The trading week started with a notable increase in cryptocurrency prices. Notably, altcoins such as Toncoin and Dogwifhat experienced significant gains, rising by 18% and 12%, respectively. The positive developments in the altcoin market and the overall favorable investment environment for digital currencies drove the price gains.

Further fueling market volatility was an optimistic forecast from Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse in an interview with CNBC. Garlinghouse expects the cryptocurrency market to nearly double in size to more than $5 billion by the end of the year. The popularity of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds and the upcoming halving of the leading cryptocurrency are expected to drive this growth.

Today’s Biggest Crypto Winners

Market sentiment remains bullish today, with the Fear & Greed Index's Extreme Greed Index at 80. Notably, 89% of cryptocurrencies are up and only 11% are down over the past 24 hours, so market activity is high. Against this backdrop, total cryptocurrency market volume has surged to $358.07B, showing investor enthusiasm and optimism for the digital asset space. Join us as we dive into the top gainers at the time of writing and the key insights driving gains in today's crypto markets.

1.NEO

NEO is a blockchain platform that supports the "smart economy" and uses smart contracts to digitize decentralized applications and assets. NEO uses the Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance (dBFT) algorithm to reach consensus, which distinguishes it from traditional mining-based blockchains. The platform's digital asset layer allows users to digitize assets supported by smart contracts, thereby facilitating peer-to-peer transactions without intermediaries.

NEO's smart contracts consist of NeoVM, InteropService, and DevPack compilers, which can seamlessly execute instructions and translate codes in various programming languages. It runs on a dual-token system, with NEO tokens used for governance purposes and generating GAS tokens. GAS fuels transactions on the NEO blockchain and rewards users who hold NEO tokens.

Although NEO has surged 44.24% in the past 24 hours, its 14-day RSI remains neutral at 40.51, indicating potential sideways trading. NEO has excellent stability, with a 30-day volatility of only 7%. Its liquidity is equally impressive, reflected in its volume-to-market cap ratio of 1.0343, showcasing its $1.52B market cap and $1.57B thriving 24-hour trading volume. This shows that despite recent price volatility, NEO remains resilient in the market, making it an interesting choice for investors seeking stability and potential growth.

2.VET

VeChainThor, as a leading enterprise-level L1 smart contract platform, was born in 2015. Known for its real-world enterprise applications, VeChain integrates IoT technology, NFC chips, and blockchain to solve data challenges across industries. VeChain adopts a dual-currency model, namely VET and VTHO, to ensure stability and low costs by balancing value storage and gas fee payments.

VeChain focuses on sustainability, prioritizing initiatives such as VeBetterDAO. It aims to promote adoption by businesses and individual users to advance Web3. The platform's disruptive impact extends from supply chains to sustainable development. Its digitization of trust and collaboration benefits various sectors, including carbon, logistics, and incentive ecosystems, promoting security, efficiency, and cost reduction.

VET has stability and high liquidity, as evidenced by its 7% 30-day volatility and 0.0517 volume-to-market cap ratio, reflecting its $3.38B market cap and $174.77M 24-hour trading volume. Over the past year, VeChain’s price has risen significantly by 91%, currently trading 41.65% above its 200-day moving average at $0.032848. VeChain’s 14-day RSI is 52.92, indicating neutral sentiment with a possible sideways trading, while 16 of the past 30 trading days have been positive. Moreover, in the past 24 hours, VET has risen by 10.16%, demonstrating its resilience and attractiveness to investors.

3.ASTR

Astar Network is a multi-chain smart contract platform that facilitates the development of decentralized applications (dApps). It provides developers with interoperable Web 3.0 infrastructure, financial incentives, incubation programs, and technical support. Its goal is to become a leading solution by supporting the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and enabling communication between EVM and WebAssembly (WASM) smart contracts on parachains within the Polkadot ecosystem.

It is unique in that it integrates the Substrate framework and the Optimistic Virtual Machine (OVM) for scalability, and is supported by operator transactions, Multi-Lockdrop, and DApps staking features. It is backed by well-known investors such as Binance Labs and Coinbase Ventures, and operates as a multi-functional platform that supports a variety of second-layer solutions, blockchains, and virtual machines. ASTR tokens have multiple functions within the Astar network. These include paying transaction fees, participating in governance decisions, staking for consensus, and incentivizing developers.

ASTR is trading at $0.143574, up 10.52% in the past 24 hours. Astar has a market dominance of 0.03% and has seen a 127% price increase in the last year. The cryptocurrency is trading significantly above its 200-day moving average, maintaining moderate volatility, and has a volume-to-market cap ratio of 0.1156, indicating high liquidity. These indicators suggest that Astar is gaining popularity and stability in the market, making it an attractive investment option for those seeking exposure to the expanding Web 3.0 ecosystem.

4.RON

Founded by Sky Mavis, the team known for Axie Infinity, Ronin has launched a blockchain tailor-made for gaming. It is an optimized platform that facilitates gaming transactions seamlessly. It has a solid backing, with a track record of processing over $4 billion in NFT trading volume and 250,000 unique daily active addresses in its first 9 months. Prioritizing near-instant transactions and minimal fees, Ronin is positioning itself as a leader in Web3 gaming infrastructure.

Of note is Ronin’s commitment to gaming optimization. It eliminates unnecessary complexity prevalent in other blockchains to ensure high-quality applications, minimized spam, and optimal uptime. Additionally, Ronin is known for its environmental friendliness. It consumes significantly less energy per transaction than traditional blockchains, thereby fostering a sustainable gaming ecosystem.

In the past 24 hours alone, Ronin's share price has surged 6.55%, demonstrating its dynamic market presence and rapid growth potential. Its astonishing 263% increase over the past year reflects a trajectory of substantial value appreciation. This trend bodes well for investment prospects. Additionally, RON is trading well above its 200-day moving average at 421.88%, demonstrating resilience and stability amid market volatility. This presents an attractive opportunity for those seeking long-term gains in the emerging Web3 gaming space.