Injective price surges as trading volume rises and buyers regain control

Injective has rallied more than 8% on October 16, reaching $9.35 as increased trading activity and renewed interest in the network’s institutional developments have supported its recovery.

According to TradingView data from Binance, INJ (INJ) was trading near $9.25 at approximately 12:33 PM IST, with daily trading volume at 2.29 million INJ. The token had recovered from an intraday low of $8.50, while the latest rally brought it above the trading range seen earlier in October.

The price movement followed several developments involving Injective’s institutional partnerships, regulatory positioning, and proposed investment products in the United States.

Gulf Labs partnership adds to Injective’s institutional expansion

One of the developments drawing attention to Injective is its partnership with Gulf Labs, a subsidiary of Thailand’s GULF Group, which has a market capitalization of approximately $27 billion.

In an October 8 announcement, Injective confirmed that Gulf Labs had begun operating an institutional validator on its blockchain, taking part in transaction validation, network security, and governance.

The partnership covers potential work involving tokenization, stablecoins, institutional financial services, and digital infrastructure in Thailand.

GULF Group operates across several industries, including energy, telecommunications, banking, and cloud infrastructure. Its energy portfolio exceeds 24 gigawatts of installed capacity, while its telecommunications businesses serve more than 46 million mobile subscribers.

Gulf Labs said its validator operations would provide a technical foundation for exploring blockchain applications with local financial institutions.

According to an October 14 analysis by AMBCrypto, INJ had gained approximately 10% as traders reacted to the partnership. Trading volume had risen 25% to $153.37 million, while derivatives open interest reached $72.45 million.

The institutional activity followed Injective’s previous efforts to establish a regulated presence in the US financial market.

As crypto.news reported in August, Injective Institutional Services secured registration with the US Securities and Exchange Commission as a transfer agent.

The registration allows the affiliate to maintain official securities ownership records, process ownership changes, and perform administrative functions involving distributions and corporate actions.

Injective had announced its application in July as part of its plans to support tokenized securities using blockchain infrastructure.

The network’s institutional strategy has included efforts to connect conventional financial recordkeeping with on-chain transactions.

Injective ETF proposals remain part of the market narrative

Interest in INJ investment products has continued alongside the network’s institutional developments.

Canary Capital filed an amended S-1 registration statement with the SEC in December 2025 for its proposed staked Injective exchange-traded fund.

The proposed product would provide exposure to INJ’s spot price while seeking additional returns through staking.

According to the filing, BitGo would serve as custodian, while U.S. Bancorp Fund Services would handle administration and cash custody.

The proposed fund would trade on the Cboe BZX Exchange, with shares created and redeemed in blocks of 10,000.

Canary had previously registered a Delaware trust in June 2025 as an initial step toward launching the investment product.

The ETF proposal remains subject to the applicable regulatory process, and the earlier filings do not establish that an approval occurred on October 16.

Meanwhile, the latest trading activity has brought attention to whether INJ can maintain its recovery after several volatile sessions.

Historical market data from CoinGecko showed INJ closing near $7.66 on October 14, following a recovery from approximately $6.93 on October 9.

The token subsequently traded above $9 on October 16, with its latest price movement accompanied by stronger buying activity on the 4-hour chart.

Injective price outlook remains bullish on the daily chart

Technical indicators on the daily INJ/USDT chart showed buyers retaining control as the token traded near $9.25.

INJ/USDT 1-day price chart. Source: crypto.news

According to TradingView data captured on October 16, INJ was trading above its Ichimoku Cloud, with both the Tenkan-sen and Kijun-sen positioned near $7.887.

The cloud’s leading boundaries stood at approximately $7.887 and $7.006, placing the price comfortably above the indicator’s main support region.

The arrangement indicates a bullish daily trend, although the distance between the current price and the conversion and base lines suggests the market has moved considerably ahead of its recent average trading levels.

The Directional Movement Index provided another positive reading.

The positive directional indicator, or +DI, stood at 21.51, compared with 14.75 for the negative directional indicator, or −DI.

With +DI above −DI, the indicator showed that buying pressure remained stronger than selling pressure.

The Average Directional Index stood at 26.25, above the commonly watched threshold of 25 that indicates an established trend.

However, ADX had fallen from readings above 40 in late September, showing that the underlying trend had lost some strength despite the latest price gains.

On the 4-hour chart, On-Balance Volume had climbed to approximately −16.74 million, its highest reading in several weeks.

INJ/USDT 4-hour price chart. Source: crypto.news

The improvement followed a period of weaker volume readings earlier in October and coincided with INJ moving above its previous consolidation range.

Meanwhile, the Commodity Channel Index stood at 209.77, substantially above the +100 level commonly associated with strong positive momentum.

The CCI signal line was near 27.38, leaving a considerable gap between the two readings.

Although the indicator remained bullish, a CCI reading above +200 suggested that the recent advance had become stretched on the shorter timeframe.

Other technical indicators were mostly bullish, with 14 buy signals, four sell signals, and four neutral readings. Moving averages showed 12 buy signals and no sell signals, although oscillators remained bearish with two buy and four sell signals. 

INJ price faces resistance near $9.50 before a possible move to $10

At the moment, traders will likely keep an eye on the October 16 high near $9.35, followed by resistance around $9.50.

A sustained move above $9.50 could bring the psychological $10 level into focus, with the next potential upside target near $10.50.

If buying momentum continues beyond that region, the $11 level could become another target based on the visible price structure.

On the downside, the first support region lies between $8.50 and $8.70, near the area from which the latest rally accelerated.

A move below that range could expose the $7.85 to $8.00 region, which coincides with the daily Ichimoku conversion and base lines near $7.887.

If price continues falling it could bring the lower cloud boundary near $7.00 into consideration.

The 4-hour CCI reading will be important in assessing whether the rally is losing momentum. A drop from above +200 toward +100 could indicate that buying pressure is cooling, while a move below zero would signal a more pronounced deterioration in short-term momentum.