APT, the governance token of the Layer 1 blockchain network Aptos, has witnessed a significant price decline in the last month. This comes amid the general decrease in activity in the cryptocurrency market during that period. 

Exchanging hands at $5.82 at press time, the altcoin’s value has plunged by over 30%. APT remains at risk of significant price swings as its volatility markers have begun to spike. 

Aptos Sees Spike in Volatility 

The first indicator of the heightening volatility in the Aptos market is its Bollinger Bands. Readings from this key volatility market show a widening gap between the upper and lower bands of the indicator.

Bollinger Bands measure an asset’s market volatility and identify potential overbought or oversold conditions. When the gap between the upper and lower bands of the indicator widens, it indicates increased market volatility.

Also, during a period of price decline, the widening bands suggest that the downtrend may continue. It signals stronger selling pressure or a lack of buying interest at current price levels.

APT’s surging Average True Range (ATR) confirms the spike in market volatility. 

Read More: Where To Buy Aptos (APT): 5 Best Platforms for 2024

This indicator measures market volatility by calculating the average range between high and low prices over a specified number of periods. 

When its value rises, it suggests increased market volatility and hints at the possibility of a price swing in either direction.  At press time, APT’s ATR is 0.48. It has been on an uptrend since July 1. 

APT Price Prediction: Bearish Divergence Puts Token at Risk

Despite APT’s price decline, it has witnessed a surge in its daily trading volume. While the token’s price has fallen by 18% in the last week, its trading volume has increased by 29% during the same period.

The opposite movements of APT’s price and its daily trading volume create a bearish divergence, suggesting that more market participants are actively selling the asset.

If selling activity remains high, the token’s value may plunge to $5.62.

However, while increasing volume during a decline generally supports the continuation of the downtrend, extreme spikes in volume could sometimes precede a price reversal. Therefore, if APT witnesses a correction, its price may climb above $5.90.

After a rally in the first quarter of 2024, most altcoins appear to have peaked. They are struggling significantly from their March 2024 highs, with reductions in value ranging between 70% and 90%.

According to the latest data, the total market capitalization for crypto, excluding Bitcoin and Ethereum, has receded to December 2023 levels. This regression has effectively nullified all gains accrued year-to-date.

Why Crypto Analysts Believe Meme Coins Can Still Make New Highs

Crypto investor Andrew Kang believes that nearly all altcoins have reached their peak for the current bull cycle. Nonetheless, he retains a positive outlook on meme coins, which could defy the broader market downtrend.

“I believe 98%+ of altcoins topped for the cycle except for maybe a handful of coins that may make some new highs in Q4 2024/Q1 2025. Memes probably constitute a majority of the coins that have a chance of making new highs,” Kang revealed on X (Twitter).

Read more: 7 Hot Meme Coins and Altcoins that are Trending in 2024

In contrast to the faltering performance of most altcoins, meme coins exhibit peculiar resilience. Meme coin expert Murad Mahmudov anticipates that the sector will dominate the next altcoin season.

“People are slowly waking up to the black pill that all altcoins have always been meme coins with a bit of techy obfuscation on top. This will cause tens of thousands of people to (1) Sell tech altcoins for pure memes, (2) Buy pure memes instead of tech altcoins with fresh fiat this cycle,” Mahmudov boldly remarked.

Mahmudov’s analysis suggests a shift in investor sentiment. Institutional investors focus largely on Bitcoin (BTC) and, to a lesser extent, Ethereum (ETH), while retail investors gravitate towards meme coins.

“This is why tech altcoins are underperforming. No one wants them,” Mahmudov noted.

Furthermore, data from the crypto analysis platform DYOR highlights the outperformance of meme coins over the last 90 days during market volatility. With a relative strength of -0.37, meme coins have shown remarkable resilience compared to sectors like Web3 gaming and Layer-2/Layer-3 technologies, which recorded much lower strengths of -1.32 and -1.30, respectively.

