HBAR was one of the best-performing cryptocurrencies on Monday, Dec. 2, amid significant whale accumulation and community hype surrounding the HBAR ecosystem.
Hedera (HBAR) rose 47% over the past day, exchanging hands at a seven-month high of $0.253 before shedding some of its gains and settling at $0.250 at press time. The altcoin’s recent rally extended its monthly gains to over 450% while its market cap stood at $9.65 billion.
Rumours are driving the HBAR rally
HBAR’s rally has been driven by its growing involvement in blockchain-powered federal payment systems. Hedera’s integration with the Federal Reserve’s FedNow payment network, facilitated by Dropp, enables real-time, secure, and efficient transactions.
Speculation has also emerged around Ripple’s potential involvement, with rumors suggesting an expansion of Hedera’s integration to include support for Ripple’s upcoming RLUSD stablecoin. If true, this could pave the way for an interoperability layer between HBAR and XRP, furthering their collaboration on global standards for CBDC and stablecoin settlements.
Further, HBAR traders are optimistic due to speculation surrounding the potential approval of a Hedera-focused exchange-traded fund filed by Canary Capital with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. With Gary Gensler stepping down as SEC chairman, a potential approval under Trump’s administration seems plausible. This could open the door for greater institutional investment, potentially driving further price growth for HBAR.
Rumors and recent developments appear to be driving heightened activity among whales. Data from HederaWatch highlights a sharp increase in accounts holding between 100,000 and 100 million HBAR, with those holding 100 million surging by over 20% since August.
HBAR’s price surge has been matched by a notable jump in trading activity and open interest. Within the last 24 hours, trading volume skyrocketed by 323% to $3.46 billion, while open interest climbed 76% to $324 million. The uptick indicates an influx of fresh capital into the market, potentially providing the momentum needed for continued price growth.
HBAR has also garnered significant retail attention, reaching its highest search interest in U.S. markets in five years, according to Google Trends.
HBAR is overbought
On the daily HBAR/USDT chart, HBAR’s price has climbed above both its 50-day and 200-day Simple Moving Averages, forming a golden cross. This is a strong bullish signal that often points to growing momentum and the potential for further price increases.
At the same time, the Relative Strength Index has hit 83, showing strong buying activity and confirming the bullish trend. However, an RSI above 70 typically signals that an asset is in overbought territory. This means HBAR might be due for a cooldown or a price pullback if the current momentum starts to slow down.
In case of a price reversal, the altcoin could find support at $0.1358, aligning with the middle Bollinger Band—a level previously tested as support during its drop on Nov. 25.