Monero (XMR) surged to nearly $530 on August 31, its highest level since January 2024, making it the best-performing cryptocurrency among the top 100. The privacy coin traded around $525, a 43% jump on a monthly scale, with its market cap swelling to nearly $10 billion and overtaking Chainlink and Cardano to become the 13th-largest digital asset.
THORChain's native XMR support
The rally's main catalyst was THORChain's network upgrade, which introduced native support for XMR swaps. That's a significant development for Monero holders, who have had fewer options for decentralized trading since major exchanges pulled back from privacy coins.
Breaking above the $410 resistance level was flagged as a key bullish trigger by X user Nebrasangooner, and the move has drawn attention from notable figures. David Gokhshtein expressed surprise at XMR's gains, especially given that the coin isn't listed on many major exchanges.
Exchange landscape remains mixed
Binance terminated all services with XMR at the beginning of 2024, a decision that caused a substantial price decline at the time. The coin remains unavailable on Coinbase, but it is still supported on Kraken, KuCoin, and MEXC.
That patchwork of availability makes the current rally all the more notable. X users Mav and Sweep commented positively on the price increase, with Sweep calling XMR "an absolute sleeping giant."
Investors moving to self-custody
Exchange net flow data from CoinGlass shows outflows surpassing inflows over the past several days. That pattern suggests investors are moving XMR to self-custody, which reduces selling pressure on exchanges and can support further price gains.
The flip side is that XMR's Relative Strength Index (RSI) now stands at roughly 77, a level that signals the asset is overbought. That doesn't mean the rally is over, but it does suggest a potential correction could be in the cards if momentum stalls.
For now, the question is whether the THORChain integration can sustain demand from users who previously had limited options for trading XMR without going through centralized exchanges. The next few weeks will show whether this is a one-off spike or the start of a longer trend.
