DeXe, Lighter, Ethena, Ondo, Zcash, NEAR, Worldcoin, and Stellar. Each of these coins has its own narrative that's currently outperforming the general fear in the market.
These tokens are demonstrating double-digit price growth.
DeXe and the bet on on-chain governance
Despite the overall market downturn, DeXe has shown the most notable upward movement. The token surged over 20% in a day and more than 30% in a week.
Its driver isn't the market per se, but the infrastructure for DAOs. DeXe offers tools for treasury management, voting, and delegation, addressing the practical needs of DeFi projects and funds (less tied to short-term BTC fluctuations).
Additional momentum was given by updates on the launch of DAO Studio, multi-chain expansion, and the development of staking. As a result, the token broke resistance levels, and the growth was picked up by volumes.
Lighter and the SpaceX effect
Lighter added about 20% in a day and over 35% in a week — and this is one of the most notable cases.
The platform has launched a synthetic market for perpetual contracts on SpaceX — a company that's actively discussed in the context of a potential IPO valued at up to $1.8 trillion. Essentially, traders got the chance to bet on SpaceX even before its public listing.
This connection to the off-crypto narrative sharply increased interest in Lighter. Additionally, the movement was supported by integrations and public mentions, notably Vitalik Buterin highlighted Lighter among notable projects building high-performance applications on Ethereum.
Ethena and the demand for 'yielding dollars'
Ethena has grown by over 18% in a day, tapping into a familiar yet especially relevant theme — the demand for stablecoins.
But unlike traditional solutions, Ethena offers USDe — a synthetic dollar asset with yield. In turbulent times, this seems like a compromise between 'hiding in dollars' and 'not losing profitability.'
News about participation from Coinbase Ventures and collaboration with Anchorage Digital boosts expectations that the product may hit the broader market.
Ondo and the increasing interest in RWA
Against the backdrop of falling risk assets, ONDO has quite expectedly added over 16% in a day, driven by interest in the tokenization of real assets.
The project works with tokenized bonds and other traditional finance instruments, and the new direction Ondo Perps aims to combine RWA with derivatives. This positions it at the intersection of two strong trends.
Additional context is created by the activity of big players — from BlackRock to J.P. Morgan — who continue to test tokenization.
Old narratives are making a comeback too.
Among other leaders are Zcash, NEAR, Worldcoin, and Stellar.
Zcash surged by more than 10% thanks to the privacy theme, which traditionally comes alive during market stress. NEAR is gaining support through infrastructure for applications and the AI narrative. Worldcoin is rising amid interest in digital identity, while Stellar is benefiting from the theme of cheap cross-border payments and stablecoin infrastructure.
How sustainable is this story?
Despite the positive dynamics of certain coins, it's important to understand the limitations of such movement. In the crypto market, Bitcoin remains the key asset. If its decline deepens, most altcoins — regardless of narrative — will also come under pressure.
However, the mere fact that part of the market is already behaving asymmetrically is an important signal. It indicates that the altcoin market is gradually moving away from complete dependence on BTC and is increasingly responding to its own drivers.
And if Bitcoin stabilizes, it is these 'narrative' tokens that may be the first to enter a new growth phase.
Author:
Kyiv Measure