just one hour).
The expert highlights two key takeaways:
Firstly, Korean retail investors can significantly influence cryptocurrency prices. Liquidity and arbitrage are crucial factors in exchange listings. In this case, the uncapped Binance withdrawals allowed arbitrageurs to flood the Korean exchanges with $BERA, leading to a price crash. Understanding these dynamics is essential for successfully trading around exchange listings..
As of now, $BERA’s price movement hasn’t shown a strong correlation with $BTC, $ETH, $SOL, or $FARTCOIN in its early trading days. The token is currently in a “price discovery” phase, meaning the market is still determining its fair value.