ORCA rides Upbit volumes to one-month peak above $1.29

ORCA, the native token of the Orca DEX, rallied against the market, turning into one of the day’s winners. The token triggered a short squeeze, in addition to a boost from whale buying. 

ORCA climbed to a one-month peak over $1.62 in a seemingly unexpected rally. The token rose rapidly, adding more than 62% to its price in a single day. ORCA also traded with the highest volumes since December, breaking above $182M in the past 24 hours. 

ORCA was tracking the crypto market while slowly unwinding, leading to an accumulation of short positions. The token slumped despite the Orca DEX’s role in the Solana ecosystem and its still robust trading volumes. 

The main driver of ORCA is derivative trading. The token has seen previous rallies boosted by a short squeeze, when derivative markets reacted. 

During the recent rally, open interest for the token rose to a six-month peak of over $23M, as traders attempted to make the best of a short-term pump. Orca has previously achieved 170% daily rallies, caused by its Upbit listing. 

Why is ORCA rallying? 

The main reason for ORCA liquidations was a short squeeze, catching $1.83M in short positions for the past 24 hours. As the token climb accelerated, $454K in liquidations happened in a single hour. 

ORCA reacts extremely fast, as it has a high concentration of trading on South Korean exchanges. The token is thus similar to PENGU or other assets listed on Bithumb and Upbit. 

More than 75% of ORCA volumes are against the Korean won, tapping a market with still sufficient enthusiasm for crypto tokens. Everywhere else, ORCA has been shorted along with other altcoins. Additionally, a known Bithumb whale has continued to accumulate ORCA in expectations of a return to a higher price range. 

The Bithumb whale is accumulating $ORCA again. pic.twitter.com/FKrJw0HpYo

— yoonseok (@koreaOnchain) February 17, 2026

While ORCA is highly active in South Korea, the token is barely represented on Hyperliquid. More than 50% of the asset’s activity is concentrated on Upbit, also allowing concentrated liquidity to sway the price. 

ORCA remains a key DEX on Solana

Orca is among the top 10 fee producers on Solana and among the top five DEXs on the platform. The exchange produces $135K in daily fees, currently at a lower baseline compared to more active periods. 

Orca is the main venue for trading Solana liquid staking tokens (LST), though the market lags behind the meme token trend. 

The DEX locks in $263M, but deploys the activity in strategic price points for Solana LST. 

While the Orca project faces pressure from general market conditions, it retains its community and shows spikes of interest. During the latest rally, ORCA mindshare recovered by 30%, showing attention was still there for active tokens with sufficient liquidity.

The smartest crypto minds already read our newsletter. Want in? Join them.