After a brutal four-month stretch that wiped out over $800 billion in market cap, the altcoin market is finally showing signs of life. The broader altcoin market, including ETH, dropped nearly 50% from the local highs of $1.64 trillion, bottoming out around $842 billion. But the last three weeks? A much different story. We've seen a 24% rally, with the altcoin market now hovering at $1.04 trillion.
What's even more interesting is that when you exclude ETH, altcoins actually held up better—only down 42% from local highs. That's a subtle but important takeaway: Ethereum has underperformed badly during this stretch. For the first time in a while, the rotation back into risk is favoring smaller caps over the old heavyweight.
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Here are the top five altcoin gainers this past week—ranked, broken down, and put into perspective:
#5 — DogWifHat ($WIF)
$WIF saw a big 56% gain this past week as risk appetite ramped up across the board, helped by Bitcoin's push back over $90,000. While the percentage move is eye-catching, context matters: WIF is still down a staggering 85% from it’s all-time highs. That kind of drawdown puts a serious ceiling on expectations. In other words, a big bounce doesn't mean we're heading back to the top—it's more likely just a temporary move in a long-term downtrend.
#4 — Virtuals Protocol ($VIRTUAL)
$VIRTUAL posted a strong 62% gain this week, part of a broader bounce across the AI token space. The project is an interesting one—it's sitting at the intersection of AI, gaming, and blockchain. Built on the IEEE Distributed Interactive Simulation Protocol, it's creating an ecosystem where co-owned, human-curated AIs can be monetized inside virtual environments.
Despite the hype, it's still down 80% from the highs set in November, so we're not even close to full recovery territory. That said, this week's move shows it's still got some speculative interest behind it when the AI narrative catches fire.
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#3 — Bitcoin SV ($BSV)
Bitcoin SV, or "Satoshi Vision," is a fork of Bitcoin Cash that claims to uphold the original mission of Bitcoin: fast, low-fee transactions with scalable, on-chain processing. The BSV community pushes for massive block sizes, arguing that it positions the network to serve as an enterprise-grade blockchain for large-scale applications. Despite those ambitions, BSV has faced ongoing adoption challenges and credibility concerns—largely tied to its controversial leadership and lack of developer momentum.
Still, this week BSV made a surprise appearance on the leaderboard with a sharp 60% gain. The majority of that move came in just a single day, where the price spiked 50% seemingly out of nowhere. But when you dig into the details, the volume tells the story.
Roughly $197 million of the 24-hour volume came from Upbit, a South Korean exchange known for its heavy retail-driven flows. In comparison, OKX—the next highest exchange for BSV—saw only $23 million in volume during the same period. This heavy concentration of activity on a single platform raises red flags about the sustainability of the move, suggesting it may have been driven by speculative or regionally isolated interest rather than broader market demand.
With no major news or ecosystem updates to justify the pump, this feels like one of those classic inorganic spikes that often reverse just as quickly as they appear. If you're trading it, be cautious—especially chasing a move that already looks stretched and fueled by unbalanced liquidity.
#2 — Sui ($SUI)
SUI was one of the most consistent gainers this week, finishing up 64% over seven days. The rally didn't come from one sudden spike—it was steady, with healthy daily moves leading up to its current level.
From a market structure standpoint, SUI is only down 35% from its all-time high, and it would need a 50% move from here to reclaim it. Three weeks ago, it was trading at $1.71. Today, it's up at $3.48, but looks to be rejecting around the $3.5–$3.6 zone for now. A pullback wouldn't be surprising.
#1 — Official Trump ($TRUMP)
No surprise here—Trump's meme coin takes the top spot. One announcement was all it took: Trump said the top 200 holders of $TRUMP will get to have dinner with him. That sent the coin soaring over 70% in one day. It's since cooled off a bit but still holds the title of biggest gainer this week.
For context, $TRUMP is still down over 80% from its all-time high of $79, so again—big percentage gains don't mean a return to highs is around the corner. But in a week full of strong moves, it's the clear standout.
Altcoins are waking back up, and while some of these moves might not be sustainable, the shift in momentum is worth paying attention to. Just keep in mind—when speculative assets bounce hard after deep drawdowns, it's rarely a straight line back to the top.
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