AVAX Pushes Toward $18 As Key Resistance Looms: Analyst

AVAX, the native token of the Avalanche protocol, is ready for a potential price breakout following another week of significant mixed price action. In line with the widespread crypto market uplift, the altcoin had initially surged as high as $14.85 before retracing below the $13.50 price. According to analyst Ali Martinez, AVAX now lies at another critical price juncture, with the next price move likely to determine its short-term trend.

In an X post on January 16, Martinez shares an insightful analysis of the AVAX 12-hour trading chart, identifying a key price zone and an important chart formation. According to the presented technical review, AVAX’s recent rejection around $14.85 can be attributed to heavy resistance in this region. Most notably, the altcoin has struggled to break past this $14.83 price barrier thrice in the last month, indicating a significant willingness among investors to sell when the price approaches this zone.  This could be driven by a general view of such a price point as a good profit-taking zone or expectation of a price decline based on historical data.

It’s worth noting that Martinez’s analysis also shows that AVAX price movement has formed an inverse head and shoulders pattern, thereby favoring an imminent upside breakout. For context, the inverse H&S formation is a bullish pattern that signals a potential trend reversal. As seen above, it consists of three troughs: the left shoulder, where price declines, then rebounds; the head, a deeper decline to around $11.26 followed by a recovery, and the right shoulder, a higher low ($13.75) that fails to reach the depth of the head.

All rebound highs are connected by a resistance line ($14.83) known as the neckline. And a bullish breakout indicates strengthening buying pressure. Therefore, Martinez explains that AVAX must push past this barrier in a decisive manner to trigger a bullish breakout towards $17.59 as an initial price target. With sustained buying pressure, the analyst predicts a further rise to $18.41, representing a potential 35% gain on present market prices.

At the time of writing, AVAX trades at. $13.61 reflecting minor losses 1.19% and 1.34%in the past one and seven days, respectively. Meanwhile, the monthly chart reports a market gain of 14.67%, indicating the market could indeed be experiencing a trend reversal following the net negative Q4 2025 performance.