Ethena's ENA token surges 48%, but altcoin season will have to wait
ENA is rallying on a $1 billion FalconX deal, while HYPE tests its record, though flat dominance shows this is no broad alt season.
Ethena (ENA) has gained 48.3% over 24 hours and 77.2% on the week after announcing a $1 billion secured warehouse facility with FalconX on Wednesday. Volume has reached $1.04 billion, up 319% on the previous 24 hours and close to three-quarters of the token's market cap.
Hyperliquid (HYPE) touched $77.87 on Friday, taking it to the edge of its June 16 record of $76.87, after President Trump said the CFTC is working to bring the exchange onshore in a compliant manner.
Bitcoin dominance sits at 59.8%, and CoinMarketCap's altcoin season index is at 33, down from 51 last week. The tokens moving hardest have specific catalysts rather than benefiting from indiscriminate capital rotation.
Altcoins are outpacing bitcoin by a widening margin on Friday afternoon as the rally that began with Wednesday's Treasury bond buyback announcement extends into a third day.
Ethena’s ENA is the standout, climbing 26.4% since midnight UTC to $0.1475, taking its 24-hour gain to 48.3% and its weekly move to 77.2%. The trigger is a $1 billion secured warehouse facility with FalconX announced Wednesday, which deploys the assets backing its USDe synthetic dollar into overcollateralized institutional credit rather than the crypto basis trade.
The move comes after ENA had spent months grinding sideways between $0.06 and $0.10 after collapsing from above $0.80, leaving little overhead supply once buyers returned. Volume has reached $1.04 billion, close to three-quarters of the token's market cap and a 319% rise in volume from the previous 24-hour period.
Hyperliquid is the other name traders are watching. HYPE touched $77.87 on Friday and is trading near $76.85, putting it just above the June 16 record high of around $76.87. The move follows President Trump's comment at Wednesday's White House meeting that the CFTC is working to bring the exchange to the US in a fully compliant manner. Unlike ENA, HYPE is not recovering from a drawdown but breaking to new highs, having climbed from $52 in early August.
The rally was not confined to a couple of tokens; Curve CRV $ 0.3177 added 20.6% over 24 hours, Fetch.ai FET $ 0.1475 20.7%, Pudgy Penguins PENGU $ 0.007432 19.1%, Pump.fun PUMP $ 0.003929 18.7% and Pepe PEPE $ 0.0₅3387 18.6%. Bitcoin Cash also gained 26.7%, although it’s worth noting that BCH trading volume is actually down by 10% over the past 24 hours, suggesting a lack of conviction in the rally.
The difference between this rally and previous “alcoin seasons” is that the aggregate measures have not moved. Bitcoin dominance is at 59.8%, down 0.1%, while CoinMarketCap's altcoin season index is 33/100, down from a high of 51/100 last week.
The tokens moving the hardest have identifiable catalysts, including Ethena’s FalconX facility and Hyperliquid’s regulatory pathway, demonstrating a market that has matured from the cycles of the past, when tokens would rally indiscriminately.
Not everyone reads the muted aggregate figures as a ceiling. "Bitcoin has seen a tremendous move, which means that liquidity is very likely going to pour into those altcoins as most of them have barely made any move yet," MN Fund founder Michaël van de Poppe said in a post on X on Friday.
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