IOTA which started life in 2016 has been absolutely surging during February. It missed out completely on the crypto surge in 2020, which took Bitcoin above $ 20,000. But, it finally caught up with the rest of the market in February, as the price surged from around $ 0.40 to $ 1.40. The price retreated below $ 1 for a short while on February 15, but shot back up above $ 1.70 in the following days, which shows that this bullish move is sustainable. On February 22 we saw another dip below $ 1, but the price bounce back up above $ 1.30, which confirms the bullish bias.  

IOTA benefited immensely from the surge in the cryptocurrency market in 2017, rising rapidly from around $ 0.20 to $ 5.80 by December that year. The price eventually came down, together with the rest of the crypto market, and traded sideways for two years. But, while the rest of the crypto market surged in the second half of 2020, Iota continued to trade within a range, missing out on the recent surge, which took Bitcoin to $ 20,000 for the second time.

The implementation of the Internet of Things (IoT) has picked up pace since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but despite IOTA being the system for IoT transactions, it hasn’t benefited from that either, which raises questions for investors. At least, moving averages have turned from support into resistance on larger period charts, so let’s hope they will offer support for IOTA.

Recent Changes in the IOTA Price

Factors Affecting IOTA

IOTA is a blockchain developed to handle transactions between connected devices in the Internet of Things system, which aims to connect all machines and human finances, enabling instant automatic payments. The implementation and evolution of the IoT will have an impact on IOTA, which is mainly expected to be positive, although it is also likely to have an impact in the longer term. Scalability is a positive factor for IOTA, in comparison to Bitcoin, although it has its own issues. The security of the system is quite vulnerable, which has discouraged investors from turning to this cryptocurrency.

Recent Developments for IOTA/USD

IOTA, which has a market cap of around $ 821 billion, has been lagging behind other major cryptocurrencies in terms of an increase in value. While most other cryptos surged in H2 of 2020, MIOTA was mostly stagnant, not increasing the market cap, which is not convincing when it comes to attracting new investors. On the one hand, IOTA could be considered the cryptocurrency of the future, since the IOTA is the network for the Internet of Things. They have reached agreements to extend the platform’s utility among connected devices with prominent companies, like Bosch and Volkswagen.  

But on the other hand, IOTA’s cryptocurrency, the MIOTA, won’t be the exclusive digital currency for payment across the network. Any altcoins will be used for this, so the IOTA network will only act as such, which means no direct benefit for the MIOTA altcoin, although there are benefits from the scalability of its DAG technology. This technology allows users to verify 2 previous transactions in order to make a new transaction. On the IOTA network, transactions are linked together, which allows for quicker processing time and lower transaction fees. Yet, IOTA missed out on the 2020 surge in cryptocurrencies, and the fact that the founder and co-chairman, David Sønstebø, was forced to leave the Iota Foundation after a unanimous board decision in December 2020, isn’t helping. 

 The gains have been minimal on larger time-frames 

The IOTA/USD surged at the end of 2017, together with most cryptocurrencies, increasing to $ 5.80, but by July 2018 it had given back all those gains, with the decline stopping in the area around $ 0.10, where it formed a support zone. That zone has turned into the ultimate support. During the last two years, the 20 SMA (gray) provided resistance, but in July 2020 the price managed to rise above that moving average, which turned into support. However, IOTA hasn’t been able to make new highs since August 2020, as mentioned above, which suggests that buyers are not in charge of this altcoin.

 The highs are still getting lower for IOTA

On the weekly chart, moving averages also provided resistance for a couple of years, particularly the 50 SMA (yellow), which lasted until the middle of last year, when the price moved above this level. The support zone at around $ 0.10 is also visible here, while the 20 SMA has turned into support, and the price is currently trading right at this moving average. Now the question is whether the MAs will be broken. If they are, we might see a dive to $ 0.10 from around $ 0.30, where it is trading now. If not, we can expect a bounce, although this is not likely to be too high.