Monero climbed more than 12% on October 22, 2026, reaching $648.26, as daily trading volume jumped 39.77% to approximately $251.1 million. The privacy coin broke above the $600–$620 resistance region after several days of recovery from around $550 on October 15.
Futures activity accompanied the move. Monero futures open interest reached $198 million on October 20, while outstanding contracts measured in XMR rose about 22% over five days. Funding rates remained positive, suggesting long positions were paying a modest premium, though the seven-day average funding rate was below earlier October levels.
Analyst Ali Martinez had identified an ascending triangle on the hourly chart and said a close above $602 could open the way toward $630. XMR traded near $650 after briefly slipping to $570 on October 21. Traders now watch the $650–$660 resistance area, with support around $620 and then $600. A break below could bring $570 and the $540–$550 zone into focus.
Monero developers released version 0.18.5.4 on October 16 with maintenance fixes, but no major project announcement was confirmed as the immediate catalyst. The longer-term FCMP++ privacy upgrade remains part of the narrative. The coin now ranks 13th by market capitalization at about $12.2 billion and remains below its January 2026 all-time high near $798.
The ETH-to-XMR picture underscores Monero’s relative strength: one Ether swapped for about 3.7 XMR on October 22, down from almost 13 a year earlier. Over that period, Ether fell from about $3,866 to $2,400, while Monero rose from around $305 to $645. Exchange restrictions remain a factor after Binance ended XMR trading in 2024 and Kraken stopped XMR for EEA clients, pushing some users toward non-custodial, no-account swap routes.
