Despite strong activity on the chain, Monero faces short-term selling pressure
Monero (XMR) faces short-term selling pressure below key moving averages. Despite the exchange listings, activity on the chain remains strong. The support is at $300 and the immediate resistance is near $381.
Monero (XMR) cryptocurrency has experienced significant short-term volatility since reaching a high of nearly $798 in January.
In the past month alone, XMR has retreated more than 44 percent from recent highs.
The coin is now trading around $331 after making modest gains over the past 24 hours, but is still below its highs.
Increasing sales pressure
Recent price action shows that XMR is struggling below key moving averages, including the 50-day and 200-day moving averages (EMA).
These levels are important because they often guide the sentiments of market participants.
The selling pressure was compounded by a decline in futures open interest, which fell 11% overnight.
The long-to-short ratio also changed for short positions, indicating a bullish bias.
If Monero fails to hold above the psychological level of $315, it could open the door for further declines.
Technical analysts suggest that a break below $315 could trigger a deep correction that could test support near $300.
Despite this, the short-term weakness does not indicate a decline in consumer demand.
Strong movement and adoption on the chain
Monero's mainnet activity is incredibly resilient.
Although many exchanges have delisted the cryptocurrency, trading volumes have remained above pre-2022 levels.
This indicates that demand for private transactions will continue independent of the main trading platforms.
Dark marketplaces are increasingly choosing XMR as a payment method.
Almost half of the newly launched privacy-focused marketplaces now operate exclusively on Monero, indicating growth in the lower sectors.
Although ransomware operators still prefer Bitcoin (BTC) due to its liquidity, Monero continues to hold a strong position among privacy-conscious users.
Despite exchange listings and enforcement pressures, XMR activity on Monero remains above pre-2022 levels.
Key findings from our latest research:
In the year 48% of new darknet markets will be XMR-only by 2025 🔺 Most ransomware payments are still made in BTC – liquidity issues 🔺 14-15% of… pic.twitter.com/BYPJMrLaJN
— TRM Labs (@trmlabs) February 16, 2026
Network-level observations show that a small percentage of Monero nodes behave differently from the standard protocol.
These anomalies do not compromise the cryptographic properties, but they indicate subtle differences in how real-world networks work.
Overall, these factors show that Monero maintains a strong and active user base even with regulatory and exchange restrictions.
Monero price prediction
Monero is balancing short-term price weakness with long-term network resilience.
Immediate support is around $300. Taking this step is crucial to prevent further weaknesses.
If it fails to hold $300, the next major support is between $290 and $231.
On the downside, Monero needs to bounce back above $381 to ease the selling pressure and continue the bearish trend.
Short-term traders should be cautious as momentum indicators point to areas for further volatility.
Meanwhile, long-term owners can take credit for continued network activity and adoption in privacy-focused markets.
