Cosmos (ATOM) made some gains but has turned bearish on Friday, much like the rest of the market, after the Layer 1 blockchain and DeFi ecosystem Kava successfully implementing the IBC protocol in its latest mainnet upgrade. At the time of writing, ATOM/USD is trading around $37.11.

Kava Integrates Cosmos’s IBC For Blockchain Interoperability

With the launch of Kava 9 mainnet upgrade, Kava becomes the 26th blockchain to develop interoperability using Cosmos’s IBC protocol. Holders of ATOM, LUNA and other IBC enabled assets can now benefit from accessing Kava’s suite of DeFi protocols as a result of this development.

The Layer 1 blockchain Kava was built using the Cosmos SDK and features high levels of security and a unique user interface. It is aimed to drive more mainstream interest in DeFi by offering services that are of high quality and high scalability and security.

In addition to Kava’s IBC integration, the ATOM token is also enjoying support from 21Shares launching the world’s very first crypto ETP for the Cosmos blockchain. The Cosmos ETP will give institutional investors exposure to the PoS digital asset as it works to connect more blockchains and make the technology far more scalable through its efforts in interoperability.

Since the beginning of this year, Cosmos has managed to see a steady uptick in its DeFi TVL, despite the sluggish mood in the overall crypto market. According to data from Defi Llama, the blockchain’s DeFi TVL has crossed the $8 billion mark in 2022, briefly spiking past $10 billion before easing lower.

ATOM/USD Technical Analysis

On the H4 chart of ATOM/USD, moving averages and popular technical indicators MACD and momentum are exhibiting a strong bearish bias. Sellers remain in control as market leader Bitcoin struggles under the $40,000 level, keeping investors wary from going long on most of the digital assets for now.

Cosmos is trading under the pivot point at $40.16 but is managing to hold above the immediate support at $36.43. However, further selling pressure can see ATOM’s price break under this level, in which case we’ll have to monitor price action around the second support at $29.15.