Bitcoin got moving and the altcoins had that classic reaction:
“If it can do it, we can too.”
#XRP was one of the highlights. The asset even racked up around 44% gains over seven days before suffering a pullback. On August 26, after the strong rally, it fell about 4%–5% as traders took profits and reduced leveraged positions.
But the prize for “who overdid it” went to Zcash.
#ZEC nearly reached US$ 855 on August 22, its highest level in about eight years. The tasty detail for anyone who likes absurd numbers: futures moved nearly US$ 10 billion over 24 hours, while the spot market was much smaller.
This shows something important: a big share of the excitement was in derivatives.
In other words, lots of people were trading expectations for Zcash, not necessarily accumulating ZEC in the spot market.
And then #HYPE showed up.
The Hyperliquid token reached approximately US$ 83.27, a new all-time high, piling up strong weekly gains. So far, so good.
There was just one catch: on August 29, an unlock of roughly US$ 1.2 billion in tokens was scheduled.
It’s the kind of calendar that makes a trader look at the all-time high and then look at the calendar.
“Interesting. Very interesting.”
This week’s lesson is simple: an altcoin rising 40% doesn’t necessarily mean its structure got 40% better.
XRP had market strength and its own narrative. Zcash saw strong speculation and expectations tied to an ETF. HYPE hit its all-time high right before a major supply event.
Three assets, three stories.
So before asking “how much did it go up?”, ask an even better question:
“Who is buying, why, and what happens after?”
That question is usually far more useful than the buy button.
“If it can do it, we can too.”
#XRP was one of the highlights. The asset even racked up around 44% gains over seven days before suffering a pullback. On August 26, after the strong rally, it fell about 4%–5% as traders took profits and reduced leveraged positions.
But the prize for “who overdid it” went to Zcash.
#ZEC nearly reached US$ 855 on August 22, its highest level in about eight years. The tasty detail for anyone who likes absurd numbers: futures moved nearly US$ 10 billion over 24 hours, while the spot market was much smaller.
This shows something important: a big share of the excitement was in derivatives.
In other words, lots of people were trading expectations for Zcash, not necessarily accumulating ZEC in the spot market.
And then #HYPE showed up.
The Hyperliquid token reached approximately US$ 83.27, a new all-time high, piling up strong weekly gains. So far, so good.
There was just one catch: on August 29, an unlock of roughly US$ 1.2 billion in tokens was scheduled.
It’s the kind of calendar that makes a trader look at the all-time high and then look at the calendar.
“Interesting. Very interesting.”
This week’s lesson is simple: an altcoin rising 40% doesn’t necessarily mean its structure got 40% better.
XRP had market strength and its own narrative. Zcash saw strong speculation and expectations tied to an ETF. HYPE hit its all-time high right before a major supply event.
Three assets, three stories.
So before asking “how much did it go up?”, ask an even better question:
“Who is buying, why, and what happens after?”
That question is usually far more useful than the buy button.