MORPHO whale activity hits 10-month high as Upbit opens won trading

South Korean traders pushed MORPHO on-chain activity to multi-month highs on the same day Upbit opened a won trading pair for the token.

MORPHO on Ethereum recorded 68 whale transactions above $100,000 on July 26, the highest daily count since Oct. 2, 2025, Santiment data shows.

The spike coincided with Upbit listing MORPHO in its Korean won market at 6 p.m. KST that day, the exchange said. The KRW pair now accounts for 12.26% of daily MORPHO volume, the largest share of any venue, ahead of Binance.

Wallet creation rose to 337 new addresses, the strongest daily reading since March 15, while traders moved 4.35 million MORPHO off exchanges, the largest single-day outflow since Feb. 4, Santiment data shows. MORPHO climbed from about $1.93 to an intraday high of $2.17 within hours of the listing announcement, with daily volume surging nearly fivefold to about $71 million, CoinGecko data shows.

The rally proved short-lived. MORPHO slipped to near $1.90 on July 27 and now trades at about $1.99, roughly where it sat a week earlier. Daily volume has fallen back to about $22 million. The token faces resistance at $2.20, a level it has failed to break through in recent months, with support at $1.60, according to technical analysis. The next few weeks will show whether Korean access translates into sustained demand or remains a one-day event.

Korean Demand Drives 13% of Global MORPHO Volume

Won-denominated pairs across all venues make up about 13% of global MORPHO turnover, giving South Korean retail traders significant influence over short-term price movements. The concentration mirrors patterns seen with other tokens listed on Upbit, where local demand often creates a premium that attracts arbitrageurs. Upbit, South Korea's largest exchange by volume, has been expanding its KRW market offerings, having recently listed Euler (EUL) on July 26 as well, signaling continued interest in decentralized lending protocols.

The divergence between strengthening on-chain fundamentals and a range-bound price below $2 highlights the market's wait-and-see posture. The Relative Strength Index sits at about 47, indicating neutral momentum with room for movement in either direction, according to technical data. The Volume Profile shows MORPHO trading near the Point of Control at about $1.93, the level with the highest trading activity over the analyzed period, suggesting the market is in equilibrium as buyers and sellers remain evenly matched.

What to Watch

A decisive break above $2.20 could convert the accumulation signals into a sustained rally, while a loss of the $1.60 support level may expose the token to a deeper pullback. The broader DeFi lending sector, where MORPHO operates as a modular lending protocol on Ethereum, has seen renewed interest following Euler's v2 relaunch and growing total value locked across multiple protocols. Whether the Korean listing effect fades or compounds will depend on sustained retail engagement and broader crypto market conditions in the weeks ahead.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.