Hedera’s HBAR token staged an early rally but ended Thursday’s session battered, as heavy sell pressure erased gains and broke through critical technical levels. The token climbed 6% from $0.21 to $0.22 in the 23 hours leading up to 14:00 UTC on Sept. 5, establishing a modest $0.013 trading range. However, the move quickly soured as sellers emerged into surging volumes, which doubled the 24-hour average to 77.6 million tokens.
The reversal came swiftly in the final hour of trading. Between 13:26 and 14:25 UTC, HBAR slipped back to $0.22, breaking through a key support level at 14:16. That move triggered a cascade of stop-loss orders and an acceleration of institutional liquidations. Within two minutes, volume spiked to 6 million tokens—triple the average hourly turnover—underscoring the intensity of the retreat.
The breakdown overshadowed a significant regulatory milestone for Hedera. Wyoming’s Stable Token Commission named the network the exclusive candidate for its state-backed Frontier Stable Token (FRNT), citing Hedera’s speed and reliability for issuing a dollar-backed digital currency. The decision marked one of the strongest signs yet of institutional validation for the public ledger.
Despite the breakthrough, markets largely shrugged off the news. HBAR has shed 12% over the past month as retail demand faded. On-chain data shows social dominance falling 55% to 0.74%, while the Smart Money Index—a proxy for institutional flows—dropped to 1.108, signaling that sophisticated traders are reducing exposure. With $0.19 emerging as the next major support zone, Hedera faces mounting pressure to translate state-level validation into sustained investor confidence.
Trading Data Points to Continued Weakness
- Support holds at $0.21 with early-session volume confirmation
- Resistance emerges at $0.22 as selling pressure intensifies above 77.6 million volume
- Multiple support breaks at $0.22 levels before temporary $0.22 stabilization
- Two-minute volume surge to 6 million signals institutional selling during 14:17-14:18 window
- Social metrics drop 55% to 0.74% showing retail exodus
- Smart Money Index at 1.108 confirms professional trader retreat
- Key $0.19 support threatened by accelerating selling pressure
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