On Monday, Dec. 2, HBAR emerged as one of the top-performing cryptocurrencies, fueled by substantial whale accumulation and excitement within the HBAR community.

Hedera (HBAR) surged 47% in just 24 hours, reaching a seven-month peak of $0.253 before retracting slightly to settle at $0.250 at the time of writing. This latest upswing contributed to an impressive monthly gain exceeding 450%, with a market capitalization of $9.65 billion.

Speculation Fuels HBAR Surge

The rise in HBAR’s value is primarily attributed to its increasing participation in blockchain-based federal payment systems. Hedera’s integration with the Federal Reserve’s FedNow payment network, enabled by Dropp, allows for real-time, secure, and efficient transactions.

Additionally, speculation about Ripple’s potential role has surfaced, with rumors indicating that Hedera may expand to support Ripple’s upcoming RLUSD stablecoin. If accurate, this could establish an interoperability layer between HBAR and XRP, enhancing their joint efforts in formulating global standards for CBDC and stablecoin transactions.

Moreover, HBAR investors are enthusiastic due to speculation regarding the potential approval of a Hedera-centric exchange-traded fund submitted by Canary Capital to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. With Gary Gensler stepping down as SEC chair, approval might seem feasible under a Trump administration, potentially attracting more institutional investment and further boosting HBAR’s price.

These rumors and recent happenings have spurred increased activity among large wallet holders. Data from HederaWatch reveals a significant rise in accounts holding between 100,000 and 100 million HBAR, with those holding 100 million up more than 20% since August.

The surge in HBAR’s pricing has coincided with a substantial increase in trading volume and open interest. In the last 24 hours, trading volume soared by 323% to $3.46 billion, while open interest rose by 76% to $324 million. This uptick suggests a significant influx of new capital, likely providing the energy needed for ongoing price ascension.

Moreover, HBAR has attracted considerable retail interest, achieving its highest search popularity in U.S. markets in five years, according to Google Trends.

HBAR May Be Overbought

On the daily HBAR/USDT chart, the price of HBAR has surpassed both its 50-day and 200-day Simple Moving Averages, forming a golden cross—a robust bullish indicator that often suggests increasing momentum and prospects for further price advancements.

Concurrently, the Relative Strength Index has reached 83, indicating intense buying activity and affirming the bullish trend. However, an RSI above 70 usually signifies that the asset is overbought, suggesting that HBAR might be ready for a correction or price retraction if the current momentum begins to wane.

If a price reversal occurs, the altcoin could find support at $0.1358, aligning with the middle Bollinger Band, a level that previously acted as support during its decline on Nov. 25.