Crypto Rollercoaster: This Week’s Biggest Winners and Bloodbaths (August 2025)
Bull runs and bear traps—the crypto markets never sleep. Here’s who’s laughing (and who’s crying) this week.
The Moon Missionaries
A handful of altcoins defied gravity with double-digit surges. Meme coins? DeFi dark horses? The usual suspects—plus a few surprises—are riding the wave.
The Bagholders’ Club
Meanwhile, some projects cratered harder than a Terra stablecoin. Overleveraged traders? Rug pulls? Just another Tuesday in crypto.
Volatility isn’t a bug—it’s the whole damn system. As Wall Street hedgies dabble in Bitcoin ETFs, remember: they’re still using your gains to buy their third yacht.
1. Pump.fun
Market cap
Change in 7 Days
≈+22.7%
Price update
Pump.fun (PUMP) led the list of gainers with a huge ~22.7% surge on high volume, primarily due to HYPE cycles and momentum trading, and was trading close to $0.003095 as of July 31.
What is Pump.fun?
Pump.fun is a meme-style micro-cap coin that has a reputation for making quick, dramatic swings without any underlying support.
Pros
- Gains that are accelerated during pump cycles.
- Quickly captures speculative and societal attitudes.
Cons
- High risk of liquidity and volatility
- No long-term plan or utility
2. Ethena
Market cap
~$900M–$1B
Change in 7 Days
+12.8%
Price update
Ethena (ENA) is currently trading at around $0.6601, having gained roughly 12.8% in the last 24 hours and performing well each week thanks to synchronization with interest in nominal derivatives and whale accumulation.
What is Ethena?
Using DeFi primitives, this protocol exposes users to ETH and USD movements by leveraging synthetic stablecoins such as vUSDe and vETHd.
Pros
- Innovative derivatives design
- gaining popularity among DeFi traders looking for yield
Cons
- High risk of volatility and liquidation.
- Retail comfort is diminished by complexity.
3. Story Protocol
Market cap
Mid-cap level with ~$72M 24h volume
Change in 7 Days
≈ +8.9%
Price update
Driven by narrative-driven momentum and speculative interest, Story Protocol (IP) finished in the top three with a gain of about 8.9% at roughly $6.18.
What is Story Protocol?
An altcoin with social appeal and tokenomics likely tied to storytelling or NFT integrations.
Pros
- Powerful appeal of branding.
- Captures capital driven by hype.
Cons
- Limited transparency or utility.
- Likely susceptible to quick profit-taking.
1. Conflux
Market cap
~$450M–$500M (daily volume ~457M)
Change in 7 Days
–~6.7%
Price update
With a 24-hour fall of almost 6.7%, Conflux (CFX) is currently trading at $0.2126. A weeklong reversal follows earlier gains, indicating profit-taking and a change in attitude, according to CoinMarketCap.
What is Conflux?
Conflux is a public blockchain with Asian roots that prioritizes developer interest and high throughput.
Pros
- Robust technological framework
- Growing interest in Asia among institutions
Cons
- Increasing pressure from competitors and speculative positioning
- Limited momentum worldwide
2. Sonic
Market cap
$188M based on volume ~188M
Change in 7 Days
+8.34% intraday; weaker weekly likely due to earlier pump
Price update
Sonic (S), which is currently trading around $0.3314, saw significant intraday gains of almost 8.3%, but it wasn’t one of the top weekly movers, indicating volatility without consistent growth, according to CoinMarketCap.
What is Sonic?
Sonic is relatively a smaller token that was probably fueled by transient excitement and might have been connected to exchange listings or specialized news.
Pros
- Rapid increases on little catalysts
- Windows of high liquidity during rallies
Cons
- Lacks the ability to maintain momentum
- High chance of abrupt drop-offs
3. Curve DAO
Market cap
~$1B+ (daily volume ~482M)
Change in 7 Days
+~4.5% intraday, but down moderately over the week
Price update
Curve DAO (CRV), which is currently trading close to $1.05, saw modest gains today (around 4.5%) but a poorer weekly performance when compared to the cryptocurrencies that are trending, according to CoinMarketCap.
What is Curve DAO?
Curve Finance, a well-known decentralized stablecoin liquidity DEX, uses the Curve DAO Token as its native governance token.
Pros
- Essential to the liquidity of DeFi’s stablecoin
- A large number of users and the volume of protocols
Cons
- Flat growth in the absence of significant improvements
- Being exposed to regulatory obstacles
| Coin / Token | 7‑Day Gain/Loss | Approx. Price | Market Position | Key Driver |
| Pump.fun (PUMP) | +22.7% | ~$0.003095 | Micro-cap, hyped token | Speculative/social momentum |
| Ethena (ENA) | +12.8% | ~$0.66 | DeFi derivatives niche | Whale accumulation, listing buzz |
| Story (IP) | +8.9% | ~$6.18 | Narrative-driven alt | Social attention, mid-cap momentum |
| Conflux (CFX) | –6.7% | ~$0.2126 | L1 with regional traction | Profit-taking into rotation |
| Sonic (S) | +8.3% (intraday) | ~$0.3314 | Small-cap vol token | Short-lived hype attacks |
| Curve DAO (CRV) | +4.5% (intra-day) | ~$1.05 | DeFi liquidity staple | Mild rebound, but flat week |
Final summary
Smaller and mid-cap cryptocurrencies dominated headlines as of July 31, 2025, with speculative and DeFi-driven interest producing the largest upside for Pump.fun, Ethena, and Story. A shift in capital toward higher-risk, higher-reward assets is indicated by the small underperformance of well-known firms like Conflux and Curve DAO. As July draws to a conclusion, this pattern demonstrates a definite risk-on attitude among traders.
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