Crypto Chaos: Why Sui Plunged More than 6% After a Similar 6% Surge This Morning

As I began writing this piece today, Sui (CRYPTO: SUI) was a token I was prepared to comment on from a bullish angle. After all, as of 8:00 a.m. ET, SUI surged roughly 6.3% to the $1.65 level, and looked to be making a move toward a fresh weekly high.

Just about as quickly as I could begin diving into what was driving this token higher, a plunge over the past few hours has meant that Sui has now given up all these gains, trading right around where it began to start the day yesterday.

That said, I always view these highly volatile days in particular cryptocurrencies as telling. That's because when the market is having a difficult time digesting a ton of data being thrown at investors, that's when there's usually an opportunity in the market to take a position and stick with it for a period of time.

Here's what to make of today's roller coaster ride in Sui.

What gives?

Source: Getty Images.

Last week's catalysts are now old news, but it's worth noting that Sui ended the past week on a strong note. News that Coinbase would list Sui on its web and mobile platform, making this token available to select users in the United States, was undoubtedly a strong upside catalyst and one that could be bleeding into today's earlier surge.

Other more recent catalysts, including a listing on the Bitget exchange this week, have some investors banking on accelerating demand for SUI tokens due to Bitget's easy-to-access platform and its ability to buy crypto with a credit card. For many retail investors, this is big news.

That said, a broader downturn in crypto assets (following today's decline in other, more speculative areas of the equity market) suggests that this recent dip is one being caused by wider market dynamics. Right now, this selling pressure looks to be liquidity-related, with investors spanning the spectrum (from individual investors to exchanges) looking to shore up liquidity for their portfolios.

We'll see if I'm right in a few days, but I wouldn't be surprised to see this trend reverse. That's my base case for now, at least.

Chris MacDonald has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Sui. The Motley Fool recommends Coinbase Global. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.