Strong Tokens of the Year: Only 3 Categories Beat BTC, AI and Privacy Sectors Rise Against the Trend

October 29 — DeFi researcher Ignas published a roundup of this year's strong-performing tokens, noting that only three categories — trading, AI and privacy — have outperformed Bitcoin so far this year. Among them:

1. Trading tokens were the standout performers: DRV gained 665%, HYPE rose 200%, PUMP 121% and RAY 106%. The logic behind these gains is that speculative trading generates fee revenue for the protocols, which then support token value through buyback mechanisms.

2. For AI tokens, VVV rose 1431%, NEAR 203% and GRASS 151%;

3. For privacy tokens, ZEC rose 137% and XMR 37%.

Ignas also mentioned QNT and MORPHO, which are tied to the institutional adoption narrative, rising 173% and 89% respectively. However, apart from the categories above, most tokens have performed poorly this year; looking for tokens with strong revenue-generating capability is currently a relatively easy trading idea to grasp.