According to The Block: Tron (TRX), the native token of the network, rose approximately 80% over the past day.
Some people are linking this rise to the political chaos triggered by the sudden announcement of martial law by the South Korean president.
An analyst stated that the rise of Tron is a mix of several factors, including 'dino rotation.'
Tron is the native token of Justin Sun's Tron network, which has risen about 80% over the past day, driven by various factors including political chaos in South Korea, which is one of the largest and most responsive retail cryptocurrency markets in the world.
According to The Block's price page, TRX has risen by 78.4%, currently trading at $0.40. On Tuesday evening, TRX briefly surged to over $0.43. The DeFi protocol token based on Tron, Just, rose by 50%, trading at $0.06.
Some users on social media platform X attributed the sudden rise of Tron to the chaotic situation in South Korea.
On Tuesday evening, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol announced an emergency martial law, the first in over 40 years. South Korea's martial law refers to direct military control over civilian government functions, usually in response to significant threats to public order.
Yoon Suk-yeol lifted the martial law five hours later, after lawmakers in Congress unanimously voted against the declaration.
X user @toy7594 wrote: "During the martial law, all cryptocurrencies seem to have turned to foreign exchanges because South Korean exchanges crashed. TRON is rising."
The country's two largest centralized exchanges, Upbit and Bithumb, reported service suspensions due to a surge in activity, lasting one to two hours.
Rachael Lucas, a crypto analyst at BTC Markets, stated: "The recent rise of Tron (TRX) may partly be due to political instability in South Korea. TRX, widely used as a transfer token between exchanges, makes it a tool for traders looking to transfer funds quickly."
Lucas pointed out that Upbit's trading restrictions (which sometimes account for over 80% of the country's spot trading volume) may have prompted traders to seek alternatives, thereby increasing TRX trading volume.
Meanwhile, Min Jung, an analyst at Presto Research, told The Block that while this political event may have played a role in Tron’s rise, the increase is unlikely to be driven solely by this event.
"This could also be part of a broader 'dino rotation,' where traditional cryptocurrencies like $XRP are rising under current market conditions," Jung said. Other cryptocurrencies considered traditional tokens, such as Iota and Vechain, have also recently witnessed increases.
"Additionally, there are rumors that a significant portion of the $TRX supply is controlled by Justin Sun, raising questions about whether this rise is natural or influenced," Jung told The Block.
Justin Sun, founder of the TRON Foundation, has frequently appeared in the news recently, as he was appointed as an advisor to World Liberty Financial, a DeFi project supported by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
Last month, Sun also spent $6.2 million to buy Maurizio Cattelan's famous banana artwork 'Comedian' taped to a wall, and he ate it at a press conference held last week.
