APT claimed the top position as the biggest gainer on October 22 in the midst of a surge in the total value locked in the protocol.
Aptos (APT) experienced a 9% increase in the past 24 hours, reaching a daily high of $11.13 at the time of writing. Its market capitalization exceeded $5.7 billion, with a daily trading volume of over $597 million.
This price rally occurred after the altcoin broke out of a narrow trading range of $9.7 to $10.1, which it had been trading within for the past five days. During the early trading hours on October 22, a strong upward movement occurred on the APT chart, pushing its price from $10.10 to $11.12.
The rally was fueled by a couple of recent partnerships and developments. Firstly, Aptos integrated with Echo Protocol, a decentralized finance platform, on October 21. This integration resulted in a total value locked in Aptos reaching $150 million. Echo protocol users can now earn returns of up to 10% in APT, further expanding the use cases for the altcoin.
According to data from DeFi Llama, Aptos’ total value locked currently stands at its all-time high of $2.15 billion, making it the seventh largest blockchain in the DeFi industry. This surpasses its competitor Sui (SUI), which has a total value locked of $1.64 billion.
Additionally, Aptos gained attention after announcing a strategic partnership with crypto exchange MEXC. This collaboration will involve joint initiatives aimed at promoting APT through a series of events.
These developments have sparked renewed interest among traders. Open interest in the futures market surged from $213.9 million to $274 million within the last 24 hours, marking a six-month high. This sharp rise suggests that traders are anticipating the rally to continue in the short term.
The community sentiment metric on CoinMarketCap also reflects a similar outlook, with the majority of traders claiming to be bullish.
Technical indicators further support the upside potential for Aptos. Analyst AMCrypto observed that Aptos is forming a bullish flag pattern, supported by increasing total value locked, a surge in daily active users, and smart money accumulating the token. These factors indicate strong fundamentals and technical momentum, positioning Aptos for a potential breakout to new all-time highs in the fourth quarter.
Based on the chart shared by the analyst, a breakout above the $10.50 resistance level would confirm the bull flag. At the time of writing, APT had already surpassed this level, priced at $10.96. As a result, APT could potentially rally towards a short-term price target of around $12.50, as projected by AMCrypto.
On the 1D APT/USDT chart, the 50-day moving average crossed the 200-day moving average, leading to the formation of a golden cross. This is seen as a sign of a major trend reversal to the upside in technical analysis.
Furthermore, the Relative Strength Index has remained above the neutral position since September 18, suggesting sustained interest from investors and supporting the overall bullish narrative.
With the bulls retaining control and the recent golden cross signaling a longer-term uptrend, APT could continue to push towards higher resistance levels. The next target could be around $11.08, marked by the upper Bollinger Band.