Onyxcoin (XCN) has jumped 20% this week, marking a double-digit rally that has caught the attention of institutional investors.
As the altcoin’s price climbs, technical analysis reveals a rise in accumulation from large investors, often called “smart money,” signaling increased optimism about the token’s short-term price growth.
Institutional Confidence in XCN Grows
The surge in institutional interest is evident in XCN’s climbing Smart Money Index (SMI). As the token’s price rallied over the past week, its SMI has also climbed and currently stands at 0.91.
The SMI indicator tracks the trading activity of institutional investors, often considered the “smart money.” It analyzes intraday price movements, focusing on the first and last trading hours.
When the SMI rises alongside an asset’s price, major investors are accumulating positions, indicating confidence in the asset’s upward trend. This alignment between XCN’s SMI and its price rally is a bullish signal, reflecting strong market sentiment and the potential for a continued price increase.
Moreover, readings from XCN’s Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator support this bullish outlook. At press time, the token’s MACD line (blue) rests above the signal line (orange).
This crossover is typically interpreted as a bullish signal, suggesting upward momentum is gaining strength. It indicates that XCN’s recent buying pressure is outpacing historical averages, which could lead to continued price gains.
XCN Bulls Hold the Line
On the daily chart, the XCN token rests solidly above its 20-day exponential moving average (EMA). This key moving average forms dynamic support below the token’s price at $0.017.
An asset’s 20-day EMA measures an asset’s average price over the past 20 trading days, giving weight to recent prices. When an asset’s price trades above this indicator, the bulls have market control as buying pressure outweighs selloffs.
If this trend persists for XCN, its price could break above the resistance at $0.023 and climb toward $0.028. Should the bulls flip this level into a support floor, XCN could reclaim $0.033.
However, a surge in profit-taking activity will invalidate this bullish projection. In that scenario, the XCN token value could plunge below its 20-day EMA at $0.017 and fall toward $0.0075.
Donald Trump announced today that he’s instituting a 90-day pause on all tariffs except those on China. Bitcoin has surged over $80,000, while altcoins like XRP, Solana, and Cardano surged more than 10% in just minutes of the announcement.
The Dow Jones and stock market reacted similarly, surging by 2,000 points after the news. The US President has now added a total of 125% tariff on China, while pausing others.
Today, however, Trump has made a surprising reversal. Although he is increasing tariffs against China to 125%, he is repealing those on other nations.
Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately. At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off…
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) April 9, 2025
This news immediately caused a substantial rally in the markets. At 1:30 PM Eastern Time, the Dow Jones responded by shooting upwards over 2000 points, and this was mirrored in other high-profile stocks.
Dow Jones Reacts to Tariff Relief. Source: Google Finance
Still, the erratic nature of Trump’s tariff strategy has left more than a few open questions. In his announcement, Trump only mentioned China’s retaliation strategy by name, lumping all other countries together.
However, a few crucial markets, like the EU, also retaliated. It is currently unclear how Trump will treat other actors, as China is his main target.
Open questions like this may continue to cause market uncertainty. As analyst Joe Wiesenthal pointed out, Trump has already caused a lot of economic chaos with his tariff threats alone.
Will he retaliate against nations other than China? Will former allies continue pulling away from the US? These live questions may frustrate long-term economic gain
In recent months, Solana has demonstrated remarkable growth in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, prompting discussions about its potential to rival Ethereum’s valuation.
A new report by Franklin Templeton highlighted that Solana’s DeFi protocols are among the most utilized and highest-earning platforms across all blockchain environments.
Franklin Templeton Predicts Solana as Ethereum’s Rival
In an analysis, Franklin Templeton highlighted the rapid growth and potential of Solana’s DeFi ecosystem. The report suggested that its valuation could soon rival Ethereum’s.
The global asset management firm, which oversees $1.68 trillion in assets, noted that six Solana-based protocols surpassed $1 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL).
During the third and fourth quarters of 2024, Solana outperformed Ethereum in several key metrics. Solana’s decentralized exchange (DEX) volume notably exceeded that of Ethereum and all Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)–based DEXs combined.
The surge indicates a significant shift in DeFi activity towards Solana, challenging Ethereum’s longstanding dominance in the space. Jito (JTO) leads the charge, a liquid staking protocol that recently reached an all-time high of $3 billion in TVL. Notably, this marked the first time a Solana-based protocol has achieved this milestone.
Other notable protocols include Jupiter (JUP), Raydium (RAY), Kamino (KMNO), Marinade (MNDE), and Sanctum Coin (SANCTA). Collectively, these protocols contributed to Solana’s growing DeFi ecosystem.
Further emphasizing its growing prominence, Solana’s active addresses per hour were reported to be 26 times higher than Ethereum’s as of January 2025. This surge in user activity reflects the network’s scalability and efficiency, making it an attractive platform for developers and investors seeking faster transactions and lower fees.
Despite the impressive growth, Franklin Templeton’s report points out that Solana’s DeFi protocols remain undervalued compared to their Ethereum counterparts. The analysis reveals that Solana’s DeFi tokens are trading at lower valuation multiples, although they exhibit higher growth profiles and strong fundamentals.
