MATIC says 'no' to crypto bears with new all-time highs, weekly gains near 120%

MATIC is now the 17th-biggest cryptocurrency by market cap as an exchange listing sees it reject the bearish mood afflicting major tokens.

Ethereum infrastructure development platform Polygon’s MATIC token hit new all-time highs on May 18 to become the best-performing cryptocurrency on the day.

MATIC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Coinbase). Source: TradingView

MATIC hits fresh record high

Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed MATIC/USD reaching $2.18 during trading on May 18 in firm defiance of the broader market downtrend.

After being listed on major exchange Kraken on May 17, MATIC surged, continuing a dramatic uptick that had begun when Kraken released the news earlier this month.

VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for MATIC on May 12, prior to the recent price rise. The VORTECS™ Score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historic and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.

VORTECS™ recorded unprecedented high scores for MATIC beginning May 15. At 99, the token gained the highest score ever seen on the platform, which was followed by multiple price spikes culminating in May 18's highs.

MATIC/USD with VORTECS™ Score chart and Kraken listing alert. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

As such, the 17th-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization thus outperformed all others in terms of daily and weekly gains. At the time of writing, these totaled 22% and 118%, respectively.

The timing was a blessing to many traders who had spent recent days watching the value of their holdings decrease in line with selling pressure on Bitcoin (BTC).

“MATIC is singlehandedly trying to save my portfolio,” popular trader Scott Melker told Twitter followers.

Close behind MATIC was Synthetix  Network Token (SNX) with 21% returns in the past 24-hours, followed by Telcoin (TEL) with 17%.

Traders keep the faith in "alt season 2.0"

By contrast, the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap were all in the red, with the exception of XRP, which was up 6% at $1.61.

For longtime market participants, however, it remained “business as usual” — recent events were no cause to reevaluate what is still a nascent ecosystem.

“Many Altcoins have been developing multi-year market structures,” trader Rekt Capital tweeted on May 18.

“Any short-term fear or uncertainty over the next few days or even week or two are unlikely to change these long-term formations and structures.”

Bitcoin bounced at $42,000 — the site of its all-time highs from February — to regain some lost ground amid warnings that the bottom may be yet to come.