RUNE, AAVE, and HNT lead altcoin gains as Bitcoin struggles below $60,000

As Bitcoin struggled to break past the $60,000 mark, the altcoin market posted some minor gains. RUNE, AAVE and HNT were the best performers as of Friday.

Over the past seven days, Bitcoin traded in a tight range between $56,765 and $61,356. The top cryptocurrency failed to breach past the resistance at $61,000 three times and was trading slightly above $58,000 at the time of writing.

Analysts did not signal anything positive either with Altcoin Sherpa stating that bullish momentum can only be expected if BTC breaks past $62,000.

Analysts at crypto analytics platform CoinGlass observed a surge in Bitcoin’s open interest, noting that this is a sign that both long and shorts were increasing, which could potentially lead to more downside.

Over the past Bitcoin was down over 4%, but some altcoins managed to end the week on a higher note.

THORChain (RUNE)

RUNE, the native token of the cross-chain liquidity protocol was the highest gainer for over the past week, hitting a weekly high of $3.90, on August 16.

At the time of writing, the token’s weekly gains stood at 13.2%, with a 7-day trading range of $3.10 – $3.90.

The key drivers behind the move were some notable partnerships.

On August 9, ThorChain announced a partnership with decentralized finance (defi) focused blockchain Kujira.

The integration is expected to enhance the liquidity for Kujira and support its financial tools like its liquidation engine and decentralized exchange.

THORChain also partnered with Noble, a blockchain infrastructure project that focuses on providing native issuance and management of digital assets, specifically stablecoins like USDC, across different blockchain networks.

The partnership was aimed at integrating stablecoins into Thorchain’s AppLayer, particularly by issuing native USDC on the platform.

Aave (AAVE)

AAVE, the native token for the decentralized lending protocol bearing the same name took the second spot after hitting a weekly high of $11 on August 16.

With weekly gains of 11.6% as of this report, the token traded between $90.48 – $111.10 over the last seven days.

Aave’s recent price surge coincided with a recovery in the defi lending and borrowing sector. The lending protocol hit a new record for weekly active borrowers, with the number hitting approximately 40,000 in a single week according to Aave’s founder, Stani Kulechov. He also pointed to a spike in the number of weekly depositors.

These optimistic data suggested growing confidence and participation in Aave’s platform, which was reflected in its price.

Helium (HNT)

HNT, the native token for Helium’s Internet of Things (IoT) focused blockchain, took third place with weekly gains of 10% at the time of writing. HNT’s seven-day high, hit on August 14, was $7.43. The token traded between $5.66 – $7.43 and was up over 60% in the past 30 days.

Helium has witnessed several positive developments that have helped HNT post consistent gains throughout the year. Notably, on August 13, two major U.S. telecom carriers started testing the integration of their mobile traffic with the Helium Network.

Since mid-2024, Helium’s decentralized network trials have connected over 300,000 subscribers across two major U.S. carriers, offloading mobile data traffic through Helium’s hotspot system and easing dependence on traditional infrastructure.

The positive results were complemented by bullish forecasts from analysts, suggesting an upward rally.

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