Injective Price Forecast: Rally extends on first-ever INJ staked ETF approval

• Injective is up 5% on Thursday, building on its 9.51% gains from the previous day.
• Nasdaq approves listing of Canary Staked Injective ETF under ticker INJC, which would stake at least 90% of its holdings.
• INJ futures Open Interest recovers amid a positive funding rate, suggesting buy-side dominance.

Injective (INJ) attracts buyers for the third straight day on Thursday, following the announcement that Nasdaq has approved the listing of the Canary Staked Injective Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) on Monday. Injective derivatives data point to firm buy-side dominance among traders as its Open Interest and funding rate rise alongside the spot price. The technical outlook for INJ indicates an upside bias, as the near-term rally is close to flipping the prevailing downside momentum to bullish.

Injective holds firm retail demand on the first-ever INJ ETF approval

Injective shows a steady recovery this week, aligning with the post-midterms rally in the broader crypto market. However, the initial catalyst for the rally in INJ price was Nasdaq’s Form 8-A listing approval of the Canary Staked Injective ETF (INJC) application on Monday. The ETF aims to stake 90% of its holdings, with BitGo as custodian, providing brokerage-account access to INJ and staking rewards for institutional and retail investors in the US. 

Still, Canary’s INJC must secure the S-1 registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to begin public trading.

On the retail side, Injective is gaining retail strength in the derivatives market. According to CoinGlass, the INJ futures Open Interest (OI) is at 18.38 million INJ tokens, up from a recent dip to 17.34 million on Tuesday, suggesting a positional buildup, while the funding rate at 0.0102% suggests that traders are willing to pay a premium to buy fresh long positions. 

Given that broader market sentiment remains constructive, renewed retail interest ahead of the staking ETF projects further upside for Injective.

Technical outlook: Will the Injective token reclaim $10?

Injective trades above $8 at press time on Thursday, holding a constructive bullish bias with three consecutive days of gains. INJ remains above both the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at $7.43 and the 200-day EMA at $6.16, now acting as support bands.

INJ also trades comfortably above the rising support trendline connecting the August 18 and September 4 lows near $7.05, suggesting that the broader uptrend structure remains intact.

Momentum is mildly positive on the daily chart, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) hovering around 56, while the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) line is on the verge of crossing above its signal line, suggesting upside momentum is building but not yet impulsive.

Looking up, the immediate resistance for INJ aligns with the September 19 high around $8.40. A sustained breakout above this level could target a $9.41 peak from October 16, beyond which the $10.00 psychological threshold could come into focus.

On the downside, initial support is at the 50-day EMA around $7.43, ahead of the support trendline near $7.05, which is expected to act as a deeper technical floor if a pullback extends.

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