It’s often said that markets fall sharply and rise slowly, and the price fluctuations of privacy-focused cryptocurrency Monero (XMR) this year are a perfect example of this.
XMR fell more than 35% to $100 in early February after Binance, the top crypto exchange by trading volume and open interest, delisted the token, citing that it did not meet the exchange's standards.
It took XMR four months to recoup from its losses. The cryptocurrency briefly surpassed $180 last week, its highest since Jan. 23, and was last trading around $170 on Kraken, according to charting platform TradingView.
XMR has risen by roughly 25% in four weeks, outperforming most of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).
The exact reason for the price hike is unclear, but social media chatter suggests it may be due to recent crackdowns on botnet mining in some European countries.
Botnet mining is the nefarious practice of remotely using compromised computer networks to mine cryptocurrency. Cybercriminals have long favored XMR for botnet mining because its privacy features make it difficult for law enforcement agencies to trace the flow of funds obtained through botnet mining and other illicit activities.
The recent decision by one of the major Monero mining pools, 2Miners, to stop mining XMR may also have contributed to the rise: The miner announced on June 10 that it would delist XMR.
It is worth noting that while XMR has reversed February's decline, it has yet to break out of its two-year trading range of $100-$185, with momentum studies suggesting a possible breakout is on the way.
For instance, the 50-day simple moving average of XMR’s price rose above the 200-day SMA, confirming the so-called golden cross – a pattern that suggests momentum may be turning bullish in the long term.
