5 Most Popular Cryptos of the Week: MATIC, UNI, SHIB, SOL, RUNE

Key Points

• In a broadly subdued week for cryptocurrency markets, MATIC, UNI, SHIB, SOL and RUNE have stood out.
• The bounce in these cryptocurrencies and the broader market’s resilience has defied growing chatter about a possible US recession.
• A further pullback in US government bond yields may be behind this resilience.

It’s been a subdued week for the broader cryptocurrency market so far, with prices in consolidation mode following big moves in recent weeks. Bitcoin is currently on course to a post a just under 2.0% gain for the week and is currently trading just under $21,000, well within the upper-$19,000 to upper $21,000 ranges that have prevailed since Monday. On the month losses currently stand at around 34%, with the cryptocurrency having been battered in recent weeks as further upside in US price pressures as per the CPI pushed the US Federal Reserve into accelerating the pace of monetary tightening last week.

Interestingly, crypto prices have been resilient this week to increased chatter about the rising risk of a near-term US recession, including an admission from Fed Chair Jerome Powell in his semi-annual Congressional testimony that a recession is possible. That could be because US government bond yields, especially at the long end of the curve, have continued to pull back sharply from last week’s multi-year highs, a reflection of growing pessimism about the economy. Lower long-term US bond yields lower the “opportunity cost” of holding non-yielding assets (like crypto) and of holding highly speculative assets (which crypto is still largely viewed as).

Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, was last trading around $1,150, towards the upper end of the $1,050 to $1,200 range that has been in play since Monday. ETH/USD looks set to end the week just over 2.0% higher, though on the month losses still stand at around 40%.

Outside of the big two cryptocurrencies, here is a list of this week’s five most popular coins…

Polygon (MATIC)

The native token to Polygon’s blockchain MATIC was last trading higher by north of 50% on the week, making it one of the best performing cryptocurrencies so far this week. MATIC/USD was last trading close to the $0.60 level, up from the levels under $0.40 where it began the week and an even more impressive more than 80% up from last week’s lows just above $0.30.

Analysts have cited recent upside as down to a new product released by Polygon’s development team that allows for more private voting in Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs). The new product, called Polygon ID, is a system that verifies user identification whilst allowing individuals to maintain their anonymity when voting on governance proposals. The product went live on Polygon DAO earlier in the week.

But MATIC still trades down more than 10% on the month and is down about 80 from the record highs it hit last December around $2.925. MATIC/USD is currently finding resistance at a downtrend that has been in play since mid-May and its 50-Day Moving Average. An upside break could, technically speaking, open the door to a rebound towards the next key area of resistance in the $1.0 area. But whether broader crypto conditions can improve sufficiently to allow such a move amid such elevated uncertainty surrounding the global economy and central bank policy is another thing.

Uniswap (UNI)

Decentralized Exchange (DEX) Uniswap’s utility token UNI has also performed strongly this week. UNI/USD was last trading with on-the-week gains of around 30% in the $5.50 area, up from earlier weekly lows close to $4.0 per token. That takes its gains since last weekend’s lows in the $3.30s to above 60%.

Analysts cited the platform’s recently announced acquisition of NFT marketplace aggregator Genie and its appointment of a former New York Stock Exchange President Stacey Cunningham as an advisor as helping drive recent gains. Analysts also noted that, impressively, Uniswap has been consistently generating fees similar to that of the Ethereum blockchain in recent days. According to CryptoFees data, Uniswap averaged $3.97 million in fees per day over the last seven days versus Ethereum’s $4.02 million average.

But UNI/USD is still trading slightly in the red on the month and is around 87% below the record highs it hit above $45 in May 2021. But analysts note an upside break of resistance around $6.0 could spur a run higher towards $8.0, broader crypto conditions allowing.

Shiba Inu (SHIB)

The crypto community’s second favorite dog-inspired memecoin Shiba Inu is currently on course to post gains of over 25% this week, amid a spike in a number of its social metrics according to crypto intelligence website LunarCrush. SHIB/USD was last changing hands just above the $0.000010 level, having rallied from early weekly levels just above $0.000008, with the cryptocurrency’s social dominance score having jumped to around 2.5% as of Friday from around 1.8% on Sunday.

Most of the rally came on Tuesday, with SHIB spiking over 30% on the day, though finding resistance at the cryptocurrency’s 50-Day Moving Average at $0.000012 (at the time, the 50DMA has since fallen to $0.0000113). In the absence of a significant lift to broader crypto market sentiment, it’s hard to argue for a more sustained recovery.

Solana (SOL)

The Solana blockchain’s native token SOL has been unable to break above the $40 level this week but is nonetheless on course to post healthy weekly gains of nearly 13% in the $38s, meaning it has now been able to sustain a move back above its 21DMA for the first time since early April. At current levels, SOL/USD is trading around 50% above earlier monthly lows, likely helped out by the fact that, according to LunarCrush, a few of its key social metrics have ticked higher in recent weeks.

For example, daily social engagements were near 400 million on Friday, LunarCrush data shows, up from around 35 million at the end of last month. With SOL/USD breaking above a key short-term downtrend this week, the prospect for some near-term gains, assuming broader cryptocurrency market stabilization continues, looks good.

THORChain (RUNE)

THORChain’s RUNE is up over 22.5% so far this week, having risen from under $1.80 to current levels close to $2.20, in wake of the project officially announcing the launch of its Mainnet, alongside the rollout of a new promotional campaign called the “Rune in a Million Campaign” on Binance that will dish out $1 million in RUNE rewards to exchange users.

But the cryptocurrency, which is still on course for monthly losses of more than 30%, has not yet been able to break above its 21DMA at $2.24 and also faces significant resistance in the mid-$2.30s. If it can overcome these levels, a run higher towards $3.0 per token is possible.