CANTO Token’s Rollercoaster Ride: 250% Spike Followed by a Sharp 60% Decline

CANTO, the native cryptocurrency of its namesake layer-1 blockchain, experienced a highly volatile trading session on Thursday, soaring 250% before dropping 60% over the next six hours.

After a hot debut last year, reaching a $238 million market capitalization and locking in $204 million in total value locked (TVL), CANTO has since seen its momentum fade. A recent network outage accelerated asset withdrawals, leaving only $4.6 million in TVL—a steep decline that reflects waning investor interest.

This downturn is compounded by an influx of new layer-1 and layer-2 blockchain projects, which have crowded the market and drained liquidity from many protocols, including Canto.

Despite earlier promises to release an updated roadmap, the project has not posted any updates on X since September, leaving the community in the dark.

Thursday’s price surge was likely fueled by a sudden surge in low-volume buying, causing a brief but sharp rally. However, the spike quickly reversed as traders locked in gains and closed losing positions, triggering a swift sell-off.