- Crypto markets continue weekend sell-off momentum into Monday.
- Astar bucks the downtrend to lead the top 100 cryptocurrencies.
- The Astar price spike recorded an 88-week high.
Cryptocurrency markets saw a continuation of the weekend sell-off on Monday, December 18. However, layer 1 smart contract platform Astar managed to buck the wider downtrend, gaining 36% over the past day at the time of writing, to lead the top 100 cryptocurrencies.
A Rising Astar?
Astar’s surging price performance coincided with the announcement that the ASTR token will be listed on South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, Upbit. An Upbit notice confirmed that the ASTR/KRW trading pair opened for trading on December 18 at 18:00 KST (09:00 UTC).
ASTR recorded a 206% upswing on the December 18 daily candle to spike as high as $0.2307 to print an 88-week high. However, Astar could not hold onto most of the gains, with profit-taking taking hold to sink the price significantly below the intra-day high.
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Nonetheless, ASTR’s current 36% price gain is still sufficient to lead the top 100’s biggest 24-hour gainers, with Stacks and Injective taking second and third spot, up 12.6% and 7.1%, respectively, at the time of writing. Meanwhile, Internet Computer, SATS, and Filecoin were the biggest losers over the last 24 hours, sinking 9.7%, 8.8%, and 8%, respectively, at the time of writing.
Astar’s year-to-date performance equates to a 170% gain, but the token remains 75% below its $0.421574 all-time high, achieved in January 2022. Although Astar is significantly adrift from its historic peak value, there remains plenty to celebrate for the layer 1 platform.
Positive Developments
The layer 1 platform celebrated its second anniversary on December 18, with Dapp developer “Matt C” commenting that Astar’s second birthday is a positive sign for the protocol, indicating its growth and potential for the future.
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Likewise, in the growing recognition of Astar, CEO Sota Watanabe also announced that the Japanese government published a recent interview he conducted on the potential of Web3 innovation. Watanabe stated that the action signals government approval of Astar’s ambitions and the potential knock-on effect on the Japanese crypto landscape.
On the Flipside
- Astar is the most popular cryptocurrency in Japan by spot trading volume.
- The layer 1 blockchain space Astar occupies is a fiercely competitive arena.
Why This Matters
Although Astar’s popularity in Western markets is lacking, the enthusiastic embrace from Asia markets and supportive government relationships foreshadow this Polkadot parachain’s potential to harness Eastern momentum toward mainstream recognition across continents.
Learn more about Astar’s vision for Web3 development here:
Astar Foundation Partners with NTT Digital to Create Web3 Training Programs and Enhance Network Infrastructure
Find out about the results of an FCA survey on crypto payments here:
Crypto Payments Drop Significant, FCA Survey Finds
