Polkadot [DOT] stays ahead of the competition in this area

• Polkadot outshines the competition in terms of development activity.
• DOT bulls remain in hibernation but may soon pop up strong as the price approaches a support zone.

Things have been relatively calm and quiet on the Polkadot front but a lack of excitement was seen for both the network and the DOT cryptocurrency.

Investors’ attention has been shifting elsewhere but Polkadot is still winning in one key area.

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For perspective, most of the top Polkadot metrics align with the market slowdown observed in the last few weeks. For example, on-chain volume achieved a monthly peak between 18 and 20 February. The volume tanked since then and was rapidly approaching its 4-week lows, at press time.

Source: Santiment

The low volume also aligns with Polkadot’s liquidity outflow observed within the same period. The network has so far lost roughly $1.6 million from its market cap in the last 2-3 weeks.

Social volume has been relatively weak for the most part within the last four weeks. It reflects the low enthusiasm or engagement pertaining to Polkadot.

Source: Santiment

On the other hand, the latest observations in the derivatives market revealed some interesting outcomes. Both the Binance and DYDX funding rates have demonstrated some weakness, especially since the start of March.

The Binance Funding rate in particular briefly fell to the lowest monthly level on 3 March.

Polkadot takes the lead in the development

The Polkadot and Kusama networks have secured the top spot in GitHub’s weekly development activity list. It surpassed rival top networks such as Cardano and Ethereum. This was a healthy sign, Polkadot has remained heavily focused on development despite the market headwinds.

GitHub Weekly Development Activity:

#1: 605 Polkadot / Kusama
#2: 527 Cardano
#3: 450 Status
#4: 416 Internet Computer
#5: 356 Hedera
#6: 339 Ethereum
#7: 317 Decentraland
#8: 298 Cosmos
#9: 283 Filecoin
#10: 264 ChainLink pic.twitter.com/hRIphSs0dC

— ProofofGitHub (@ProofofGitHub) March 5, 2023

However, DOT’s price action has been on a bearish trajectory for the last two weeks despite Polkadot’s strong development activity.

The cryptocurrency’s performance is largely tied to the overall market conditions, but can the healthy development lead to support a sentiment shift?

Source: TradingView

DOT’s sell pressure has been strong enough to push it below the 50% RSI level. It has been inching closer to oversold territory but it still has some more downside before it becomes oversold.

Also worth noting is that the cryptocurrency is rapidly approaching a key support level at the $5.65 price range.

         Realistic or not, here’s Polkadot’s market cap in BTC terms

Well, the prevailing market FUD may push the price below support, wiping out more of the YTD gains. DOT traded at a healthy 40% premium at press time from its 6-month lows despite the bearish conditions.