Celestia (TIA) Surges 15% After Raising $100M in Latest Funding

TIA, the native token of layer 1 blockchain Celestia, saw an uptick on Tuesday after the Celestia Foundation publicized it realized $100 million from its latest fundraiser program. Per the announcement, Celestia stated it has now raised a total of $155 million from venture capital firms led by Bain Capital Crypto.

Following the Tuesday announcement, TIA surged over 15.4% to $6.9 before relinquishing some of its gain to the market. At the time of writing, the layer 1 token traded at $6.16, with a market cap of $1.34 billion.

Notably, Celestia’s second fundraiser round drew participants like Syncracy Capital, 1KX, Placeholders, and Robot Ventures. The Celestia team didn’t immediately disclose what they intend to use the latest funding for, but noted developers are focused on the project’s latest turn in its roadmap.

TIA Sees Boost Amid Price Headwind

Launched in 2023, Celestai’s native token, TIA, garnered notable investor traction. TIA grew over 200% to an all-time high of $20.9 in February.

However, the token’s price has corrected significantly amidst a wider market capitulation. At the current market price, TIA is down over 70% from its all-time high.

Nevertheless, Celestia seems to have regained bullish momentum, with the latest happenings around its ecosystem fueling the uptrend. On September 18, TIA surged 15% following the unveiling of its first mainnet enhancement, the Lemongrass upgrade. This update introduces a one-click interaction capability through IBC and inter-chain accounts, among other vital improvements.

The unveiling and the recent price rally influenced by the $100 million fundraiser have attracted renewed bullish sentiments among the Celestia proponents. Per CoinMarketCap, 80% of its community is bullish on the asset, clamoring for the altcoin to see higher prices.

Analyst Raises Concerns

Amidst TIA’s upward push, analyst McKenna has pointed to a concerning trend in the fundamental analysis of assets. The market speculator stated that despite TIA’s surging price and open interest, aggregate funding for the asset is still negative.

This implies that the altcoin was surging without notable inflows, signaling a low-volume market uptrend. McKenna further asserted that such market scenarios usually lead to an underlying downtrend.

“Should end well for bears,” he said.