MORPHO Crypto Surges Amid Broader Market Sentiment

MORPHO crypto surged up to 20% on Feb. 28 despite a risk-off sentiment in the broader crypto market. However, technical indicators have turned bearish for the altcoin, suggesting a potential pullback is on the horizon.

Morpho (MORPHO) soared to an intraday high of $2.44 on Friday, marking a 35% rise from its weekly low and bringing its market cap to nearly $500 million as of press time. The recent price rally was accompanied by a surge in trading activity, with daily trading volume doubling from the previous day to over $94 million.

Founded in 2021, Morpho is a decentralized, noncustodial lending platform on Ethereum that optimizes lending pools by facilitating direct peer-to-peer interactions.

The protocol aims to provide better interest rates for both borrowers and lenders by matching liquidity directly while still relying on traditional lending pools as a fallback when needed.

Impact of Coinbase Listing

Most of today’s gains came after Coinbase listed MORPHO on both the Ethereum and Base networks. As the largest crypto exchange in the U.S., Coinbase has a history of impacting crypto prices with its listings. Earlier reports indicated that the so-called “Coinbase Effect” drove a nearly 30% surge in Popcat’s (POPCAT) price following its listing.

Morpho’s developers also shared updates with the Coinbase listing announcement, noting that their smart contracts are now live on multiple blockchains, including Unichain, Mode Network, Hemi, Corn, and Sonic. These contracts have been reviewed by independent auditors and come with a $2.5 million bug bounty.

Amid these developments, the hype among its community has pushed MORPHO to trend on Google.

Potential Correction on the Horizon

Despite the bullish listing announcement driving fresh interest in the altcoin, there remains a significant risk for MORPHO traders. Data from IntoTheBlock indicates that about 95% of MORPHO tokens are held by large investors. With over 87% of holders currently in profit, many might decide to sell and lock in gains, particularly with the broader crypto market looking bearish.

As Bitcoin, the bellwether crypto asset, recently dropped below $80,000, the crypto fear and greed index hitting a two-year low could prompt a sell-off among risk assets like MORPHO. Technical indicators also flashed bearish signals. On the 1-day MORPHO/USDT price chart, MORPHO remains under the 50-day moving average, suggesting that bears continue to dominate the market.

At press time, MORPHO had already lost some of its daily gains, trading at $2.26 per coin. A fall below the key supportive trendline at $2 could signal a bearish reversal, with a potential drop towards the local low of $1.75, last seen on Feb. 8. However, the setup could be invalidated if market sentiment improves and the price rallies higher.

Read more: Bitcoin price down 12% this week as fear index plummets to 2022 levels.