Cryptocurrencies are set to dominate conversations this week as investors closely monitor high-stakes trade discussions between the United States and China, await new data on consumer inflation, and tune into the influential Consensus event scheduled in Toronto.
The market heads into the week riding strong bullish momentum. Bitcoin (BTC) and most leading altcoins have recently posted impressive gains, climbing over 20% from their April lows. Market sentiment, as gauged by the widely followed Fear and Greed Index, currently indicates greed, reflecting renewed optimism across the broader cryptocurrency landscape.
Three cryptocurrencies in particular stand out as important to watch closely: Ethereum (ETH), Pi Network (PI), and Solayer (LAYER).
Ethereum made significant headlines last week following the integration of its latest Pectra upgrade. This upgrade brought in 11 Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), focusing on enhancements in account abstraction, validator balance updates, increased throughput capabilities, and improvements to deposit and withdrawal mechanisms.
ETH surged strongly on the upgrade news, breaking decisively past key resistance at the $2,132 mark. Technically, this price action carries significant bullish weight, as Ethereum simultaneously overcame both its 50-day and 100-day moving averages, accompanied by a breakout from a critical double-top neckline at $4,085.
Looking ahead, Ethereum’s rally may persist, potentially pulling other ERC-based tokens, including Pepe (PEPE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), and Uniswap (UNI) upwards with it. However, traders should be mindful of a plausible short-term scenario in which ETH retraces slightly to retest the $2,132 support before continuing upward—a classic bullish pattern known as a break-and-retest.
Meanwhile, Pi Network also delivered significant price action last week, with its native token soaring on expectations ahead of a potentially game-changing announcement promised by its development team at Consensus Toronto. The coin spiked dramatically, achieving a high of $1.0670—the strongest price point reached since March and up over 158% from April’s lows.
Investor speculation surrounding Pi Network centers on several possibilities, including potential exchange listings from large, reputable crypto trading platforms, strategic partnership announcements, or even a new fund established to incentivize network developers and creators. As anticipation around this upcoming announcement builds, Pi Coin’s price momentum could remain strong, with short-term market attention perhaps pivoting towards a key historic price peak around the $1.80 mark.
Finally, Solayer—a staking-related solution on Solana (SOL)—recently experienced a significant price decline from highs near $3.35 down to approximately $1.20, notably failing to participate in the broader cryptocurrency uptrend. Similar in character to the recent sell-offs seen in other projects, such as Mantra, Solayer’s price descent has been attributed primarily to forced liquidations and rumors of insider token sales.
Investors will particularly focus on Solayer this week due to the scheduled token unlocking worth $32 million on Monday. Of that total, $21 million worth of tokens will be allocated to the community, while the remainder is earmarked for the project’s foundation. Such unlock events traditionally exert downward price pressure by increasing available token supplies on the market. Given Solayer’s total supply stands at 1 billion while currently circulating tokens amount to around 210 million, a series of scheduled unlocks may continue to impact sentiment in subsequent weeks.
Overall, market participants will want to watch closely for developments with Ethereum’s post-Pectra rally, Pi Network’s Consensus event announcement, and Solayer’s token unlock, as each of these cryptocurrencies could significantly influence market dynamics in the coming days.
