• VIRTUAL’s 16% price drop follows a bull rally pushed by AI brokers’ hype and listings on main exchanges.
• The decline is because of profit-taking and an overbought market situation as indicated by the RSI.
• This pullback could provide a shopping for alternative for brand spanking new buyers.

In a shocking flip of occasions, the Virtuals Protocol token, VIRTUAL, has skilled a notable 16% decline over the previous 24 hours, dropping to $2.60 at press time.

This market cool-off follows a dramatic bull rally that noticed VIRTUAL soar to a brand new all-time excessive of $3.30 on December 16, 2024.

The decline raises questions on whether or not the bull run is over, or if that is only a momentary setback in a bigger pattern.

What triggered Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) to rally to a brand new ATH?

Earlier than delving into whether or not the pullback factors to an finish of the bullish momentum, it will be vital to first perceive what was behind the current rally.

The current surge in VIRTUAL’s price could be traced again to a sequence of bullish catalysts and a broader market pattern.

Firstly, Virtuals Protocol, a synthetic intelligence and metaverse challenge, has been gaining traction as one of many hottest property within the crypto market, significantly amidst the rise of AI brokers and AI-powered autonomous software program. The challenge’s deal with co-ownership for AI brokers, permitting customers to create or leverage present tokens, has attracted important consideration, resulting in an increase within the VIRTUAL token demand and a corresponding price surge.

Moreover, the joy surrounding the launchpad performance of the Virtuals Protocol, which permits customers to create AI brokers and associated tokens, has added to the hype. The expansion of AI-powered interactions, as evidenced by viral success tales like Terminal of Truths on X, has contributed to the widespread adoption of VIRTUAL.

AI brokers have turn into a brand new frontier within the crypto area, with associated tokens skyrocketing in worth because the market sees huge and viral interplay with protocols, apps, and different AI brokers.

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Secondly, the rally started in early December 2024, coinciding with key developments inside the ecosystem.

On December 11, OKX, one of many main crypto exchanges, introduced the itemizing of VIRTUAL/USDT perpetual futures, which boosted liquidity and accessibility for merchants. This was rapidly adopted by Hyperliquid, a layer-1 decentralized buying and selling platform, including help for VIRTUAL and permitting up to 5x leverage buying and selling.

Binance, the world’s largest crypto alternate by quantity, additionally joined the pattern by including help for VIRTUAL futures buying and selling.

These listings supplied extra avenues for buyers to achieve publicity to VIRTUAL, driving up demand and pushing the token’s price up significantly.

Why is the VIRTUAL price dropping? Is it the top of the rally?

The present VIRTUAL price decline can largely be attributed to profit-taking and a market cool-off after a protracted bull run.

The token had entered an overbought area in keeping with the 14-Day Relative Energy Index (RSI), which had risen to above 83 on December 16. This overbought situation typically alerts {that a} correction or consolidation section is due, prompting merchants to take earnings and probably resulting in a price drop as provide catches up with demand.

Though the RSI has since dropped to round 71.36, it nonetheless means that the market remains to be overbought and will see additional declines earlier than stabilizing.

This pullback just isn’t unusual within the crypto market, the place speedy price will increase can result in important corrections.

Curiously, whereas the sudden price drop is disappointing to some, it might present a possibility for brand spanking new buyers to enter the market at a extra beneficial entry level.