It was an intensely volatile week for crypto. Bitcoin [BTC] saw an 11.96% rally, a 9.94% drop, and another 8.19% rally, measured using the swing points made since Tuesday, the 24th of February.
This whipsaw price action can leave even seasoned veterans sidelined or stopped out. Despite the chaos, the altcoin market, excluding Ethereum [ETH], was down only 0.57% since last Sunday.
Some altcoins showed resilience, and some price charts were in down-only mode over the past week. Here are some of the notable performers over the past week.
Weekly winners
Polkadot halving expectations sends prices higher
Source: DOT/USDT on TradingView
The 1-day chart showed an internal bullish structure shift (orange) that also left behind a sizeable imbalance (white) from $1.28 to $1.46. DOT has rallied 18.4% since last Sunday’s open at $1.36.
The short-term relative strength is commendable, but swing traders should remember that the longer-term trend remains bearish. The $1.80 supply zone overhead presented a credible threat to the bulls.
The Polkadot halving date is just 12 days away. Lately, some coins, such as Litecoin [LTC] and Bitcoin, tended to rally a month or two before the halving before consolidating or facing a sell-off during the halving.
NEAR and ICP record strong gains as AI tokens advance
While most altcoins followed BTC’s volatility, large-cap crypto AI tokens NEAR Protocol [NEAR] and Internet Computer [ICP] posted weekly gains of 15.94% and 11.35%, respectively.
NVIDIA’s record revenue reports likely boosted the crypto AI sentiment. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang has said that AI is only getting better. Yet, NVDA stock fell 9% in two days, after Wednesday’s close at $195.56.
NEAR had a CMF of +0.09 and an RSI of 55 signaled positive capital flows and bullish momentum that could be sustained in the coming week. ICP’s technical indicators were weaker, and it faces a local supply zone nearby at $2.8.
Other notable winners
Running against the general memecoin trend, Memecore [M] has rallied 8.81% this past week, extending the previous week’s trend. Uniswap [UNI] and Monero [XMR] were up 6.54% and 8.22%, respectively.
Weekly losers
Bitcoin Cash takes a sharp tumble, but this could be a red herring
Source: BCH/USDT on TradingView
BCH has fallen 21.1% in the past week. It was trading below the long-term range’s mid-range support at $480. The technical indicators were bearish, showing downward momentum and selling pressure.
Yet, this could be a buying opportunity. The $440-$460 zone has been a long-term demand zone, stretching back to June 2025.
Swing traders have a low-risk, high-reward buying opportunity targeting a rally back to the range highs, or at least the local swing high at $580.
A drop below the $423 swing low from the 6th of February would invalidate this idea, allowing for a clear trading plan.
Cosmos plummets to early February lows
ATOM posted a 19.18% plunge after rallying as high as $2.5 almost two weeks ago. It was now back at $1.85, the same support it tested during the price crash in the first week of February.
ZCash slips below local support level
ZCash [ZEC] was down 11.47% for the week since last Sunday. AMBCrypto had reported that a defense of the $250 support level could allow a rally to $320, but this idea has backfired.
A sustained fall below $225 and $205 could push prices as far south as $120.
Other notable losers
Dogecoin [DOGE] and Shiba Inu [SHIB] registered losses of 2.74% and 7.29%, respectively, but it was Pepe [PEPE] that posted the largest losses among popular memes with an 11.43% slash in prices over the past week.
A hopeful week ahead
AMBCrypto reported that the 4-hour timeframe saw a bullish BTC shift, accompanied by the defense of the $64k area on Sunday.
The week ahead could see multiple FUD developments, but the price action has shown us there’s bullish potential for crypto in the upcoming week.
Traders and investors should manage risk carefully and DYOR to dissect the next week’s runners and losers.
Final Summary
- Polkadot was one of the best-performing mid-cap tokens, accompanied by NEAR and ICP.
- Bitcoin Cash and ATOM bulls faced a week of misery, but they were both testing key demand zones at press time.