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Points of Focus
- Bitcoin rose 7.9% over 30 days through Sept. 28, while QNT surged nearly 360% on major tokenized-deposit developments involving Quant in the US and UK.
- NEAR, ARB, and UNI posted triple-digit gains amid ETF developments, Robinhood Chain revenue, and planned CME futures.
- ZEC, ENA, and SUI also outpaced Bitcoin on catalysts such as Grayscale’s ETF expansion, Ethena’s Binance partnership, and Sui’s AI and DeFi developments.
Bitcoin led crypto’s latest rally, but seven altcoins delivered far bigger gains over the past month, fueled by catalysts ranging from bank deals and exchange-traded fund (ETF) developments to new network revenue.
Bitcoin (BTC) traded at $83,093 on Sept. 28, at the time of writing, up 7.9% over 30 days. It rose from an intraday low of $74,967 on Sept. 15 to close at $86,620 on Sept. 21.
The US Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate 25 basis points to a 3.75%-4% range on Sept. 16, in a unanimous 12-0 vote.
US spot Bitcoin ETFs shed a combined $746.3 million on Sept. 15 and 16, then reversed course. They pulled in $2.39 billion in net inflows over five sessions from Sept. 21 to Sept. 25. Strategy bought 950 BTC for $75.7 million between Sept. 14 and 20, funded entirely with cash, according to its Sept. 21 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
ETF inflows cooled to $134.5 million by Sept. 25, and BTC has since eased, down around 1.9% over the past 24 hours and 4.07% over the past week.
The seven tokens below outpaced BTC over the past 30 days, ranked by their gains as of Sept. 28.
1. Quant (QNT) rose 360% on twin bank-network deals in the US and UK
QNT traded at $270.91 on Sept. 28, up nearly 360% over 30 days, giving it a $4.04-billion market capitalization.
The Clearing House, which runs the RTP and CHIPS bank payment networks, selected Quant on Sept. 24 to build the interoperability layer for its tokenized-deposit network. The network is expected to open to participating institutions in the first half of 2027.
The same day, UK Finance said seven British banks — Barclays, HSBC UK, Lloyds, Monzo, Nationwide, NatWest, and Santander — had completed their first live customer transactions on a tokenized-sterling platform built by Quant, covering two mortgage refinancings and one marketplace purchase.
QNT closed up 27.46% on Sept. 24 and 88.83% on Sept. 27, based on daily closing prices. Neither announcement names the QNT token.
2. Near Protocol (NEAR) rose 184% ahead of a spot ETF
NEAR traded at $5.17 on Sept. 28, up nearly 184% over 30 days. Bitwise’s Form 8-A, filed Sept. 24, shows NYSE Arca approved the NEAR ETF’s listing application. The filing, signed by Bitwise chief operating officer Teddy Fusaro, sets no ticker or launch date.
NEAR remains 74.71% below its all-time high of $20.44, with a $6.76 billion market cap.
3. Arbitrum (ARB) rose 140% as network revenue topped $50 million
ARB traded at $0.2091 on Sept. 28, up almost 140% over 30 days but down 7.35% over the past week. Robinhood Chain, an Arbitrum-built network that launched July 1, 2026, paid ArbitrumDAO $360,000 in license fees in July. That was 35% of the decentralized autonomous organization’s (DAO) income that month, per the Arbitrum Foundation’s Sept. 2 report.
On Sept. 27, the project said that the chain had produced $50 million in cumulative fee revenue and $5 million in Expansion Program fees for the treasury and that Arbitrum One was the first chain past 7,000 tokenized real-world assets. Perpetuals volume on Arbitrum was above $50 billion over 30 days.
A further 92.65 million ARB tokens, worth $19.37 million at current prices, are scheduled to unlock on Oct. 16.
4. Uniswap (UNI) rose 106% on Robinhood Chain fees and CME futures
UNI traded at $9.10 on Sept. 28, up about 106% over 30 days. CME Group said on Sept. 22 that it will list Uniswap futures on Oct. 19, pending regulatory review.
Onchain data shows Robinhood Chain generated $147.69 million of Uniswap’s $207.64 million in 30-day fees, 71% of everything the protocol earned across every chain it operates on. Only $15.67 million of Uniswap’s $207.64 million in fees, about 7.55%, reached UNI holders through the “UNIfication” buyback-and-burn mechanism, which they approved in a Dec. 28, 2025, governance vote.
5. Zcash (ZEC) rose 94.5%, while Grayscale widened its Zcash lineup
ZEC traded at $1,557.12 on Sept. 28, up 94.5% over 30 days and around 5.8% up over the past week. Grayscale’s Zcash ETF (ZCSH) began trading on NYSE Arca on Aug. 25 after its Zcash Trust was converted into a spot ZEC ETF. It holds ZEC directly and charges a 2.5% sponsor fee.
Grayscale filed on Sept. 25 for a separate ZCSH High Income ETF that would not hold ZEC directly but use options on ZEC exchange-traded products, including ZCSH, to generate income while retaining potential capital appreciation. The filing notes ZCSH began trading Aug. 25 and its options Sept. 8, giving both limited trading histories.
David Lawant, head of research at Anchorage Digital, told Fortune that ZEC had climbed from outside the top 80 cryptocurrencies into the top 10 by market capitalization during 2026.
6. Ethena (ENA) rose 62.75% as Binance partnership expands USDe strategy
ENA traded at $0.2643 on Sept. 28, up 62.75% over 30 days and 24.26% over the past week. Ethena said on X on Sept. 25 that it is partnering with Binance to extend USDe’s basis-trading strategy from crypto into equity perpetual futures, allowing its collateral base to expand beyond the roughly $2.5 trillion crypto market to include tokenized equities.
The Ethena Foundation proposed on Aug. 27 to route 95% of its net revenue into ENA buybacks once USDe’s supply reaches $7.5 billion. USDe’s supply stood at $4.94 billion as of Sept. 28, still short of that threshold. A further 40.63 million ENA, worth $10.73 million, unlocks on Oct. 2.
7. Sui (SUI) rose 59% amid AI and DeFi developments
SUI traded at $1.18 on Sept. 28, up nearly 59% over 30 days and 13.4% over the past week. Macro investor Raoul Pal called Sui his highest-conviction bet on an economy run by autonomous AI agents in a Sept. 16 appearance on the “Milk Road” podcast that cited its programmable-transaction-block design.
Pal has separately disclosed on X that he sits on the Sui Foundation’s board while maintaining that his own capital allocation is unaffected by it.
Sui’s team shipped a DeepBook trading app on Sept. 24, built on an order book that has processed more than $20 billion in Sui volume. Hashi, a protocol meant to let Bitcoin serve as collateral on Sui without leaving its native chain, has been in testnet since July; Sui’s own posts have not confirmed a mainnet date.
SUI remains 77.9% below its all-time high of $5.35, and 13.26 million SUI, worth $15.64 million, unlock on Oct. 1.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.
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