IRYS soars 1,200% in a day, then loses over 70%: how a short squeeze works

What happened. According to The Defiant, using CoinGecko data, IRYS rose about 1,208% in 24 hours on Friday and about 2,083% over seven days. On Bitget the IRYS/USDT pair traded between 0.02031 and 0.29517 USDT over 24 hours. Most trading happened on the Korean exchange Upbit: 609.3 billion won in a day. The May high on Bitget was 0.08985 USDT.

How a short squeeze works. A short is a bet that the price will fall, often made with borrowed money. If the price rises, the exchange closes the losing position by force, and closing a short means buying. Buying pushes the price up, and the next shorts get liquidated. According to AMBCrypto, about $24.2 million of IRYS positions were liquidated in 24 hours, $21.4 million of them shorts. Open interest, the value of all open futures, reached about $1.22 billion.

Futures went even further than spot. MarsBit reports that IRYS perpetual futures briefly rose above $0.50, up more than 780% in four hours, before falling back to around $0.10. The spot price followed: on Saturday morning CoinGecko showed $0.0813.

What we know about the project. Irys combines data storage with smart contracts. The IRYS token pays for storage and computing and is staked to validate the network. About 2 billion tokens circulate, 20% of the 10 billion total. Team and investor tokens are locked for the first year, and part of the supply is set aside for liquidity and handled by exchanges and market makers.

What nobody knows. AMBCrypto writes that the data does not show what started the rally or how much of it came from forced buying. None of the sources we read names news from the project itself as the cause.

Fatos confirmados

• On 23 October IRYS rose about 1,208% in 24 hours to $0.2806, and about 2,083% over seven days.^[1]
• On Bitget the IRYS/USDT pair traded between 0.02031 and 0.29517 USDT over 24 hours; the May high was 0.08985 USDT.^[1]
• IRYS turnover on Upbit reached 609.3 billion won in 24 hours.^[1]
• About $24.2 million of IRYS positions were liquidated in 24 hours: about $21.4 million shorts and about $2.8 million longs.^[2]
• Open interest in IRYS futures reached about $1.22 billion.^[2]
• According to AMBCrypto, what started the rally is not known.^[2]
• IRYS perpetual futures briefly topped $0.50, up more than 780% in four hours, then fell back to around $0.10.^[3]
• On the morning of 24 October IRYS traded at $0.0813, with a 24-hour high of $0.2959, $1.3 billion in 24-hour volume and a market value of about $163 million.^[4]
• About 2 billion IRYS circulate, 20% of 10 billion; team and investor tokens are locked for the first year.^[1]

Implicações

• ConfirmadoAnyone who bought IRYS near the peak is now down more than 70%.
• Nossa leituraSmall tokens with heavy futures trading can reverse within hours, and trading them with leverage is risky both ways.
• Nossa leituraHeavy trading against a small market value means the price is easy to push both up and down.

Ainda não se sabe

• What started the rally on 23 October.
• How much of the rise came from forced buying during liquidations.
• Whether the Irys team will comment on the price move.

Quem é afetado

Worldwide, South Korea. Those who trade altcoins and leveraged futures

Fontes

1. The Defiant: IRYS Surges 1,200% Past May Listing Peak 23 de outubro de 2026 · mídia
2. AMBCrypto (Cryptonews.net): IRYS crypto jumps nearly 580% as traders betting against it lose $21M 23 de outubro de 2026 · mídia
3. MarsBit (KuCoin News): IRYS Price Surges Over 280% in 24 Hours Amid Short Squeeze 24 de outubro de 2026 · mídia
4. CoinGecko: Irys Price: IRYS/USD Live Price Chart, Market Cap & News Today 24 de outubro de 2026 · mídia