While the broader cryptocurrency market drifted lower into early October, several altcoins bucked the trend to post double-digit gains. According to data from BeInCrypto Markets, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization slipped 0.30% over the past week as Bitcoin experienced brief volatility and market sentiment toward assets like Ethereum and XRP turned negative.
Despite the broader market dip, Pump.fun (PUMP), Aave (AAVE), Worldcoin (WLD), and Sky (SKY) moved higher. On-chain analytics firm Santiment linked three of these rallies to specific project updates, token buybacks, and institutional developments.
Aave and Pump.fun Lead the Rallies
Aave (AAVE) recorded 20% gains over the week, fueled by the protocol reaching the $1 billion milestone in user deposits. Additional momentum came from the launch of V4 on Arc and Base in September, which included an Equities Hub on Base allowing eligible non-US users to borrow USDC against seven Coinbase-tokenized US stocks.
Pump.fun (PUMP) rallied 30% over the week. Santiment attributed the increase to supply cuts, noting that the project directed roughly half of its net protocol revenue into PUMP buybacks and burns, with daily purchases surpassing $1 million multiple times in late September.
Institutional Interest Boosts Sky
Sky (SKY) gained 14% over the week, a move Santiment attributed to rising institutional interest. Galaxy Digital added $100 million of sUSDS, Sky's yield-bearing savings token, to its treasury in September. Galaxy also approved sUSDS as collateral across its institutional trading business and purchased an undisclosed amount of SKY. Meanwhile, Worldcoin (WLD) rose 15% during the week, though Santiment did not tie its movement to a specific catalyst.
Quant Pulls Back Following Recent Rally
As select altcoins climbed, Quant (QNT) was among the tokens that fell the hardest in early October. The altcoin dropped 7% on Friday due to profit-taking following a steep rally. Although QNT declined over 32% from its late September high, market data showed it retained a 152% increase over a seven-day period at $252.55.
Santiment described the early October market conditions as a test of trader appetite, with upcoming market performance set to determine whether the selloff continues or reverses.
