Why was the SAND able to reach the $1 mark?

The price of the sandbox (SAND) extended its gains by 7% to trade around $0.68 at the time of writing on Monday after rising more than 16% the previous week. On-chain data paints a positive picture, as SAND’s open interest and large transactions are increasing. The technical outlook suggests a continuation of the rise, with a target towards the $1 mark.

The price of the sandbox looks promising

Sandbox price found support around the previous broken downtrend line drawn by connecting multiple peaks from July 2022. It bounced 18% from mid-December to the end of the month. Monday’s gains were up 7%, trading around $0.68 at the time of writing.

If the SAND continues its upward momentum, it could extend the 45% climb to retest the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level, pulled from the July 2022 high of $1.49 to the August 2024 low of $0.20 , to $1.00.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the weekly chart is at 59, above its neutral level of 50 and pointing upwards, indicating bullish momentum is gaining strength.

SAND/USDT weekly chart

Coinglass data shows that Open Interest (OI) in SAND futures on exchanges rose from $82.78 million on Wednesday to $150.26 million on Monday, reaching the highest level since December 12. An increase in OI represents new or additional money entering the market and new buying, suggesting further growth in the price of the Sandbox.

SAND Open interest chart. Source: Coinglass

Santimento’s number of whale transactions (>100k USD) shows increasing spikes, indicating an increase in whale activity. Moreover, the exchange’s flow balance for SAND shows a negative value, indicating that more SAND has left the exchange than entered. This suggests less selling pressure from investors, adding further credence to the bullish outlook.

Number of SAND Whale Transactions (>100K USD) and Exchange Flow Status Chart. Source: Sentiment

However, if the weekly SAND candle closes below its 50-week exponential moving average (EMA) at $0.46, the bullish thesis would be invalidated, sending the price down towards the next weekly support level of $0.388.