Crypto markets maintained a narrative-driven momentum with structural opportunities over the past week (July 20–26), marked by disciplined capital rotation into high-conviction sectors. Data from global cryptocurrency exchange HTX shows that the DeFi sector emerged as the week’s top performer, spearheaded by projects delivering real yield and institutional-grade infrastructure. Leading the rally, BANK registered an 87% weekly gain, extending its explosive momentum. Concurrently, the TRON ecosystem tokens posted solid returns with WIN and JST advancing amid rising on-chain DeFi volume, while AI-focused assets ZAMA and BEAT logged standout performances. Through proactive listing strategies and comprehensive asset coverage, HTX continues to capture cross-sector upside for its global user base.
DeFi Leads Market Rally Driven by Real Yield and Institutionalization
Rather than being driven by purely speculative momentum, the DeFi sector’s outperformance was anchored in structural demand, specifically from protocols bridging real-world yield, institutional asset management, and on-chain infrastructure.
BANK (Lorenzo Protocol): +87%. BANK continued its strong upward trajectory over the week. As an institutional-grade on-chain asset management platform, Lorenzo Protocol introduced the “Financial Abstraction Layer,” enabling the tokenization of real-yield strategies through On-Chain Traded Funds (OTFs). The platform focuses on unlocking Bitcoin’s on-chain liquidity, allowing BTC holders to earn yield without relinquishing self-custody. Driven by the expanding BTCFi narrative and its on-chain holder count surpassing 57,000 addresses, BANK broke out of a prolonged consolidation range on surging trading volume, entering a new price-discovery phase.
EUL (Euler Finance): +41%. As a modular lending protocol on Ethereum, Euler upgraded its V2 framework from a standard DeFi lending platform into customizable “credit infrastructure,” enabling users to tailor collateral, liquidation mechanisms, and credit vaults. EUL broke a long-term downtrend, propelled by its new KRW trading pair listing on Upbit, a derivative short squeeze, and growing institutional adoption, highlighted by its integration with BlackRock’s BUIDL tokenized fund and other Real-World Assets (RWAs).
DIA (DIA): +31%. DIA is a verifiable oracle network tailored for specialized DeFi applications. Unlike traditional oracles that rely solely on execution prices, its recently launched “DIA Value” framework utilizes on-chain fundamentals (such as smart contract redemption rates) to price less liquid assets, including tokenized U.S. Treasuries and yield-bearing stablecoins. By targeting the $100+ billion tokenized asset market, it secured integrations with lending protocols like Euler and Silo. Fueled by the booming RWA and institutional DeFi narratives, DIA broke out of prolonged consolidation over the past week, staging a strong recovery rally.
TRON Ecosystem: On-Chain DeFi Activity Triggers Rally in JST and WIN
As a leading global public blockchain, TRON recorded a notable rebound in on-chain DeFi activity alongside the surge of its ecosystem tokens, driven by expanding settlement demand for stablecoins and decentralized lending.
JST (JUST): +8%. JST serves as the governance token for JUST, TRON’s primary DeFi suite encompassing the JustLend lending protocol and the JustStable stablecoin. The token’s performance follows a milestone corporate action on July 17, when JustLend DAO executed its largest buyback-and-burn to date, destroying roughly 355 million JST (~$34.59 million). Since October 2025, cumulative burns have reached 1.71 billion JST, representing approximately 17.29% of the total supply. This aggressive deflationary mechanism continues to underpin price stability, following JST’s rally to a 4.5-year high earlier this year.
WIN (WINkLink): +13%. As TRON’s first comprehensive oracle network, WINkLink provides price feeds, Verifiable Random Function (VRF) services, and custom data solutions for on-chain DeFi applications. It plays a key role in TRON’s DeFi infrastructure. WIN climbed steadily throughout the week, riding the broader tailwinds of TRON’s DeFi revival.
AI Sector: ZAMA and BEAT Extend Gains
Artificial Intelligence remains one of the most durable narratives of the current market cycle, with investor appetite concentrating on privacy computation and AI-driven content.
ZAMA (Zama): +54%. Zama is a confidential blockchain protocol powered by Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE), often described as the “HTTPS layer for Web3.” It enables on-chain computation on encrypted data without ever decrypting it, combining privacy with verifiable execution. ZAMA rallied over the past week, driven by a technical breakout and bullish market sentiment sparked by the announcement of the upcoming public beta test on its confidential Request-for-Quote (RFQ) system on Ethereum.
BEAT (Audiera): +54%. BEAT powers Audiera, a music social platform merging content with AI technology. Audiera has consistently channeled platform revenue toward token buybacks and burns, with total burned BEAT exceeding 17 million tokens. This deflationary mechanism, paired with renewed platform engagement, fueled BEAT’s sharp upward revaluation.
Multi-Sector Rotation Continues as HTX Captures Emerging Alpha
This week’s crypto market saw clear rotation across sectors: the DeFi sector led the rally, fueled by institutional adoption and real-yield narratives; the TRON ecosystem gained momentum driven by surging on-chain activity; and the AI space maintained high enthusiasm, with structural opportunities continuing to emerge.
As a premier global digital asset exchange, HTX stays ahead of industry trends by strategically tapping into high-quality projects. By continuously enriching its asset matrix across popular sectors such as DeFi, AI, RWA, BTCFi, and the TRON ecosystem, the platform offers users diverse investment choices. Supported by a disciplined asset selection mechanism and ongoing operational capacity building, the platform helps users efficiently capture structural opportunities across the crypto market.
The post first appeared on HTX Square.
