Polkadot drops 8.2% despite network reforms and activity surge
Polkadot (DOT)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
Polkadot (DOT) fell 8.2% as selling pressure outweighed earlier network reforms and increased user activity, according to tradersunion.com. The price declined to hover near support at $1.078, even though it remains above key moving averages. Polkadot replaced locked parachain slot auctions with dynamic blockspace pricing and shifted Coretime sales into a primary revenue source.
Monthly active addresses doubled from August to September, while trading volumes rose 116% to $4.7 billion. Staking participation and governance initiatives through NPoS continued with regular adjustments to staking yields and token minting. Despite these fundamentals, the price action stayed under broader selling pressure.
DOT is positioned above the 20-day ($1.055), 50-day ($0.92), and 200-day ($1.078) moving averages. Technical indicators show positive momentum, with the RSI at 63.931 and the Commodity Channel Index overbought at 103.788. However, the latest daily candle shows negative follow-through and heightened volatility. Analysts noted a technical breakdown signaling short-term bearish control, making $1.078 a critical level to watch.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for DOT, measured when this story was written up on 23 September 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
Whalio data shows a mixed immediate reaction with a 55.3% buy ratio in the last hour, rising to 52.0% over four hours, but dropping to 47.6% over the full day. This indicates that while short-term buyers are active, the daily trend leans toward selling. Volume delta reflects this shift, showing positive inflows of +$40,123 over one hour and +$75,047 over four hours, but a net outflow of -$609,178 over 24 hours. Cumulative Volume Delta closed at -$1,493,577, confirming that sellers dominated the day's volume of $13,074,112. Net buying occurred for only 9 of the 24 hours, highlighting a day where selling pressure prevailed.
The latest daily buy ratio of 49.7% sits at the 62nd percentile of the last 323 days, against a median of 48.9% - ordinary for this coin.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for DOT, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
Over the preceding week, the average buy ratio was 49.6%, with the latest day showing a 1.9 point drop from that average. Volume was 0.99x the weekly average, indicating trading activity remained near typical levels. Price surged 29.0% over eight days, yet the total volume delta for that period was -$1,462,844. This suggests that despite the significant price increase, the underlying flow was net negative. The current day's volume being 0.99x the average marks it as an ordinary day for trading activity, contrasting with the broader price momentum.