Bitcoin is down nearly 10% year-to-date, Ethereum is down 20% and XRP is down 30%, but several altcoins have risen sharply in 2026. Hyperliquid (HYPE) is up 210% for the year with a market cap of $20 billion, helped by the launch of spot ETFs, and Zcash (ZEC) is up 128%, with Grayscale's spot Zcash ETF attracting more than $500 million in under 30 days. NEAR Protocol, repositioned for the AI agent economy, is up 240% in 2026 but still down 75% from its January 2022 all-time high. Venice Token (VVV) is up 1,300% this year with a market cap just above $1 billion. The author favors Hyperliquid, citing its popularity overseas, the recent opening of the U.S. market to perpetual futures, and implicit support from the Trump administration.
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Related tickers and likely impact
BTC/USDT
▲ Likely positiveBitcoin
Relevance: low
| Market | Crypto |
|---|---|
| Exchange | Binance |
| Sector | Layer 1 |
| Market cap | $1.6T |
| Close on 10/18/2026 | 82,116.00 |
| Change that session | +0.77% |
ETH/USDT
▲ Likely positiveEthereum
Relevance: low
| Market | Crypto |
|---|---|
| Exchange | Binance |
| Sector | Layer 1 |
| Market cap | $294.2B |
| Close on 10/18/2026 | 2,410.31 |
| Change that session | +0.31% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
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