Crypto Rollercoaster: AERO Soars, LDO Stumbles, XMR Ghosts, and TON Flexes – Weekly Winners & Losers

Crypto markets never sleep—even when traditional finance takes its August yachting holiday. Here’s who’s riding the bullish wave and who’s getting dumped like a rug pull.

AERO: The Altcoin Rocket

DeFi’s dark horse defies gravity while Wall Street analysts still debate whether ‘Aerodrome’ is a protocol or a rejected sci-fi franchise.

LDO: The Governance Token That Forgot to Govern

Staking darling trips over its own DAO bureaucracy—proving decentralized drama is more entertaining than SEC filings.

XMR: Privacy Coin Plays Hide-and-Seek

Monero’s obfuscation tech works a little too well—even its price action seems invisible this week.

TON: The Telegram Pump Nobody Expected

Messenger-backed token muscles up, because nothing says ‘adoption’ like crypto stickers in your group chat.

*Bonus jab: Meanwhile, Bitcoin ETF holders still waiting for that ‘institutional demand’ to materialize beyond PowerPoint slides.

Key takeaways

Crypto markets saw many ups and downs this week. Altcoins surged with Aerodrome, Mantle, and Lido DAO up over 45%. MYX Finance and Loan Protocol posted massive spikes. Monero, Toncoin, and XDC Network led the weekly losses.

Bitcoin [BTC] kept its head down this week, but the altcoin market was anything but quiet.

While the big names in altcoins – ethereum [ETH], XRP, Solana [SOL] and Cardano [ADA] – were busy racking up double-digit gains, a few under-the-radar tokens quietly staged their own rallies… or crashes.

Here’s a quick look at some of the market’s biggest hits and misses from this week.

Grab your coffees and let’s get started!

Weekly winners

Aerodrome Finance [AERO] – Explosive 56% gains this week

Aerodrome Finance [AERO] extended its breakout rally this week, surging from under $0.80 to highs above $1.25 before easing to $1.17.

The token’s rapid hike pushed the RSI into overbought territory at 70.9. All while bullish momentum remained firm on the MACD.

Source: TradingView

Its price action has stayed well above both the 9-day and 21-day EMAs – A show of strong short-term support despite today’s mild pullback. The rally capped off a week of intense buying interest, with volumes spiking alongside the move.

Keeping Optimism high is news of DEX trading going live on the Coinbase app in the U.S. – A change analysts say could channel most of the trading flow through Aerodrome Finance.

As one X user put it,

“If you were paying attention, this isn’t news for you. If you weren’t, you still can.”

Mantle [MNT] surges amid network developments

Mantle [MNT] soared by 51.99% over the past seven days, climbing from NEAR $0.68 to above $1.05. This, before cooling slightly to $1.02. The rally was driven by strong bullish candles earlier in the week, peaking around the $1.10-mark.

Despite today’s mild pullback, the price action has remained firmly in breakout territory – A sign that bulls are still in control. If buying pressure sustains itself, Mantle could retest its recent highs, with $1.15 emerging as the next resistance level to watch.

The growth streak has been further boosted by Bybit’s Co-CEO and Head of Spot Trading joining Mantle as advisors, lending weight to the project’s credibility. With $1.15 in sight, bulls may yet push for fresh highs.

Lido DAO [LDO] surges about 47% ahead of key update

Lido DAO [LDO] rallied 46.8% over the past week, breaking out from the $0.87-zone to peak near $1.37, before settling at $1.27. The surge was marked by strong consecutive green candles, underlining bullish conviction and rising trading volumes.

While today’s pullback hinted at profit-taking, momentum has remained firmly positive.

Traders are now eyeing 14 August, when Lido Labs will host its first Tokenholder Update Call. It will cover roadmap, strategic priorities, and long-term LDO alignment – An event that could keep sentiment elevated.

Other notable winners

Beyond the majors, smaller-cap tokens put up some great moves this week.

MYX Finance [MYX] led the top-1000 pack at press time, according to data from CoinGecko, with a staggering 1,323.8% surge to $1.64 on nearly $50 million in volume. Loan Protocol [LOAN] jumped 253.1% to $0.002673, while SOON [SOON] climbed 238% to $0.5034, backed by an impressive $399.9 million in trading activity.

Speculative fervor is clearly still very much alive.

Weekly losers

Monero [XMR] slides under bearish pressure

Since the start of August, Monero [XMR] has been on a steady downtrend, slipping from above $300 to $270.92. The decline accelerated between the 5-7 August, with consecutive red candles breaking key support levels. Brief relief came on 8 August, but follow-through buying failed to materialize, leaving the price action subdued.

A retest of the $264-$260 zone could be on the cards if bearish momentum persists.

Source: TradingView

However, that’s not all.

Monero’s latest price drop has been driven by fears over centralization. Qubic’s [QUBIC] mining pool – a L1 blockchain – now commands over 40% of XMR’s hashrate, causing concerns that a takeover could compromise transaction integrity and decentralization.

This brewing “crypto beef” has shaken market confidence, perhaps causing the bearish momentum since early August.

Toncoin [TON] faces weekly slide despite brief Telegram-driven bounce

Toncoin [TON] dropped by 10.38% over the past week, with selling pressure dominating early August. The price slipped from above $3.60 to around $3.32, as the CMF stayed negative and the RSI hovered near neutral – A sign of fading bullish momentum.

Source: TradingView

The most notable rebound came on 9 August, when Telegram’s confirmation of deeper blockchain integration spurred a 1.75% uptick and broke the consolidation phase. However, the bounce proved short-lived, with bears regaining control into the weekend.

XDC Network extends bearish streak with fresh losses

XDC Network [XDC] slipped steadily over the past week, losing ground from $0.093-levels early August to around $0.088 by 10 August – Marking a drop of over 5%.

After a brief midweek pause, sellers regained control, pushing the token to its lowest point in nearly two weeks. The sharpest intraday decline came today, when XDC shed nearly 3%, confirming persistent bearish momentum and weak buying interest.

Without a clear reversal pattern, the market bias will remain tilted to the downside in the near term.

Other notable losers

Graphite Protocol [GP] took the steepest hit, plunging 48.6% to $1.60 despite $14.1M in volume.

Infinitar Governance Token [IGT] slipped 18.4% to $0.115, while Blackhole [BLACK] dropped 16.7% to $0.7265, with the highest trading volume of the three at $19.78M.

Conclusion

The markets saw it all this week – Wild swings, sudden sell-offs, and moments of opportunity. Volatility isn’t slowing down, so keep your wits about you, dig into the data, and MOVE with intention.

We’ll see you next week!