Key highlights:
- KAITO gained over 20% in the last 24 hours, extending its bullish momentum as AI-related developments boosted investor sentiment.
- K3’s launch helped imi become the leading foundation model by 24-hour mindshare, overtaking both GPT and Claude for the first time.
- KAITO open interest climbed to a record $106 million, signaling rising derivatives activity as traders position for further rallies.
KAITO emerged as one of the cryptocurrency market’s biggest gainers on Friday after rallying more than 20% over the past 24 hours, with traders responding to major developments in the artificial intelligence sector and increasing activity across the token’s derivatives market.
The rally coincides with the launch of K3, whose underlying model, imi, has climbed to the top of the 24-hour foundation model mindshare rankings with a 31% share, overtaking both OpenAI’s GPT and Anthropic’s Claude for the first time.
The milestone follows K3’s strong performance in the Frontend Code Arena, where it reportedly outperformed Claude’s Fable 5 while delivering comparable coding capabilities at roughly one-third of the cost. The achievement has strengthened optimism around the broader AI ecosystem, spilling over into KAITO’s market performance.
AI momentum spills into KAITO’s price action
Growing enthusiasm surrounding the AI sector has translated into stronger demand for KAITO.
At the time of writing, the token traded at $0.8848, up more than 20% over the previous day.
The move comes as investors increasingly rotate into AI-related crypto assets following recent breakthroughs in model performance and developer adoption.
While KAITO itself is not directly tied to the newly launched model, the broader AI narrative has helped lift sentiment across the sector, attracting both spot buyers and leveraged traders.
Technical indicators remain firmly bullish
From a technical perspective, KAITO continues to display a strong bullish market structure.
The token has broken above several key resistance levels and now trades comfortably above its major Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs) as well as its Simple Moving Averages (SMAs), reinforcing buyers’ control over the current trend.
Meanwhile, the Bollinger Bands remain widely expanded, indicating elevated volatility. Such conditions often accompany strong directional moves and suggest that momentum could remain elevated if buyers continue defending current support levels.
The latest breakout also leaves relatively few technical barriers before higher resistance zones come into focus.
Open interest hits a record high
Derivatives data also supports the ongoing rally.
KAITO’s open interest surged to a record $106 million, reflecting a sharp increase in outstanding futures positions.
Rising open interest alongside increasing prices typically indicates fresh capital entering the market rather than short covering alone. It suggests traders are actively opening new positions in anticipation of continued volatility.
However, elevated leverage can also increase liquidation risks if momentum weakens, making the coming sessions particularly important for confirming whether the breakout can be sustained.
Can KAITO extend the rally?
The combination of improving AI sentiment, bullish technical indicators and record-breaking derivatives activity has positioned KAITO among the strongest-performing digital assets over the past day.
As long as the token continues holding above its key moving averages, bulls could remain in control in the near term.
However, traders and investors will likely monitor whether record open interest translates into sustained buying pressure or heightened volatility as leveraged positions continue to build.
Source:: KAITO Surges by 20% as AI Breakthrough Sends Open Interest to Record $106 Million