“Solana DeFi valuation multiples trade on average lower than their Ethereum counterparts despite significantly higher growth profiles. This highlights an apparent valuation asymmetry between the two ecosystems,” an excerpt in the report read.
Notwithstanding, Franklin Templeton says the increased activity has also contributed to Solana’s rising market capitalization and overall ecosystem growth. According to the asset manager, these discrepancies suggest a potential investment opportunity as the market adjusts to recognize Solana’s expanding influence in the DeFi sector.
Reflecting this optimism, Franklin Templeton filed for a spot Solana ETF (exchange-traded fund) with the US SEC. Notably, the proposed ETF includes staking capabilities. This means investors can earn rewards by participating in network validation processes, which is the first for a Solana-based ETF.
Solana Rising – Could It Overtake Ethereum?
While some investors are enthusiastic about Solana’s potential, others remain skeptical. A user on X (Twitter) challenged the move to compare Solana to Ethereum, alluding to stark differences in foundational robustness.
“It’s like comparing Ethereum versus Las Vegas casino. Yea Vegas has more chips,” the user quipped.
Similarly, industry analysts caution against assuming Solana is poised to surpass Ethereum imminently. Juan Pellicer, Senior Research Analyst at IntoTheBlock, noted that while Solana has narrowed the market capitalization gap with Ethereum, it still faces significant hurdles.
“While Solana may continue to grow and potentially challenge Ethereum in specific niches, overcoming Ethereum’s entrenched position as the dominant platform in the immediate future is still unlikely, though the competitive landscape is dynamic and evolving,” Pellicer told BeInCrypto.
Specifically, Pellicer emphasized that Ethereum benefits from established trust and a vast developer community. According to the analyst, these are critical factors in maintaining its leading position in the DeFi space.
He also highlighted the need for Solana to address centralization concerns and achieve parity in developer adoption. These, according to the analysts, would see Solana truly challenge Ethereum’s dominance.
As Solana continues to innovate and expand its DeFi ecosystem, its potential to reach valuations comparable to Ethereum becomes more plausible.
Perpetuals, Made In USA coins, and meme coins are the top three crypto narratives to watch for the second week of March. Perpetuals tokens like HYPE and WOO are down over 12%, but strong trading activity and high revenue suggest a potential rebound.
Made In USA coins, including PI, ADA, and HBAR, have suffered major losses amid broader market turmoil, but the recovery could be near if market conditions stabilize. Meme coins have been hit hard, but their history of sharp rebounds suggests they could lead the next rally if sentiment shifts.
Perpetuals
Perpetuals coins appear to be setting up for a rebound after a rough week, with HYPE and WOO both down more than 12% in the last seven days. Perpetuals platforms are exchanges that allow traders to buy and sell perpetual futures contracts, which have no expiration date.
These platforms use a funding mechanism to keep contract prices aligned with the spot market while enabling traders to take long or short positions with leverage.
Despite the recent downturn in some perpetuals tokens, the sector continues to see strong activity, with high trading volumes and fees generated across key platforms.
Biggest Coins by Market Cap (Perpetuals). Source: CoinGecko.
However, this level of dominance also suggests that the market has room for competitors to emerge and challenge its position. Arkham, for instance, has surged 14% in the last 24 hours. That signals that some traders are betting on alternative projects within the perpetuals ecosystem.
Overall, these trends make perpetuals one of the must-watch crypto narratives of the week.
Made In USA Coins
The biggest Made In USA coins have all suffered significant losses in the past week, with PI dropping 22.6%. ADA and HBAR both down 18.9%. Made In USA coins refer to cryptocurrencies that have strong ties to the United States, whether through their founding team or company headquarters.
This category includes projects that often attract regulatory scrutiny or benefit from US-based institutional backing. The latest downturn aligns with broader market weakness, as both the crypto and stock markets have been hit hard in the past 24 hours.
Biggest Made In USA Coins by Market Cap. Source: CoinGecko.
The US stock market saw a massive $4 trillion wipeout following Trump’s push for new tariffs. Given the scale of this correction, a potential rebound could be on the horizon if investors view the recent dip as an overreaction. That could positively impact crypto, driving a new surge.
Historically, sharp declines in both crypto and equities have been followed by strong recoveries, especially when macroeconomic fears subside.
This volatility has been evident in the past week, as the biggest meme coins have taken a heavy hit. Dogecoin (DOGE), the largest meme coin by market cap, has dropped more than 17% in the last seven days.
TRUMP is down over 14%, and PEPE and BONK have both lost more than 10% during the same period.
Biggest Meme Coins by Market Cap. Source: CoinGecko.
However, if the crypto market stages a rebound this week, meme coins could see some of the strongest recoveries. Historically, these assets tend to outperform in fast-moving uptrends due to their speculative nature and the rapid inflow of retail interest.
The last major surges in meme coins occurred after broader market rebounds reignited hype and aggressive buying activity.
If sentiment shifts and liquidity returns, DOGE, TRUMP, PEPE, and BONK could quickly reclaim lost ground. That could potentially lead to another wave of explosive gains in the meme coin sector.
