The global cryptocurrency market continued to gain traction from the recovery efforts of two weeks prior, adding another $100 billion to end the week at $2.2 trillion.
Bitcoin (BTC) was at the forefront, briefly regaining the $64,000 level. This bullish trend resulted in significant gains for many altcoins.
Below are some of the standout performers from last week:
Solana breaks above 20-day SMA
Solana (SOL) kicked off the week with a notable 4.21% drop. However, after a phase of consolidation, it showed a strong recovery, soaring by 13.01% from September 18 to 21.
This surge was largely attributed to the favorable response of the crypto market to the Federal Reserve’s 50 basis point interest rate cut, coinciding with the launch of Solana’s new device — Solana Seeker.
By the week’s end, Solana recorded an 8.76% increase, closing at $149.41.
The asset broke through the 20-day simple moving average (SMA) on September 19 and has stayed above it since. However, trading volume has been on a decline since peaking at 4.493 million SOL on September 20, indicating that the upward momentum may be waning.
If trading volume remains low, it could point to diminishing buying interest, potentially leading to a pullback. Key levels to monitor this week include support around $135 (the 20-day SMA) and resistance near $150.
Solana was co-founded by Anatoly Yakovenko, a former engineer at Qualcomm, who started Solana Labs in 2017 alongside co-founder Greg Fitzgerald, also from Qualcomm.
Raj Gokal and a group of developers were instrumental in launching Solana’s blockchain in March 2020.
Chainlink aims for $12
Chainlink (LINK) began the week with a slight dip alongside the general market but quickly bounced back, reaching a monthly peak of $11.74 on September 20.
Although LINK experienced a minor pullback, it managed to close the week with a modest gain of 1.76%. The token was one of the less active performers despite forming a partnership with Fireblocks for stablecoin issuance.
Currently, LINK trades above the mid Bollinger Band ($10.70) and is approaching a retest of the upper band ($11.74). Surpassing the resistance at this upper band could provide the bulls with enough momentum to target $12.
This week, traders should look for a breakout above $11.74, which could indicate further upward movement. However, a drop below the mid band at $10.70 would bring the support at the lower band ($9.65) back into play.
Chainlink was developed in 2017 by Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis, initially envisioned as a decentralized oracle network that connects smart contracts with real-world data.
Bittensor surges 43%
Bittensor (TAO) emerged as one of the top gainers last week, with the decentralized, open-source protocol soaring by 43%.
This rally allowed TAO to retest the $480 mark for the first time since May, though it encountered resistance at this level. Despite a slight decline, TAO is still trading at its highest point in four months.
In the Donchian Channels, TAO is above both the basis line ($350.1) and the lower line ($219.6), but is still just below the upper line ($480.5). This indicates that while the bullish momentum is strong, further gains could be limited unless TAO breaks above $480.5.
Furthermore, the Commodity Channel Index has jumped to 212.28, its highest level since January, suggesting that TAO may be overbought. This could potentially lead to a short-term pullback unless strong buying support continues.
Bittensor aims to establish a marketplace for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning models. The platform, founded by Shen-Juan Ting and Kei Kreutler, is designed to facilitate interaction between AI models, data sharing, and incentives through TAO tokens.
