XMR price pumps as a rare pattern points to Monero

XMR price jumped to a record high today, January 15, as demand for privacy tokens rose. 

Monero (XMR) token soared to $798, up by 713% above its lowest point in 20233. Its surge has brought its market capitalization to over $12 billion, making it the 12th biggest coin in the crypto industry.

XMR’s surge was driven by the ongoing demand for privacy tokens. Dash (DASH), another similar coin, has jumped by over 100% this week. Decred and Humanity Protocol have risen by 60% and 30% in the last 7 days, while the market capitalization of all privacy tokens rose to $73 billion. 

The rising demand has pushed its 24-hour volume to $465 million, while its futures open interest rose to a record high of over $275 million.

XMR also soared after Hyperliquid listed it on its platform, allowing traders to long or short with up to 5x leverage. One whale moved reacted to the listing by opening a leveraged trade worth $2.27 million, a sign that he expects it to keep rising. Another trader opened a long trade worth over $5.2 million at the average price of $729. 

The ongoing Monero rally started in 2024 as the Tornado Cash case started. US authorities accused of money laundering and sanctioned it. In response, a group of users sued the government, arguing that immutable contracts were not “property”, which the court agreed. 

In March this year, the Trump administration lifted the sanctions, in a major win for the privacy industry. The rally then accelerated in the fourth quarter, triggered by the rising demand for Zcash (ZEC).

XMR price technical analysis 

The weekly chart shows that the XMR token bottomed at $97 in 2024 and then jumped to a record high of $798 today. It moved above the key resistance level at $517, thru upper side of the cup-and-handle pattern, a common bullish continuation sign.

This pattern’s depth was ~85%. Measuring the same distance from the upper side gives a target price of $965. A move to that level would raise the odds of it hitting the psychological level of $1,000. A drop below the upper side of the cup will invalidate the bullish outlook.