The Gatechain Token (GT), a new cryptocurrency issued by Chinese cryptocurrency exchange Gate.io, saw a jaw-dropping 97400% surge in its value shortly after it began trading on the exchange on April 21.

Gate.io claimed on Sunday that it launched GT margin trading and borrowing/ lending services, which allow traders to go long or go short by borrowing USDT or GT. Surprisingly, GT price peaked at $0.975, representing a surge of 97400% on its opening price of $0.001 several hours after GT holders started to trade it at UTC 8 a.m., April 21. At the time of writing, GT is trading at $0.9338 with the 24-hour trading volume of $249.74 million.

Although GT, the native token of Gatechain, the exchange’s yet-to-be-launched proprietary blockchain, will not be launched until Gatechain goes live, traders can get GT distribution through buying the so-called Gate Points, which can be used for offsetting trading fees on the platform.

When it comes to the reason behind the approximately 100000% gain in GT value within 24 hours, Gate.io said because the exchange initially allowed traders to place sell orders before the trading began, some users posted extremely low ask prices that led to the low opening price of GT. According to the exchange, in average, GT buyer pays $0.43 for one token. It means their investment in the crypto has doubled in value.

On the same day, the digital assets trading platform announced that it saw up to $62.46 million worth of orders placed during the second Gate Point sale which ended on Sunday. One Gate Point is worth 1 USDT in reduced fees, and users get GT as a reward at a maximum rate of 2.5 GT to 1 POINT. The points are purchasable with other mainstream cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin(BTC), tether(USDT), ether(ETH), EOS, or the tokens of rival exchanges Binance (BNB) or Huobi (HT).

The exchange has raised $64 million worth of crypto assets in the first phase of the Gate Point sale with 150 million GT distributed. Gate.io added that a yearlong third phase is starting today and the GT reward ratio will be largely decreased.

Demand for GT is increasing as the initial exchange offerings (IEO) on the exchange’s token sale platform continues to gain momentum. Gate.io released Startup, an IEO platform that aims to provide its users with early participation in innovative and advanced projects, last week. The platform’s second IEO project, known as DREP, which is designed to build “connectors” and “toolkits” using blockchain technology, will start to raise funds on April 25. GT holders can participate in the event. The price of GT is expected to remain bullish in the next few days.