Stacks (STX) Jumps 20%, But Bearish Traders Dominate

STX is today's top performer, soaring nearly 20% in the past 24 hours. Alongside the price surge, the token's trading volume has also spiked, signaling strong interest from investors.

STX, the native token of Stacks blockchain, has had a busy 24 hours, characterized by a substantial price gain and a surge in trading volume. However, despite the token’s good performance, on-chain data reveals high demand for short positions.

As revealed by blockchain analytics firm Coinglass, the long/short ratio for Stacks (STX) is currently at 0.97, indicating a preference for short positions among futures market participants. A long/short ratio above one indicates that there are more traders with bullish (long) positions than bearish (short) ones.

Conversely, a ratio below one, as in STX’s case, suggests that a majority of traders are betting on a price decline rather than an increase. This statistic might seem surprising considering STX has soared nearly 20% in the past 24 hours.

However, a glance at the Relative Strength Index (RSI) supports this bearish outlook. At press time, this momentum indicator is at 74.35 and on an upward trend. Typically, an RSI reading above 70 suggests that an asset is overbought and due for a price correction.

Complementary chart data from the cryptocurrency exchange Bitrix Global also shows that STX broke out of a bullish pennant pattern on Monday.

After several months of consolidation in a pennant chart pattern, STX finally broke out to the upside, rising sharply from the $0.47 level. A pennant pattern is formed when an asset experiences a strong rally, followed by a period of consolidation, during which the price chart converges into a pennant-like shape.

After a breakout from a pennant pattern, the asset is expected to continue moving in the same direction as the breakout. In this case, STX broke out to the upside from the pennant pattern, signaling the continuation of its uptrend.

However, after a large price move, the asset is usually due for a retracement, or a temporary decline in price. This is because, after a sustained rally, buyer exhaustion sets in, leading to a reversal of the price trend.

In this case, STX’s price could drop to its year-to-date low of $0.47. But if demand strengthens, the altcoin’s rally could continue, potentially allowing it to break above the resistance level at $1.07.