The global cryptocurrency market capitalization rose 7.9% this week, from $1.52 trillion to $1.64 trillion. While Bitcoin (BTC) largely catalyzed this impressive run with its push above $44,500, assets like Jito (JTO), Solana (SOL), and Avalanche (AVAX) also made their unique contributions.
Jito pushes for $5 in his debut
Jito, a liquid staking platform built on the Solana blockchain, launched its JTO governance token this week. The first trading price of JTO was $2.04 on December 7, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
The token immediately saw a surge, capitalizing on the ongoing run across the market and a massive 24-hour trading volume of $1.1 billion. Jito rose 80% to a price of $3.67 on December 8. However, the rally witnessed a hurdle at the high of $3.67, leading to a brief period of consolidation.
JTO finally broke out of the consolidation, supported by increased buying pressure and whale activity. The crypto asset took advantage of the resurgence to push for a target of $5, reaching a new high of $4.36 on December 9. This push to $5 was unsuccessful as the asset faced another resistance, leading to a collapse to $3.34.
The token is trading at $3.36 at the time of reporting, up 64.7% this week. JTO needs to hold above the $3.30 support to protect against any decline to Friday’s lows below $3. With a market capitalization of $382 million, Jito now ranks as the 147th largest cryptocurrency.
Jito’s initial coin offering (ICO) concluded on November 28.
Solana achieves pre-Terra highs
Solana’s positive momentum this week was also one of the catalysts behind the optimism around Jito.
As in previous weeks, SOL reached new local highs, taking advantage of Bitcoin’s uptrend and sustained buying pressure among whale addresses.
Solana started this week priced at $63 after reclaiming psychological price thresholds of $40, $50, and $60 in recent weeks. The asset’s goal of conquering $70 territory this week was achieved as it rose 23.5% to a high of $77.78 on December 9.
This price increase indicated that Solana had not only recovered the losses from the FTX collapse but also some of the losses from the Terra implosion.
The last time SOL saw a price above $75 was in early May 2022. Although the token encountered resistance at $77.78, it maintained its bullish trend and is currently trading at $71.94 amid a decline of 2.64% today.
Despite the decline, SOL remains above the 50-day EMA ($52.64) and 200-day EMA ($34.23), suggesting that short- and long-term bullish momentum remains. . Solana’s daily RSI is currently at 68, indicating an elevated level of buying activity amid the uptrend.
Solana founder, former Qualcomm executive Anatoly Yakovenko, spoke about the early days of the open source blockchain platform in a social media post on December 9.
Avalanche records six consecutive intraday wins
The Avalanche stood out as one of the top performers this week, with six straight intraday wins.
The crypto asset started the week with an impressive 3.37% gain on December 4, going from $21.94 to $22.68. This rise extended into the next day, with AVAX rising 8.20% on Tuesday in an attempt to regain the price of $25.
Avalanche finally hit the $25 target on December 6 amid an extension of the rally. The asset maintained its bullish trend throughout the week, leading to reclaiming the much-coveted $30 threshold on December 8. Interestingly, AVAX posted no intraday losses this week.
However, amid the recent market slowdown, the token is down 0.13% today and is currently trading at $31.87. Avalanche is up 45% this week. The asset must defend the $30.44 support to maintain its uptrend amid the momentary market correction.
Ava Labs, founded by CEO Emin Gün Sirer, is the startup behind the Avalanche network.
