Hedera rose to a three-year high of $0.369 on Dec. 7 gaining over 120% in the last seven days while bringing its market cap to over $12.78 billion.

The recent rally extended the altcoin’s monthly gains to almost 600% making it a top performer among the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market cap per data from CoinGecko.

Hedera’s (HBAR) daily trading volume had also risen by 140% hovering over $4.66 billion when writing. The rally coincided with a jump in its futures open interest. CoinGlass data shows that open interest in HBAR’s futures market hit a record high of $459.87 million, marking a notable hike from a November low of $32.8 million.

Why is Hedera going up?

The recent price surge has been largely driven by Hedera’s collaboration with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. This partnership involves integrating Hedera’s blockchain technology into SpaceX’s space missions, focusing on advanced data-tracking solutions. 

The development has generated buzz among investors and the blockchain community. See below.

Another catalyst for the rally is Hedera’s role in the blockchain-based federal payment systems. The Federal Reserve’s FedNow payment network has integrated the Hedera-based micropayments platform Dropp, which enables transactions using HBAR, adding to its utility.

Additionally, traders are optimistic about the possibility of a Hedera-focused exchange-traded fund. Canary Capital recently filed for this ETF with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and speculation has intensified with reports of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler stepping down. Some believe that approval is likely under the incoming Trump administration.

Recent developments have also drawn the attention of whales. Data from HederaWatch reveals a sharp increase in accounts holding between 100,000 and 100 million HBAR.

Particularly notable is the growth in accounts holding over 100 million tokens, which has increased by over 20% since August.

Meanwhile, retail interest in HBAR has surged over the past weeks, as indicated by Google Trends data. This uptick in interest aligns with the HBAR Fear and Greed Index data from CFGI, which currently stands at 84, signaling extreme greed. 

Based on these metrics, traders appear eager to capitalize on potential gains, further driving HBAR’s price momentum.

HBAR has strong technicals

On the daily chart, HBAR’s price floats high above the 50-day and 200-day exponential moving averages, indicating that bulls are still in control, which is adding to the buying pressure that has driven the recent gains.

The Moving Average Convergence Divergence indicator confirms this trend, with both the MACD line positioned above the signal line and pointing upwards, suggesting a strong bullish trend.

At press time, HBAR was trading at $0.34, and based on the positive signals, the next likely target for the token could be the $0.40 psychological resistance, beyond which it would look to secure the $0.45 mark.

However, according to analyst WSB Trader Rocko, HBAR could rally to $0.576—a potential 70% jump from its current price levels.