VIRTUAL rockets 90% – Will smart-money hype hurl it past $3 next?

• Smart money holdings in VIRTUAL rose 5.43%, with whale balances up 2.24% in 24 hours.
• The AI token sector gained 5.2% in a week, reinforcing VIRTUAL’s position in a capital-rich narrative.

Virtuals Protocol [VIRTUAL] extended its bullish streak with a 90% monthly gain, as market sentiment and smart money activity stacked up in its favor.

An analysis of market sentiment shows that smart money activity and growing interest in AI tokens place VIRTUAL in a strong position for a potential rally in the coming days.

Smart money and AI sector growth influence

According to data from Nansen, there’s an expanding cohort of smart money increasing their positions.

Smart money refers to investors known for making profitable bets on assets—buying low and selling high for significant gains.

The amount of VIRTUAL held by smart money investors rose 5.43% to 18.72 million tokens.

Interestingly, whales joined the party too, increasing their holdings by 2.24% to 827,894 VIRTUAL in the past 24 hours. Naturally, this accumulation wasn’t in isolation.

This growing interest in VIRTUAL appears tied to the broader performance of the AI token sector.

At the time of writing, the AI token sector has gained 5.2% over the past 7 days, contributing to the likelihood of a rally in VIRTUAL.

This trend suggests that, for now, the majority of market liquidity is being channeled into this sector, further enhancing its rally potential.

Smart money and whales are not the only ones buying VIRTUAL—spot and derivative traders are also positioning themselves to benefit.

How invested are spot and derivative traders?

Spot and derivative traders have mirrored the market’s bullish trend.

The spot market has been strongly bullish on VIRTUAL. Since the 28th of April, a total of $32.8 million worth of VIRTUAL has been accumulated from exchanges.

This accumulation indicates that traders are moving assets into private wallets. Such significant outflows may lead to a short squeeze.

On top of that, derivatives data pointed to accelerating momentum. Open Interest jumped 18.57% to $292.17 million in 24 hours, while trading volume soared 49% to $1.34 billion.

The futures market held a healthy Funding Rate with a reading of 1.0109, indicating a bullish bias.

If this trend continues, it could reinforce VIRTUAL’s upward push and draw even more leveraged interest.

An odd sentiment still exists on VIRTUAL

Despite the strength, a brief pullback isn’t off the table. Liquidation Heatmap data showed a potential dip to $2.30—a level that may allow the market to wipe out overexposed longs and reset before the next move up.

Such a move may represent an opportunity for whales and smart money investors to accumulate at a discount ahead of a major price upswing.

Overall, market sentiment remains bullish, and VIRTUAL appears to have more potential to rally than drop.