Quick answer: The IRYS price jumped from a low of $0.025 at 04:10 UTC on Oct. 23, 2026, to a record $0.296 at 19:24 UTC, a 1,078% move, per CoinGecko. By 03:50 UTC on Oct. 24 it traded near $0.09, about 69% below the peak, after roughly $63.5 million in liquidations, most of them shorts.
The IRYS price just had one of the wildest days in crypto this year. The token of Irys, a layer 1 “datachain”, climbed more than elevenfold in about 15 hours on Oct. 23, 2026, wiped out a wave of short sellers, and then lost most of the gain before Asian markets opened on Oct. 24.
Here is what the numbers show, where the buying came from, and why traders are being told not to chase it.
How far did the IRYS price move?
According to CoinGecko market data, IRYS hit a 24-hour low of $0.0251 at 04:10 UTC on Oct. 23 and a new all-time high of $0.296 at 19:24 UTC the same day. That is a gain of about 1,078%.
The move did not hold. By 03:50 UTC on Oct. 24, IRYS traded at about $0.0915, around 69% below the record. Even after the drop, the token was still up about 258% over 24 hours and about 600% over seven days, per CoinGecko.
Why did IRYS pump so hard?
There was no single announcement behind the rally. The data points to a mix of heavy Korean spot buying and a crowded short position in futures.
A short squeeze. About $63.5 million in IRYS positions were liquidated in 24 hours, and roughly 88.5% of that was short positions, according to figures shared by Coinranking on X. When shorts are forced to close, they have to buy, which pushes the price higher and triggers the next round of liquidations.
Korean exchange volume. CoinGecko’s market tickers show Upbit’s IRYS/KRW pair handled about $885 million of volume in 24 hours, and Bithumb about $170 million. Together that is well over half of IRYS’s total $1.68 billion daily volume. We covered how Upbit flows can move a token in our Reserve Rights Upbit listing report.
Thin float. CoinGecko lists 2 billion IRYS in circulation out of a 10 billion total supply. That gave a market cap of about $183 million against a fully diluted value near $915 million on Oct. 24. Daily volume was roughly nine times the market cap, a sign of very fast turnover.
Was the IRYS rally manipulated?
Nobody has shown proof either way, and CryptoVank found no official statement from Irys or the exchanges about the move. Some traders on X openly suspect it. Analyst CB_BeamPay argued that large Upbit spot buyers drove the “scheme pump” and warned that other low-float tokens could see the same pattern. That is one trader’s view, not a finding.
What the public data does show is a classic pattern: a quiet range near $0.02, a vertical candle, record liquidations and a fast retrace. Moves like this often see sharp rebounds and second drops in the following days.
What is Irys?
Irys describes itself on its official website as a programmable datachain, a layer 1 network that combines onchain data storage with smart contract execution. Its IrysVM is EVM-compatible, so developers can write Ethereum-style contracts that work directly with stored data. Users can choose between temporary, term-based storage and permanent storage, per the project’s CoinGecko description.
The token trades on Upbit, Bithumb, OKX, KuCoin, Gate, Bitget, Coinbase Exchange and PancakeSwap on BNB Chain, according to CoinGecko.
What it means for the market
The IRYS run shows how quickly leverage can flip on a small-cap token. Shorts piled in as the price rose, and the squeeze turned a steady climb into a vertical one. The same leverage then made the exit just as fast.
For traders, three numbers matter now: the $0.296 record high, the roughly $0.08 area where the price held overnight on the hourly chart, and the 8 billion IRYS that are not yet circulating. Any future unlocks could add selling pressure. Leverage on tokens like this is risky; our look at Pump.fun’s 40x perps shows how fast high leverage can wipe out positions.
IRYS Price FAQ
Why did the IRYS price go up 1,000%?
IRYS rose about 1,078% on Oct. 23, 2026, as heavy spot buying on Upbit met a crowded short position. Roughly $63.5 million in positions were liquidated, about 88.5% of them shorts, per figures shared by Coinranking.
What is the IRYS price now?
IRYS traded near $0.0915 at 03:50 UTC on Oct. 24, 2026, about 69% below its record of $0.296 set at 19:24 UTC on Oct. 23, according to CoinGecko.
Where is IRYS trading the most?
Upbit is the largest market. Its IRYS/KRW pair handled about $885 million of the token’s $1.68 billion daily volume on Oct. 24, 2026, followed by Bithumb with about $170 million, per CoinGecko.
How much IRYS is in circulation?
CoinGecko lists 2 billion IRYS circulating out of a 10 billion total supply, so about 20% is liquid. That puts the fully diluted value near $915 million against a market cap of about $183 million.
Is it too late to buy IRYS?
Nobody can say. The token already gave back about 69% from its peak within hours, and moves this fast often stay volatile for days. Never trade more than you can afford to lose.
Not financial advice. Crypto prices are highly volatile; do your own research (DYOR) before making any decisions.
