Is MATIC ‘doomed to irrelevancy?’ What analysts have to say

• MATIC, LDO, and APE were struggling to hold up their past rally gains. 
• Analyst believes “weaker” alts are losing to Bitcoin and stronger alts.

Out of the several altcoins that strongly recovered in Q4 2023, only a handful have maintained the steam. Solana [SOL] was a bold outlier in Q4 2023 and Q1 2024. 

Painfully, over the same period, other altcoins struggled to extend the late 2023 recovery into 2024. In fact, some reversed the little gains they recorded. 

Polygon [MATIC] is one of the laggards, per pseudonymous analyst, ColdBloodShill. The analyst noted that,

“For example, something like $MATIC has undone its entire 2023/2024 run-up and is trading under the key support level. All while BTC holds up very well and other Alts maintain the gains and steps they’ve taken in the last 7 months.”

Source: X/ColdBloodShiller

A spot check of MATIC’s technical analysis showed that $0.75 was key support in Q4 2023. But it was flipped to resistance in Q2 2024, meaning vast amounts of last year’s gains have been wiped out. 

Market bifurcation: How MATIC and others could lose out

The above market dynamic is called “market bifurcation,” where one token(s) or even stocks outperform others. 

It could happen because of increased mindshare on socials, increased risk appetite, attractive narratives, etc. The 2024 market cycle has selective rallies that leave many more questions than answers. 

Referring to MATIC, the analyst quipped that, 

“The thought is, really, are these alts doomed to irrelevancy? Is the market already beginning to phase out coins in preference for those strong performers (or BTC?)”

Elaborating that the market bifurcation isn’t negatively affecting just MATIC, the analyst established similar patterns with Lido [LDO] and Apecoin [APE]. 

However, MATIC has been fighting a strong FUD after being mentioned as one of the “zombie chains.” 

Despite the quality partnership and “network effects,” there was nothing to show for it on the price charts. Sandeep Nailwal, the Polygon founder, jokingly summarized it this way; 

 “Last 2 days in @0xPolygon, Robinhood wallet allows swaps, Franklin Templeton launched P2P transfers of RWAs, Stripe allows USDC transactions, and Spencernoon published a report mentioning the highest number of stablecoin users are on Polygon. Someone: Polygon is so dead because the price is not moving”

At this point, one might be forced to constantly monitor the strength of a narrative and momentum of price action to rotate their “bags” accordingly for maximum returns.

As such, market bifurcation calls for extreme caution, due diligence, and updated risk management to cushion from extreme price sluggards as the overall market moons.