Hedera (HBAR) Price Soars 70%, Then Crashes Amid BlackRock Association Rumours

Hedera’s recent announcement about tokenizing BlackRock’s U.S. Treasury money market fund on its blockchain has set off a frenzy of trading for its native cryptocurrency, HBAR. Although it’s important to clarify that BlackRock wasn’t directly involved in this project, the news has caught the attention of traditional finance (TradFi) giants, highlighting the potential of Hedera.

Curious to know more? Dive in.

HBAR Hits Record Highs

After the announcement, investors speculated about BlackRock’s involvement, sending HBAR’s value soaring. The cryptocurrency surged an impressive 107%, hitting $0.18, before correcting by 25%. Trading volumes skyrocketed an astounding 6082%, surpassing $2.5 billion and pushing the price over $0.15 for the first time in two years.

Technical Analysis

While the Relative Strength Index (RSI) suggests further gains, caution is advised. Targets could reach $0.20 or $0.30, but profit-taking might cause corrections, particularly around $0.1096. If the price falls below the 21-day moving average at $0.1038, it could signal a decline towards the $0.0815 support level.

Behind the Scenes: Clarifying BlackRock’s Role

Initial excitement over BlackRock’s supposed partnership with Hedera was clarified by Archax CEO Graham Rodfort. The decision to tokenize BlackRock’s MMF came from Archax, not directly from BlackRock. Notably, BlackRock entered the world of real-world asset tokenization recently with its USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund on Ethereum.

Chris O’Connor of Cardano Ghost Fund DAO criticized the hype generated by the announcement among crypto influencers. Despite the surge, HBAR remains 69% down from its all-time high in September 2021. Hedera aims to expand its user base after handling 33 billion transactions in 2023.

HBAR’s Market Snapshot

Despite the surge in price and trading volumes, market depth remains thin. A 2% market depth shows $900,000 in cumulative bids on Binance and Upbit order books, close to the current price. Negative funding rates across derivative exchanges suggest a bearish bias and potential volatility.

With open interest surging by 442% to $160 million in the past 24 hours and liquidity concerns persisting, the stage is set for volatile trading. This volatility could result in a return to average levels or a short squeeze, further complicating HBAR’s short-term price outlook.

One thing’s for sure: Hedera’s aiming to make its mark. Keep an eye here as the story unfolds.