Maker's governance token MKR saw a significant 11.49% price surge over the past 24 hours. MKR climbed from $982 up to $1,095 at the time of writing. This rally brings Maker's market capitalization to $1.15 billion, cementing its place as a top DeFi protocol.

Let's analyze the critical factors driving this latest upside price action in MKR:

Strong Momentum Despite Recent Weakness

Over the past hour, MKR has dropped 6.03% against the US dollar. However, zooming out to the daily view, MKR remains in a clear and strong uptrend despite this short-term weakness.

New Multi-Month Highs

Yesterday, MKR rallied to reach its highest level since early May, breaking past resistance around $1,000. Today, MKR powered to new 2022 highs, signaling a bullish breakout is underway.

Key Moving Averages Flipped to Support

The 50-day moving average, which had been resistance this month, has now flipped to provide support around $980. With MKR trading solidly above its key short and long-term moving averages, the path of least resistance is up.

Riding Long-Term Growth Trends

Over the past month, MKR is up nearly 50%. Expanding to the 6-month view, MKR has gained an impressive 58% as part of its long-term uptrend. As long as MKR holds above $800 support, this macro bull move looks set to continue.

Opinion: Targeting $1,200 Next

In my view, with MKR staging a convincing breakout above $1,000, it looks poised to challenge resistance around $1,200 next. The technical setup remains bullish as long as MKR sustains above $980 support. Any dips towards that level could be buying opportunities.

However, if the rally stalls and MKR drops back below $900, it would negate the breakout. In that scenario, MKR could retest the $800 level before attempting to move higher again. Traders should watch for a sustained move below $900.

Is DeFi Growth Driving MKR's Long-Term Upside?

Maker has seen huge growth in 2022, fueled by the booming DeFi industry's demand for decentralized stablecoins like Dai. But can DeFi propel MKR's growth long-term?

On the bullish side, total value locked in DeFi has room to grow over 10x from today's levels according to some estimates. As decentralized lending and trading activity grows, demand for Dai is likely to surge. This would bolster MKR's use case as Maker governance token.

However, DeFi hype cycles come and go. If developer activity stalls or users migrate elsewhere, MKR could see selling pressure. MKR's lack of a supply cap is also a risk long-term.

Overall though, the DeFi growth trajectory still seems strongly positive for MKR, making it a relatively low-risk way to gain exposure to the DeFi mega-trend.

How Does Maker Compare to DeFi Rival Aave?

As leading DeFi protocols, Maker and Aave have some similarities but important differences that traders should analyze:

A key edge for Maker is Dai's status as the most used decentralized stablecoin in DeFi. Dai adoption supports MKR value. Aave lacks its own native stablecoin.

However, Aave offers a wider range of lending/borrowing options beyond stablecoins. This gives Aave an advantage in terms of user activity and revenues.

Both MKR and Aave's AAVE token have seen strong upside in 2022's bullish DeFi environment. MKR offers exposure to Dai, while AAVE is a broader DeFi play.

In summary, while Aave has more dynamic lending features, Maker benefits from Dai's dominant stablecoin position. MKR seems less risky given this key role in DeFi's stablecoin infrastructure.

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