Shiba Inu surges 36% as South Korean traders fuel mystery rally

Markets Shiba Inu surges 36% as South Korean traders fuel mystery rally By Shaurya Malwa Jul 26, 2026, 7:29 a.m. 2 min read Make preferred on Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Make preferred on Shiba inu, the dog breed that inspired the SHIB memecoin. (Getty Images) Summary Show Shiba Inu jumped about 36 percent to $0.0000057 on Sunday, adding roughly $1 billion in market value in a day without any clear fundamental catalyst. The token’s market capitalization is now near $3.4 billion on almost $380 million in daily trading volume, its highest turnover ranking in months. South Korean traders on Upbit, where the SHIB/KRW pair accounts for more than a tenth of global volume and trades at a slight premium, appear to be driving the move, while liquidations of short positions followed the rally rather than causing it. Shiba Inu rose 36% to about $0.0000057 on Sunday, adding roughly a billion dollars to its market value in a day, with no announcement or development to account for it. The token now carries a market cap near $3.4 billion on almost $380 million of daily volume, its highest turnover ranking in months. SHIB prices are up 35% in the past 24 hours. (CoinDesk Data) Nothing has emerged from Shibarium, the network's layer-2, and the wider dog-token complex has lagged. Dogecoin gained 6% over the same stretch, and smaller-cap tokens moved as much as 10%, which pointed to something specific to SHIB rather than a rotation into memecoins. South Korean buying stands out. Upbit's SHIB/KRW pair is the single largest market at about $62 million, over a tenth of global volume, and it prints a slight premium to Binance and the other dollar venues. The country’s traders are known to drive exuberant rallies in high-volatility tokens, and the token's climb fits that pattern, with a first push late Saturday, nine flat hours, then a second move through the Asian morning. Short sellers paid for the jump, however. About $6 million in SHIB and 1000SHIB positions were liquidated across roughly 2,300 traders , some $5 million of that shorts, with the heaviest hour landing squarely on the second leg. Those liquidations followed the price up rather than causing it, and at that size they cannot explain a move this large. Shiba Inu launched in August 2020 as an Ethereum token created by an anonymous developer known as Ryoshi, pitched openly as a "Dogecoin killer" with no product behind it. The project has since built out Shibarium, a layer-2 network, and a broader token ecosystem, though SHIB remains far below its 2021 high and trades primarily on retail sentiment rather than anything the ecosystem produces. Latest Crypto News 1 Crypto exchange BitMart to shut down after nine years, BMX token crashes 58% 32 minutes ago 2 Russia’s largest bank Sberbank plans crypto trading infrastructure by December 14 hours ago 3 North Korea arrests hackers accused of laundering stolen funds from country's bank via crypto 15 hours ago 4 Democratizing weather derivatives through tokenization could be crypto's most important real-world use case 18 hours ago 5 Robinhood Chain's real-world assets jump fivefold as tokenized stocks start trading in bigger size 21 hours ago 6 Senate Dems should accept the victory they won on Trump's crypto limits: White House Jul 24, 2026 7 Sam Altman-backed World Network secures $52.5 million in fresh funding to fight online AI deepfakes Jul 24, 2026 8 Institutional crypto trading platform LMAX is exploring sale, IPO Jul 24, 2026 9 Saylor and team overhaul Strategy's bitcoin metrics as bear market persists Jul 24, 2026 10 Brazilian farmers tokenized dairy cows to get loans, bypassing bank lending limits Jul 24, 2026 Latest Research Crypto Flows, Share and the Selective Rotation Crypto Flows, Share and the Selective Rotation Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows. By CoinDesk Research Jul 22, 2026 Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows. Why it matters : Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows. View Full Report More From Markets Crypto exchange BitMart to shut down after nine years, BMX token crashes 58% Saylor and team overhaul Strategy's bitcoin metrics as bear market persists Brazilian farmers tokenized dairy cows to get loans, bypassing bank lending limits