Apia, Samoa, September 8, 2026 – The cryptocurrency market gained momentum in the first week of September (August 31 – September 6), with notable assets rallying across multiple sectors, including L2, the Solana ecosystem, privacy, DeFi, and memecoin.
ARB led HTX’s weekly gainers with a 111% surge, while RAY and DASH both increased 61%. Notably, DASH, ZEC, and ZEN ranked among the top gainers, highlighting a clear sector-wide rally in privacy assets.
According to data from HTX, market attention rotated across multiple sectors this week. On the one hand, capital returned to infrastructure-focused areas such as L2, DeFi, and public blockchain ecosystems. On the other hand, high-volatility sectors such as privacy and memecoin remained active, pointing to a broader recovery in risk appetite.
L2 Leads the Rally: ARB Up 111%
The strongest performer of the week came from the L2 sector. ARB more than doubled in price, topping HTX’s weekly gainers list with a 111% increase, reflecting renewed market interest in Ethereum scaling solutions and L2 infrastructure.
● ARB (+111%): ARB is the governance token of Arbitrum, an Ethereum Layer 2 scaling network. Arbitrum improves Ethereum’s transaction throughput and helps reduce the cost of interacting with on-chain applications through off-chain execution and on-chain settlement. Its ecosystem spans DeFi, gaming, infrastructure, and other applications.
Solana Ecosystem Remains Active: RAY +61%
As activity across the Solana ecosystem remained strong, investors continued to focus on DeFi projects with established use cases. RAY gained 61% this week, ranking among the top performers and showing strong price elasticity.
● RAY (+61%): RAY is the native token of Raydium, a decentralized exchange protocol on Solana. Raydium provides token swaps and liquidity services for users across the Solana ecosystem and is a key piece of Solana’s DeFi liquidity infrastructure.
Privacy Sector Rallies Broadly: DASH Leads as ZEC and ZEN Follow
The privacy sector was one of the week’s strongest performers, with DASH, ZEC, and ZEN all ranking among the top gainers and rallying in tandem.
● DASH (+61%): DASH is a veteran cryptocurrency focused on digital payments and transaction privacy. Its instant transaction and privacy features are designed to improve the efficiency and privacy of digital asset payments. DASH rose by 61% this week, leading the privacy sector.
● ZEC (+37%): ZEC is the native asset of Zcash, a privacy-focused blockchain. Zcash uses zero-knowledge proof technology to offer users privacy options while keeping transactions verifiable on the blockchain. ZEC went up 37% this week, reflecting growing market interest in zero-knowledge proofs and on-chain privacy technology.
● ZEN (+36%): ZEN is the native asset of the Horizen ecosystem, with uses including network governance, ecosystem incentives, and on-chain applications. ZEN gained 36%, joining DASH and ZEC in driving the broader rally in privacy-related assets.
Overall, the simultaneous increases across three privacy assets made privacy one of the week’s clearest market themes. As discussions about on-chain data security, user control over information, and transaction privacy gain attention, interest in related assets has also picked up.
DeFi Shows Signs of Recovery: UNI Rises 35%, JST Up 18%
DeFi, one of the crypto market’s core sectors, also showed signs of recovery this week. UNI and JST represented leading DeFi projects in the Ethereum and TRON ecosystems, respectively.
● UNI (+35%): UNI is the governance token of Uniswap, a leading decentralized trading protocol. Uniswap is a major piece of DeFi infrastructure for on-chain asset swaps and liquidity. UNI increased 35% this week, suggesting renewed market interest in leading DeFi protocols.
● JST (+18%): JST is the governance token of JUST, a DeFi protocol in the TRON ecosystem, and is used for protocol governance and other ecosystem functions. JST grew by 18%, reflecting continued market interest in TRON’s on-chain financial ecosystem.
The gains in both UNI and JST suggest that alongside renewed interest in higher-volatility assets, established DeFi projects with real-world use cases and strong market recognition are also attracting fresh attention.
BSC Memecoins Remain Active: MARSCOIN Up 37%
● MARSCOIN (+37%): As a memecoin on the BSC ecosystem, MARSCOIN gained 37% this week, underscoring continued market activity in the memecoin sector.
Compared with infrastructure and DeFi assets, memecoins are generally more sensitive to community activity, market sentiment, and short-term capital flows. When risk appetite recovers, these assets can move sharply higher, but they also tend to carry significantly greater price volatility.
Market Rotation Accelerates, with Privacy and Infrastructure in Focus
From August 31 to September 6, HTX’s gainers list reflected clear rotation across multiple sectors. ARB led with a 111% increase, bringing renewed attention to L2 infrastructure. RAY gained 61%, extending the momentum across the Solana ecosystem. DASH, ZEC, and ZEN rallied together, making privacy one of the week’s key market themes. UNI and JST pointed to a recovery in DeFi, while MARSCOIN’s rise showed that memecoins remained active.
The week’s performance also shows that market attention is becoming increasingly diversified across different sectors rather than concentrated in a single narrative. Investors are seeking opportunities in higher-volatility areas such as memecoin and privacy, while also reassessing the long-term potential of infrastructure-focused sectors including L2, DeFi, and public blockchains.
As a global digital asset trading platform offering a broad range of assets across emerging and established sectors, HTX will continue to monitor structural market changes and developments across emerging projects, providing users with more diverse trading opportunities and broader market insights.
The post first appeared on HTX Square.
