A trio of lesser-known altcoins are catching fire this week, showing sharp gains fueled by a mix of exchange listings, meme-driven speculation, and infrastructure upgrades.
While the broader crypto market moves cautiously, Velvet, Donkey, and DePHY Network have posted standout 24-hour rallies, drawing attention from traders chasing short-term momentum.
Velvet (VELVET): +78.88% 24h | +55.36% 7d
Velvet has surged following its high-leverage listing on Binance Futures, where traders can now access VELVET/USDT with 50x leverage. This move significantly boosted trading volume and put the AI-powered DeFi protocol on the radar of speculative traders.
The project’s DeFAI OS, which integrates artificial intelligence into cross-chain portfolio management, has amassed over 100,000 active users. Additional listings on KuCoin and BitMart further increased liquidity and visibility. Short-term interest remains high, but attention is shifting to whether Velvet can sustain momentum once the post-listing volatility settles.
Donkey (DONKEY): +67.53% 24h | +220% 7d
Donkey’s parabolic rise stems from meme-fueled speculation, sparked by a viral social post from Binance founder CZ joking, “I am a donkey.” The community quickly rallied, with social volume spiking nearly 500% in a single day and calls for a $1 billion market cap circulating across crypto forums.
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This is pure meme coin territory—high risk, fast-moving, and heavily dependent on continued online traction. Any cooling of hype or unmet listing rumors could trigger rapid corrections, but for now, Donkey is firmly in the spotlight.
DePHY Network (PHY): +55.16% 24h | -25.48% 7d
Despite a negative weekly trend, PHY rebounded sharply after deploying a Solana liquidity pool and surpassing 50,000 active nodes. DePHY focuses on decentralized AI infrastructure and has attracted speculative interest with staking incentives offering up to 206% APR when combined with node participation.
Still, its broader 30-day performance remains down, making it a volatile—but potentially high-reward—play for those betting on upcoming tech milestones like its Mainnet Beta.
Kosta Gushterov
Kosta has been working in the crypto industry for over 4 years. He strives to present different perspectives on a given topic and enjoys the sector for its transparency and dynamism. In his work, he focuses on balanced coverage of events and developments in the crypto space, providing information to his readers from a neutral perspective.