Relative strength calculates the performance of a particular sector against the broader market.

Hitesh Malviya, founder of DYOR, provided a critical view of the altcoin ecosystem, particularly those backed by venture capitalists (VCs). He argued that many VC-backed projects, despite their initial promise, often do not survive the long term.

“90% of these so-called projects backed by top-tier VCs are essentially white-collar grifters who promise shiny things, raise funds, run the project for three or four years, and eventually die,” Malviya explained.

This pattern, Malviya warns, usually benefits the founders and VCs financially while leaving retail investors at a loss. Malviya’s remarks highlight the need to focus more on community-aligned altcoins.

Read more: Crypto Scam Projects: How To Spot Fake Tokens

“If we fail at that, the community will keep trading meme coins, which isn’t good for the larger section of the community, as the greed factor is always high and lacks fundamental backing,” Malviya concluded.

XRP transactions on exchanges recorded an uptick on Monday, coming amid elevated fear levels in the market.

Traders show a general lack of conviction as altcoins follow Bitcoin’s lead. Despite the bearish sentiment, data indicates heightened interest in Ripple.

XRP Transactions on Exchanges Increase

Data platform Blockchair reported a series of XRP transactions on exchanges on Monday. In one transaction, over 10 million XRP tokens worth at least $4.2 million moved from Binance to an unknown wallet.

In another transaction, more than 3.6 million XRP tokens worth at least $1.45 million moved from Bitstamp to Binance.

Read more: How To Buy XRP and Everything You Need To Know

When traders move their assets to a wallet, it suggests an intention to HODL. On the other hand, moving crypto between centralized exchanges suggests plans to explore different trading features, lower fees, or a wider variety of trading pairs. It may also be a strategic move to arbitrage between exchanges, as traders exploit price differences to make a profit.

Increased XRP trading activity coincides with changing social sentiment. According to CFGI.io, sentiment has improved from fear to neutral. This indicates that the market is currently neither overly optimistic nor excessively pessimistic.

Along with it, the investment suggestion remains to hold on amid “very positive” volatility, suggesting the need for caution. Nevertheless, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer suggests the market needs to focus on XRP’s utility rather than its investment potential.

“Still costs $1 to buy enough XRP to make a $1 payment,” Schwartz noted.

The expression came as community members showed concern over how the ongoing market crash would impact the Ripple token. XRP has been subdued below the $0.6 price threshold over the past several months. 

Focus on the Primary Function of Ripple, David Schwartz Says

Ripple CTO suggests that XRP holders can take advantage of the current price to purchase more tokens. He believes this highlights XRP’s primary function as a medium of exchange, facilitating fast and cost-effective cross-border transactions despite the bearish market.

However, some say Schwartz is deviating from his 2017 comment and is trying to manipulate the narrative.

“It can’t be dirt cheap. That does not make any sense. If XRP costs $1, they would need a million XRP, which would cost $1 million. If XRP costs a million dollars, they would need one XRP, which would, again, cost $1 million. Except that, higher prices make payments cheaper. Right now, you can buy a million-dollar house with bitcoins. When bitcoins were $300, it would move the market too much and be too expensive to be practical. So higher prices make payments cheaper,” the Ripple executive said in X post.

Read more: Ripple (XRP) Price Prediction 2024/2025/2030

Nevertheless, Schwartz shot down the allegation that he was deviating and manipulating, reiterating his stance on XRP’s main purpose. This emphasis suggests the Ripple network’s commitment to promoting XRP for its utility in cross-border payments, not as an investment tool.

During Token2049 in Singapore, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse also said the network is now more focused on what utility they are building than on speculative trading.

“Bitcoin ETF volumes have been soaring, we’re due for a halving, and the broader crypto market is following BTC’s lead. As someone who has experienced multiple cycles of ‘crypto is back,’ this bullishness must go hand in hand with real-world utility. That’s the real march of progress,” Garlinghouse explained.