SEI's Robinhood Listing Backfires: "Buy the Rumor, Sell the News" Drives 7% Plunge

Sei (SEI) token experienced a sharp decline of over 7% following its listing on Robinhood, a $125 billion trading platform, as broader market weakness and profit-taking pressures overshadowed the anticipated boost from increased accessibility, according to CoinMarketCap. The price of SEI fell to $0.1835, marking a more than 50% drop from its August peak and a 75% decline from November highs, according to Crypto.news. The sell-off coincided with a broader crypto market downturn, driven by uncertainty around the Federal Reserve's potential delay in rate cuts due to inflation concerns, Coingape reported. Liquidations surged by $640 million in the wake of the news, dragging down Bitcoin and Ethereum alongside altcoins, the Coingape report added.

Robinhood's listing of SEI, which became available for 24-hour trading in most U.S. states, was expected to catalyze demand. However, the token instead triggered a "sell-the-news" reaction, with trading volume spiking by 92% to $155 million but largely reflecting profit-taking by early holders, Coingabbar noted. Analysts attribute the drop to a combination of market conditions and behavioral factors. "This is a classic case of 'buy the rumor, sell the news,'" one analyst noted, highlighting how the listing enabled large-scale exits rather than new inflows.

Technical indicators underscore short-term bearish momentum. SEI's price has broken below key support levels, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 26.88—deep in oversold territory—while a bearish MACD crossover and a "death cross" formation (50-day and 200-day moving averages) suggest further downside, as reported by Crypto.news. The token now trades near $0.1822, with immediate support at $0.180 and resistance at $0.190, according to Coingabbar. Despite this, some analysts see potential for a rebound if the price stabilizes above $0.18, with targets ranging from $0.205 to $0.30+ in the coming months, contingent on market recovery, the Coingape analysis added.

Fundamentally, Sei's ecosystem shows resilience. The blockchain's total value locked (TVL) in DeFi applications rose to 2.65 billion SEI tokens—the highest since June—while stablecoin supply on the network increased by 14.78% in 30 days, Crypto.news reported. Sei's focus on high-speed trading infrastructure, including parallelized execution and a native order-matching engine, positions it as a competitor in decentralized finance and gaming, where it commands a significant lead over peers like opBNB, according to CryptoMoonPress.

Robinhood's listing, however, remains a double-edged sword. While it expands SEI's reach to 25 million users and enhances liquidity, the immediate price reaction underscores the volatility inherent in crypto markets. "The listing adds credibility but doesn't eliminate risks," noted one expert, emphasizing the need for sustained demand to offset short-term selling pressure, as Crypto.news observed.

Looking ahead, the path for SEI hinges on macroeconomic clarity and market sentiment. A TD Sequential buy signal has emerged on higher timeframes, suggesting potential exhaustion of the current downtrend, Coingape reported. If the Fed signals rate cuts in early 2026, as some anticipate, SEI could target $0.28–$0.35, according to long-term projections cited by Coingabbar. For now, traders remain cautious, with the broader crypto Fear & Greed Index at 37—a "fear" level—reflecting widespread uncertainty, according to CryptoNewsLand.

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