Injective Price Forecast: First-ever INJ staked ETF approval drives further gains

• Following a 9.51% advance the day before, Injective has gained a further 5% on Thursday.
• Canary Staked Injective ETF, which would stake at least 90% of its holdings, receives Nasdaq listing approval under ticker INJC.
• A recovery in INJ futures open interest, alongside a positive funding rate, points to buyers retaining the upper hand.

A third consecutive day of buying interest supports Injective (INJ) on Thursday, after the announcement that Nasdaq approved the listing of the Canary Staked Injective Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) on Monday. Rising open interest and funding rates, together with a higher spot price, indicate that buyers firmly dominate Injective derivatives trading. The technical picture also favours further gains: the near-term rally is close to turning the prevailing bearish momentum bullish.

First-ever INJ ETF approval sustains retail demand for Injective

Alongside the broader crypto market’s post-midterms rally, Injective has staged a steady recovery this week. The initial trigger for INJ’s advance, however, was Nasdaq’s approval on Monday of the Form 8-A listing application for the Canary Staked Injective ETF (INJC). With BitGo serving as custodian, the ETF intends to stake 90% of its holdings, giving US institutional and retail investors access to INJ and staking rewards through brokerage accounts. 

Before public trading can start, however, Canary’s INJC still needs to secure its S-1 registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Retail participation in Injective’s derivatives market is also strengthening. CoinGlass data put INJ futures open interest (OI) at 18.38 million INJ tokens, recovering from Tuesday’s recent low of 17.34 million and indicating a build-up in positions. Meanwhile, a funding rate of 0.0102% signals traders’ willingness to pay a premium to open new long positions. 

With sentiment across the broader market still constructive, the resurgence in retail interest ahead of the staking ETF points to additional upside for Injective.

Technical outlook: Injective token eyes a return to $10

Three successive days of gains leave Injective with a constructive bullish bias, trading above $8 at the time of writing on Thursday. Both the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at $7.43 and the 200-day EMA at $6.16 sit below INJ’s price and now provide support bands.

The broader uptrend also appears intact, with INJ comfortably above the ascending support trendline near $7.05 that links the lows of 18 August and 4 September.

Daily momentum remains modestly positive. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is around 56, and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) line is close to crossing above its signal line. Together, these indicators suggest that upside momentum is gathering, although it is not yet impulsive.

The 19 September high near $8.40 marks INJ’s first resistance level. If a breakout above it holds, the next target could be the 16 October peak of $9.41, followed by the psychological threshold of $10.00.

Should the price retreat, the 50-day EMA near $7.43 offers the first support, followed by the trendline around $7.05. The latter is expected to provide a deeper technical floor if the pullback continues.

(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)