Crypto Market Rises as Privacy and DeFi Tokens Lead Gains

• Privacy coins ZEC and XMR led gains with strong liquidity and trading volumes.
• Ethereum-linked tokens ETHFI and ENA posted double-digit rallies on high inflows.
• Layer-1 and DeFi assets like APT, ASTER, and DEXE showed strong institutional interest.

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The crypto market recorded a strong rally in the latest trading session, with multiple assets advancing in double digits. Rising volumes across major and mid-cap tokens signaled higher inflows, pushing both privacy-focused and Ethereum-linked projects to the top of the performance chart.

Privacy Coins Outperform in the Crypto Market

Privacy tokens made some of the largest moves. Zcash (ZEC) rose 21.30% to $128.61, backed by trading activity of more than $1.13 billion. The surge represented one of the highest liquidity shifts of the session, showing stronger participation in assets with anonymity features.

Monero (XMR) also advanced, gaining 9.11% to $330.54. Volumes surpassed $323 million, positioning XMR among the leading large-cap performers of the day. Together, ZEC and XMR accounted for a substantial portion of the crypto market’s privacy-sector gains.

Ethereum-Linked Assets Post Double-Digit Gains

Ethereum-related projects captured major inflows. Ether.fi (ETHFI) recorded the day’s highest rise, jumping 22.06% to $1.74. Trading volume reached $178.7 million, reflecting momentum in staking and restaking platforms connected to the Ethereum ecosystem.

Ethena (ENA) gained 11.28% to $0.6465, supported by $558 million in volume. The move highlighted the sustained attention on Ethereum-linked protocols, which continued to receive a large portion of capital flowing into the crypto market.

Layer-1 Tokens and Institutional Activity

Among Layer-1 projects, Aptos (APT) increased 10.32% to $5.16. Trading activity exceeded $621 million, marking it as one of the strongest ecosystem tokens of the day.

Aster (ASTER) posted a 13.39% advance, climbing to $1.86. Volumes exceeding $1.05 billion suggested possible institutional involvement. Both APT and ASTER contributed to the wider trend of network tokens showing resilience in the crypto market.

DeFi and Exchange Tokens Add to Rally

DeFi-linked tokens also moved higher. DeXe (DEXE), the decentralized asset management token, rose 16.74% to $12.20, with volumes exceeding $60 million. SPX6900 (SPX) gained 13.89% to $1.26, showing similar liquidity levels.

Exchange-related tokens performed steadily. PancakeSwap (CAKE) climbed 8.06% to $2.79, while Raydium (RAY) advanced 7.67% to $3.01. Cronos (CRO) added 9.45%, reaching $0.2181 on trading activity of $143 million.

Aerodrome Finance (AERO) gained 9.77% to $1.18, extending momentum within the decentralized exchange space. The day closed with widespread strength across multiple categories. Privacy-focused tokens, Ethereum-linked protocols, Layer-1 assets, and DeFi platforms all drew higher volumes.