Can bulls go higher and target $400, or will bears prevail in the short term?
Monero (XMR) is trading around $272 at the time of writing as the native token of the privacy-focused cryptocurrency hits resistance around $285 again.
While Monero price has seen a significant spike since dipping to lows of $233 in mid-August, bears are showing teeth and could target fresh declines below $270.
This is as XMR witnesses a 29% increase in daily volume to over $125 million.
Monero’s XMR climbed to $285 in early trading on August 27 as the crypto market experienced a slight bounce.
With the likes of Synthetix mirroring Ethereum, Solana and XRP flipping positive, XMR moved higher to test bears near the $285 supply wall that has capped upside momentum since mid-August.
This uptick reflects in Monero’s 3% gain as of writing, and sees losses over a difficult 30 days for XMR trimmed to about -17%.
The turbulence after the reported 51% attack on the privacy coin Qubic saw traders panic amid fears of network vulnerabilities.
Kraken’s temporary suspension of XMR deposits also added to the pressure, with the price moving down to lows of $233.
However, despite the setback, Monero’s community and miners have swiftly rallied.
Decentralised mining pool P2Pool, for instance, cut Qubic’s dominance to restore network stability, and aided XMR’s bounce to $285.
Speculative interest in Monero, signalled by a 28% surge in derivatives volume and positive flip in open interest to over $41 million, is highlighting XMR’s resilience.
From a technical point of view, indicators such as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Moving Average Convergence Divergence are favouring bulls.
The RSI on the daily chart is above the neutral point, while the MACD recently highlighted a bullish crossover.
Coupled with a broader market outlook, the picture is that bearish momentum may persist, but bulls have the resolve and short-term technical support for an upward bounce.
In this case, a potential climb to $300 could see XMR eye $344 and then $400.
However, regulatory crackdowns and broader market weakness could drag Monero prices to under $250, with potential support at $230 and then $200.
Analysts at QCP say the macro environment and broader de-risking could push Bitcoin lower, likely also impacting alts.
“Crypto has softened as genuine supply from large holders weighs. $BTC conviction could be tested further if US equities leg lower, raising the risk of another round of TradFi de-risking,” the analysts wrote.
