- pSTAKE rose almost 57% on May 21, leading the daily gainer altcoins.
- RIZ, SXT, and COOKIE all gained significantly as traders gravitated towards staking and utility-based assets.
- Mid-cap performers benefited from liquidity and visibility from major exchanges like Binance and Coinbase.
Several altcoins on May 21, 2025, registered double-digit gains, with pSTAKE Finance (PSTAKE) topping the charts, logging a 56.9% price gain. Additionally, it highlighted a spike in interest around lower cap and mid-tier projects, trading on Binance and other mainstream centralized exchanges.
The rally was led by pSTAKE Finance which went up to $0.06 market cap at $33.8 million. This sharp increase is a signal of increased demand for using liquid staking solutions, particularly on smaller chains. Close on its heels was Rivalz Network (RIZ), up 35.9% to $0.004 but with a low cap of $9.6 million. Smaller cap AI gaming networks received more attention with the spike signals.
Space and Time (SXT) increased 28.8% to $0.13 in third place. SXT’s rise to a market cap of over $195 million shows there’s strong demand for decentralized data warehousing in Web3 infrastructure. This token is currently listed on Binance for significant exposure.
Mid-Cap Tokens Post Solid Gains
COOKIE DAO (COOKIE) rocketed up 22.4%, becoming one of the week’s biggest gainers in its focus on governance-backed community tokens. On the staking platform Solana-based Marinade (MNDE), we see a 19.6% increase to $0.16 with $54.1 million valuation. The shift toward staking and DeFi utility tokens was the cause to benefit both assets.
The performance of KAITO, which rose 17.6% to $2.18, was also strong. The project still grows within the crypto AI segment, with a market cap of $525.7 million. The gain of 16.4% was taken by EDGE from Definitive, WCT token from WalletConnect, followed by 14.3%. These are movements indicating increasing the demand for onchain connectivity and decentralized access layers.
Mantra and Grass Round Out Top Gainers with Institutional Appeal
Grass and Mantra (OM) were the two biggest gainers, with around 10% in gains. With a market cap of $407.6 million, OM climbed to $0.42, reflecting the continued strength of regulatory-compliant DeFi ecosystems. Grass, which trades at $2.23 with a market capitalization of $615.1 million, is rallied on BYBIT as its emphasis on decentralized data monetization draws further inflows.
In particular, widespread listing across Binance, Coinbase, and BYBIT contributed to pumping the liquidity of these tokens. Altcoin exchange visibility has recently emerged as an increasingly important factor in driving speculative interest and short-term volume spikes.
