EOS, Cosmos, and Chiliz All Gained Over 15% This Week. Here's Why

EOS could finally be putting its issues behind it with a 30% gain this week.

Price wise, it's been a relatively uneventful seven days in crypto. Bitcoin (BTC) hovered around the $21,500 mark for much of the week. Prices faltered this morning as markets digested Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's warning that "more pain" may be in store. However, some cryptos are very much in the green, with EOS (EOS), Cosmos (ATOM), and Chiliz (CHZ) leading the pack.

EOS -- up almost 30%

EOS surged on news of a major rebrand for the beleaguered crypto. EOS has been around for over four years, but has been bogged down by legal issues, disagreements, and accusations of fraud. EOS holders hope that the project might be about to open a new chapter with a hard fork to a new protocol called Antelope.

According to its site, "Antelope is an open framework for building fast, secure, and user-friendly Web3 products and services." It's a smart contract crypto that will support decentralized applications, NFTs, and games. The switch to the new system is due on Sept. 21.

Cosmos -- up over 20%

Cosmos describes itself as, "The internet of blockchains," and aims to create a network of interconnected cryptos. The main reason for Cosmos's gains appears to be a positive investment report from global investment manager, VanEck.

VanEck analysts predicted the Cosmos ecosystem could be home to over 5,000 blockchains by 2030 and praised its security and interoperability. Interoperability -- the ability of blockchains to talk to each other -- is a key issue for the crypto industry. Social media speculation that Cosmos could attract decentralized finance projects from the failed Terra (LUNA) ecosystem also fueled its price rise.

Chiliz -- up 17%

Upgrade news also spurred Chiliz' price. The sports fan crypto is up over 100% in the past month as it reaches the final stages of testing for its switch to a new non-Ethereum (ETH) based system. Chiliz plans to move to a new blockchain to avoid the high fees and network congestion on Ethereum. It says Chiliz Chain 2.0 will be more sustainable and create more utility for the CHZ token.

Chiliz has over 120 partnerships with sports teams around the world. It provides fan tokens, which in turn offer sports enthusiasts different ways to engage with their favorite teams. For example, a Barcelona fan token holder (BAR) might get a say in designing murals for the dressing room or choosing what music gets played on match day.

What it means for investors

Cryptocurrency prices are notoriously volatile and it's not uncommon for a crypto to gain or lose 20% or 30% in just a week. The challenge is that prices can fall as quickly as they rise, and traders who try to ride the wave and profit from these short-term rallies often lose out. Sadly, it is almost impossible to time the market. Speculation often plays a big role in dramatic increases, pushing prices to unpredictable and often unsustainable levels.

Looking at the week's biggest gainers can be a great way to spot interesting projects, but price gains alone are not a reason to buy crypto or any other asset. What's more important is how a project might perform in the long term. If you view your investments through a 10- or 20-year lens, short-term price fluctuations become less relevant.

EOS, Cosmos, and Chiliz are all available from several top crypto apps and exchanges. If you decide to buy, only invest money you can afford to lose and make sure crypto only makes up a small portion of your wider portfolio. The ideal is that you can benefit from any significant gains, without facing financial disaster if things don't turn out as you'd hoped.