This weekends significant cryptocurrency victors included Stellar, Polkadot, and NEAR Protocol, who registered noteworthy gains.
Being a cryptocurrency investor implies constantly being engaged, since the markets operate round the clock. It's a 24/7 endeavor with trading possibilities at all hours. Major shifts often occur during Asian trading hours, a fact that's not lost on traders with brief investment timelines in several tokens. The volatility in this sector is intense, making it challenging for most investors to monitor even the 'stable' crypto projects (we all need a break eventually).
For those doing a weekly investment review, they might discover that three of their potential investments have drastically climbed since the stock market closed on Friday at 4 p.m. ET. Stellar (XLM -25.21%), Polkadot (DOT -25.34%), and NEAR Protocol (NEAR -19.22%) have gone up by 45.9%, 33.2%, and 13.7%, respectively, as of 12:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, warranting a closer look at what's driving these impressive advancements.
Noteworthy triggers to keep an eye on
Beyond broad market-wide drivers pushing up several tokens over the weekend (the overall crypto market market cap is still hovering near an all-time high at $3.26 trillion), there are project-specific triggers that investors should be aware of.
In the case of Stellar's impressive surge of more than 45% over the weekend, investors are closely monitoring a specific growth trigger right now. Particularly, Grayscale's filing regarding its Stellar Lumens Trust has led investors to ramp up leveraged positions on the XLM token (Stellar's native crypto).
Grayscale revealed in a 10-K filing on Friday that net inflows into the trust amounted to 10% over the past quarter, a figure that caught the market off guard. Investors seeking key fundamental catalysts as reasons to take bullish positions on top tokens are increasingly looking at supply and demand factors, with capital inflows into various investment vehicles serving as a significant indicator of the market's sentiment towards a specific asset over a given period.
Polkadot's weekend rally seems to be a continuation of the strong momentum it gained on Wednesday when it was announced that Polkadot is considering a blockchain integration with Cardano (ADA -21.76%). Investors might want to take note of this tie-up as it aligns with Charles Hoskinson's, Cardano's founder, connections to the Trump administration's plans for the most crypto-friendly regulatory policies yet. If Polkadot is successful in strengthening its position as a leading network of connected blockchains by integrating with top-tier existing platforms like Cardano, growth prospects are likely to continue improving. Investors seem to be factoring in much more significant network effects from this potential integration into Polkadot's project market cap, which currently stands at around $12 billion at the time of writing.
Lastly, NEAR Protocol is a distinctive crypto project that has not only benefited from broad market catalysts driving most cryptos higher since the election results were announced earlier this month, but it's also a leading beneficiary of cloud and AI in the crypto sector. This project has seen substantial TVL growth over the past month and recently implemented sharding on its network in September to enhance efficiency. If users and developers continue to gravitate towards this layer 1 network as a result of the improvements the NEAR Protocol team has made to its network, fundamental growth might be the key catalyst pushing this token higher in the coming weeks and months.
Conclusion
Stellar, Polkadot, and NEAR Protocol could be three crypto projects that investment strategists might overlook. I, too, fit into this category. While I follow these tokens, I believe they could use more attention for the behind-the-scenes work that can drive investor returns. Each project has unique triggers that could maintain momentum over time. I wouldn't be surprised to see these three tokens leading weekly gainers' lists through the end of the year, given the strength of these triggers.
Investing in these projects requires constant monitoring, as major shifts can happen at any time, even during Asian trading hours. For instance, the stunning rise of Stellar's XLM token over the weekend was partly due to Grayscale's filing related to its Stellar Lumens Trust, which spiked net inflows and interest in the XLM token.
Furthermore, understanding project-specific triggers is crucial for making informed investment decisions. Polkadot's potential integration with Cardano, for example, could significantly boost its growth prospects, given Charles Hoskinson's involvement and the Trump administration's crypto-friendly policies.
