Dogecoin (DOGE) Is Surging Ahead of the Election: Here's What's Driving the Rally

seeing plenty of volatility build today ahead of tomorrow's upcoming presidential election. This certainly makes sense, with risk-off sentiment hitting most stocks and higher-growth assets hard today, cryptocurrencies have generally followed suit, dropping 0.5% over the past 24 hours as of 1:30 p.m. ET.

Investors are seeing plenty of volatility build today ahead of tomorrow's upcoming presidential election. This certainly makes sense, with risk-off sentiment hitting most stocks and higher-growth assets hard today.

Cryptocurrencies have generally followed suit, dropping 0.5% over the past 24 hours as of 1:30 p.m. ET. However, Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) is among the top large-cap tokens that's actually seeing a bid today, with this top meme token surging 7.3% over the same time frame. That's a notable move, and one that's worth diving into.

Here are the key factors investors may want to watch when it comes to this top meme token and what's driving buying interest right now.

A shift in fundamentals is driving part of this moveOne of the key factors I watch closely when it comes to top tokens like Dogecoin is momentum-driven factors such as liquidations data.

Coinglass is a great resource for this information, which is particularly useful for projects like Dogecoin that see price action tied to more nebulous factors like momentum and hype than other projects.

Over the past day, liquidations activity (which derivatives contracts -- long or short -- are liquidated, or closed out) has shifted. On Nov. 2, most Dogecoin derivatives contracts that were closed out were on the long side, indicating bearish momentum. That swung to a positive margin yesterday, with roughly $1 million more short contracts liquidated than long contracts. This trend has appeared to continue into today, and we'll see the data updated shortly, which I would expect reflects this trend.

The other key metric I look at when it comes to Dogecoin is total value locked (TVL). Dogecoin's TVL increased from $4.01 million a month ago to $4.91 million as of yesterday. This 22.4% increase roughly aligns with the overall price performance of Dogecoin, and that makes sense. TVL measures the overall activity seen on a particular blockchain, so it's clear users are actually flocking to Dogecoin to use its various applications and trade the token. While the token's TVL has dipped in recent days, any sort of continued momentum higher in this metric should bode well for speculators and those betting on a continuation of this move.

Can this momentum continue?As is always the case, I end up thinking about how these short-term moves could portend for the longer-term picture. When it comes to more speculative meme coin projects like Dogecoin, aside from technical analysis and reading the tea leaves (investing strategies I don't believe in), looking at the data is really all fundamental investors can do. In that regard, things do appear to be pointing in the correct direction for Dogecoin bulls right now.

We'll have to see whether Dogecoin can continue to see TVL accumulation and positive derivatives liquidations activity moving forward. But I do think there are certainly fundamental reasons why investors are growing bullish on this particular project, and it's one I'm going to continue to keep on the radar right now.