Share this article
Kakao's Klay Cryptocurrency to Make First Exchange Listing
The "klay" cryptocurrency from messaging app giant Kakao is to make its first official exchange listing on Upbit later this month.
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 11:26 a.m. Published Sep 12, 2019, 11:30 a.m.
South Korean messaging giant Kakao's "klay" token – the native cryptocurrency of its recently launched Klaytn blockchain – is soon to make its first official exchange listing on Upbit's platform.
Ground X, the firm set up by Kakao to develop the Klaytn network, announced the news in a Medium post on Sept. 5, saying klay will list on Upbit's Singapore and Indonesia platforms by the end of this month.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Upbit Singapore revealed on Sept. 6 that klay will be listed following price discovery via a Dutch auction – in which the price is reduced until buyers are found – on Sept. 18.
The auction will run for 12 hours, or until a yet-to-be-determined hard cap is hit. Subsequently, successful bidders will receive their klays on Sept. 19. A klay/bitcoin trading pair will be enabled at a future date.
The exchange added that Upbit and Klaytn won't profit from the auction and Upbit will "redistribute all proceeds" to users in the future.
Kakao has not responded to questions from CoinDesk regarding how it plans to redistribute the proceeds and how much klay cryptocurrency it will make available for the auction. The exchange did say a total of 10 billion klay will be distributed through to 2021 in monthly tranches ranging from 29 million to 278 million tokens.
The news that Upbit is the first platform to list Klay is perhaps not surprising given the close association of the two entities. Headquartered in South Korea, Upbit is a crypto exchange operated by Dunamu, a firm backed by Kakao.
In its announcement, Upbit said that in a private sale in December 2018, Klay was priced at $0.03 per unit. Later, in April 2019, a private sale saw the cryptocurrency reach $0.08 apiece. Ground X reportedly raised $90 million in a private coin offering this spring.
It may seem unexpected that klay is launching in Singapore and Indonesia first, and not in the home nation of both Upbit and kakao. However, the listing announcement follows press reports suggesting that klay would have trouble listing in South Korea, where initial coin offerings are forbidden.
Kakao image via Shutterstock
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Bitcoin’s Deep Correction Sets Stage for December Rebound, Says K33 Research
K33 Research says market fear is outweighing fundamentals as bitcoin nears key levels. December could offer an entry point for bold investors.
What to know:
- K33 Research says bitcoin’s steep correction shows signs of bottoming, with December potentially marking a turning point.
- The firm has argued that the market is overreacting to long-term risks while ignoring near-term signals of strength, like low leverage and solid support levels.
- With likely policy shifts ahead and cautious positioning in futures, K33 sees more upside potential than risk of another major collapse.
Top Stories
