After a short breather Tuesday, the cryptocurrency market once again roared higher Wednesday. Among the largest tokens seeing the biggest gains were Near Protocol (NEAR -4.39%), Uniswap (UNI -0.21%), and Aave (AAVE 0.13%). As of 12:15 p.m. ET, these tokens had surged by 35.9%, 27.2%, and 22.3%, respectively, over the prior 24 hours.
Much of that upsurge had to do with broader market enthusiasm, as Bitcoin (BTC -1.65%) and other major cryptos were moving toward all-time highs. These three smaller tokens represent greater upside potential relative to their larger counterparts, and also play significant roles in providing the real-world utility investors want.
Of course, there are also token-specific catalysts worth diving into.
What's moving these three cryptos?
Aside from various technical factors traders appear to be focusing on with regard to Near protocol (I won't get into those), interest in this Layer-1 network and cloud computing platform appears to be picking up due to an announcement from Binance that Filecoin has been added as a loanable asset on Binance Loans. With the potential for greater leverage comes the potential for greater upside, and given the momentum of this recent rally, this news appears to be stoking investor interest in the token.
Uniswap's status as a top decentralized exchange for crypto trading is an obvious catalyst in and of itself. So long as momentum continues in the crypto sector, greater trading activity should generate increased fee income for the network, increasing the value of the project's ecosystem, and that of its native token. On the topic of fees, Uniswap's fee proposal, in which network fees will be shared with investors, has sent the token surging. More demand for UNI is expected as Uniswap nears the approval of this proposal.
Finally, Aave's open-source lending protocol is also seeing increased interest from investors as leverage growth picks up in the crypto sector. The company maintains a strong position in terms of total value locked (TVL) among decentralized finance applications, and could continue to see strong growth if leveraged positions increase over time, as many in the market appear to be speculating will happen.
Can this momentum continue?
Each of these unique projects provides real-world value to crypto users, and what many would call the infrastructure supporting real on-chain activity. So long as capital inflows into the crypto sector continue to proliferate, these are three projects I think will continue to receive outsized attention.
Of course, the question is now whether the current positive sentiment in the crypto sector can continue. I have no idea how long this rally will last, or how long this momentum can be sustained. But until we see otherwise, these three projects could see their valuations continue to surge, even to a greater degree than Bitcoin and other stores of value, as blockchain-based activity continues to ramp up.
