Top cryptos to watch this week: JTO, SOL, AVAX

The global crypto market cap surged 7.9% this week, from $1.52 trillion to $1.64 trillion. While Bitcoin (BTC) largely catalyzed this impressive run with its push above $44,500, assets such as Jito (JTO), Solana (SOL) and Avalanche (AVAX) also made their unique contributions.

Jito pushes for $5 on debut

Jito, a liquid staking platform built atop the Solana blockchain, released its governance token JTO this week. JTO’s earliest trading price was $2.04 on Dec. 7, per data from CoinMarketCap.

The token immediately observed an upsurge, capitalizing on the ongoing market-wide run and a massive 24-hour trade volume of $1.1 billion. Jito surged 80% to a price of $3.67 as of Dec. 8. However, the rally witnessed a roadblock at the $3.67 high, leading to a short period of consolidation.

JTO eventually broke the consolidation, supported by increased buying pressure and whale activity. The crypto asset leveraged the resurgence to push for a $5 target, soaring to a new peak of $4.36 on Dec. 9. This push to $5 was unsuccessful, as the asset faced another resistance, leading to a collapse to $3.34.

The token trades for $3.36 at the reporting time, up 64.7% this week. JTO needs to hold above the support at $3.30 to hedge against any drops to the Friday lows below $3. With a market cap of $382 million, Jito now ranks as the 147th largest cryptocurrency.

The Jito initial coin offering (ICO) concluded on Nov. 28.

Solana clinches pre-Terra highs

Solana’s positive momentum this week was one of the catalysts behind the optimism around Jito as well.

As in previous weeks, SOL reached new local highs, riding on the back of the Bitcoin uptrend and the sustained buying pressure among whale addresses.

Solana started this week with a price of $63 after recovering the $40, $50 and $60 psychological price thresholds in past weeks. The asset’s goal to conquer the $70 territory this week was accomplished, as it rallied 23.5% to a high of $77.78 on Dec. 9.

This price upsurge indicated that Solana had not only recovered the losses from the FTX collapse but also some of the losses from the Terra implosion.

The last time SOL saw a price above $75 was in early May 2022. Though the token saw resistance at $77.78, it retained its uptrend, currently trading for $71.94 amid a 2.64% drop today.

Despite the drop, SOL remains above the 50-day EMA ($52.64) and the 200-day EMA ($34.23), suggesting sustenance of the bullish momentum in the short and long terms. Solana’s daily RSI is currently at 68, signaling an elevated level of buying activity amid the uptrend.

Solana’s founder, former Qualcomm executive Anatoly Yakovenko, discussed the open-source blockchain platform’s early days in a social media post on Dec. 9.

Avalanche records six straight intraday wins

Avalanche stood out as one of the biggest performers this week, with six consecutive intraday wins.

The crypto asset began the week with an impressive 3.37% gain on Dec. 4, rising from $21.94 to $22.68. This upsurge spilled into the next day, with AVAX surging by 8.20% on Tuesday in a bid to reclaim the $25 price.

Avalanche eventually hit the $25 target on Dec. 6 amid an extension of the rally. The asset sustained its uptrend throughout the week, leading to a recapture of the much-coveted $30 threshold on Dec. 8. Interestingly, AVAX recorded no intraday loss this week.

However, amid the recent downturn in the market, the token is now down 0.13% today, currently trading for $31.87. Avalanche is 45% up this week. The asset must defend the $30.44 support to retain its uptrend amid the momentary market correction. 

Ava Labs, founded by CEO Emin Gün Sirer, is the startup behind the Avalanche network.