DOT$1.7770 crashed through critical support Wednesday, tumbling 3% to $1.83 as technical selling overwhelmed bullish USDC integration news.
DOT broke decisively below the psychological $1.90 floor despite Coinbase (COIN) announcing direct Polkadot network support.
Heavy distribution emerged during the final two trading hours, according to CoinDesk Research’s technical analysis model, as the token collapsed from $1.93 to $1.82 and stop-losses cascaded through multiple support zones.
The model showed that volume spiked to 9.47 million tokens, or 340% above the 24-hour average.
This surge confirmed institutional distribution at the $1.95 level, the model said.
The breakdown established clear bearish momentum with lower highs from the $1.92 peak, according to the model.
Wider crypto markets also fell. The CoinDesk 20 index was 2% lower at publication time.
Technical Analysis:
- Primary support established at $1.82 demand zone after $1.90 psychological level failed
- Resistance now sits at broken $1.90 level, with secondary barrier at $1.95 rejection point
- Breakdown volume at 340% of 24-hour average confirmed institutional distribution
- Descending channel formed from $1.92 high through $1.90 support break
- Lower highs structure established bearish intermediate-term bias
- Failed breakout above $1.95 created double-top formation risk
- Immediate resistance at $1.90 must hold as support on any recovery attempt
- Downside risk extends toward $1.75-1.80 zone if current support fails
- Recovery above $1.95 needed to negate bearish technical structure and resume uptrend
Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.
Source: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/12/17/polkadot-s-dot-drops-3-to-usd1-83-as-crypto-markets-reverse-lower
