VIRTUAL, the native token of the AI agent generator platform Virtuals Protocol, climbed during European trading hours after Upbit, South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, said it would list the coin . The price surged 28% to $2.61, almost testing the downtrend line that characterizes the sell-off from the Jan. 2 record high of around $5.25, data tracked by TradingView and CoinDesk show. The price jump followed Upbit's decision to list the VIRTUAL/KRW, VIRTUAL/USDT and VIRTUAL/BTC markets, exposing the token to altcoin savvy Korean traders. Early this month, Virtuals Protocol announced a program to buy back and destroy ecosystem agent tokens using the almost 13 million VIRTUAL tokens accumulated from post-bonding trading income. The protocol, a Base native, recently expanded to Solana via LayerZero, launching a Meteora pool to enhance trading and engagement and announced the creation of a SOL reserve through conversion of 1% of trading fees to SOL.