Solana up 95% in December – but why are AVAX, INJ, NEAR rising more?
Solana (SOL) surged 95% in December, outperforming top layer-one (L1) blockchain rival Ether (ETH), which rose just 9.5% over the same period.
SOL outperformed ETH this month for several reasons. But L1 wasn't the only ticker to make attractive returns during the month. Let's take a closer look at the top three brands hitting Solana as the year winds down.
AVAX price more than 100%
Avalanche (AVAX), the tenth largest crypto by market cap, outperformed Solana in December, rising 104.75% month-to-date (MTD) to $44.
Interestingly, Avalanche's MTD rally follows the opening of 9.54 million AVX tokens at the end of November, indicating that markets have absorbed the additional token supply without affecting valuations.
That indicates strong demand for AVAX, especially against the backdrop of Ethereum's rising gas costs in December. For example, at the beginning of the month, Avalanche's average gas price per transaction was $0.051 compared to Ethereum's $4.66.
Price analysis
From a technical perspective, there is a noticeable difference between the rate of rise and fall of AVAX price.
In particular, the price of AVAX reached higher levels, and the daily Relative Strength Index (RSI) made lower highs in December, indicating divergence. In other words, the cryptocurrency bull run may be nearing exhaustion.
Due to this divergence, the price of AVAX may drop to a support interaction – the 0.383 Fib line near $33 and the 50-day exponential moving average (50-day EMA, red wave) near $31.50 – in the New Year or January 2024.
Protocol is more than 125%
Near Protocol (NEAR) rose from 125% MTD to $4.20. The transition coincided with a 350% rally in NEKO, the latest protocol-related memecoin project to gain momentum in December.
Strategic partnerships, such as with Polygon Labs to develop zkWASM and with US-based IDS Inc. With, they further strengthened the Proximity Protocol project.
Near price analysis
Technically, the NEAR weekly RSI is overbought, indicating bullish weakness that could lead to a consolidation or correction.
Therefore, the near-term price may adjust to the June-October 2022 support level around $2.90 in early January. A critical close below $2.90 could test the bears with the 50-week EMA (red wave) of $2.18 as the next lower target.
Injection protocol lineup 108%
Injective Protocol (INJ) jumped 108% MTD to $38.30, a rally fueled in part by widespread artificial intelligence (AI) tokens, Injective, as a layer-1 blockchain, integrates AI into decentralized finance (DeFi).
The increase in the value of the injection protocol INJ token may be connected to the trend among the airdrop farmers. These individuals actively move between different blockchains to collect airdrops of newly issued tokens.
Analyst Crypto Kaduda has highlighted several projects built on the injection protocol, these projects have confirmed plans for airdrops.
The @Injective_ ecosystem is about to explode and many projects built on top have confirmed airdrops.
The easiest way to buy, sell $INJ and qualify for airdrops.
1/
— Kaduna (@CryptoKaduna) December 12, 2023
This speculation of new airdrops has contributed to the growing demand for INJ tokens.
INJ price analysis
Like NEAR, INJ risks a correction due to overbought conditions.
Related: Bitcoin's third consecutive month of gains sparks altcoin comeback
Notably, the cryptocurrency's three-day RSI reading was above 70 in December. At the same time, the price is treading on a multi-month uptrend line near $42, raising the possibility of the next correction or consolidation course.
A pullback from the upward trendline resistance could lead traders to look for a decline to the INJ trendline support near $18. This level, down more than 50% from current price levels, served as resistance in November 2023 and September 2021.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and business activity involves risk, and readers should do their own research when making a decision.
