Largest Gainers of Q3 2025

The largest gainer in Q3 2025 is decentralized perps trading platform, MYX Finance, with 10,773%, followed by decentralized creator platform Zora with 573% and OKX exchange’s OKB (281%). Bitcoin Layer 2 network Merlin Chain’s MERL (277.6%) and Ethereum Layer 2 network Mantle’s MNT (225.7%) rounded up the top five. Other top gainers in Q3 2025 include Story’s IP (196%), Ribbita’s TIBBIR (161%), SwissBorg’s BORG (157.6%), Cronos’s CRO (132%), and Ethena’s ENA (112%).

 Key Takeaways

• The total crypto market capitalization grew by 17.2% in Q3 2025, climbing from $3.42 trillion to $4.02 trillion.   

• While Bitcoin neared a new all-time high, its market dominance remained below 60% for most of the quarter, signaling a selective “altseason” where specific projects with strong catalysts outperformed the market.   

• The top-performing crypto assets among the top 300 by market cap posted gains ranging from 112% to over 10,000%.   

• Leading market narratives during the quarter included Digital Asset Treasuries (DATs), Decentralized AI, and the growth of Decentralized Perpetual Swap platforms.

Overall Market Outlook

The third quarter of 2025 saw the total crypto market capitalization climb by 17.2%, reaching over $4 trillion by the end of September. The period was marked by significant institutional interest and a series of project-specific developments that fueled a selective but powerful “altseason“. While major assets like ETH reached a new all-time high on August 24, the most dramatic gains were seen in projects that successfully executed major technical upgrades, secured high-profile partnerships, or engineered significant changes to their tokenomics.   

This review covers the top 10 performing crypto assets in the top 300 by market capitalization from July 1 to September 30, 2025.

Leading narratives in Q3 include:

• DATs (Digital Asset treasuries): Mainstream companies adding crypto assets to their balance sheet as seen in BNB, SOL, ETH, and BTC.

• Decentralized Perpetuals: Decentralized perpetuals trading platforms like Hyperliquid, Aster, and more.

• Decentralized AI: AI agents and infrastructure as seen in Ribbita by Virtuals.

Here, we discuss the best-performing assets amongst the top 300 coins and tokens by market capitalization on CoinGecko.

MYX Finance (MYX): 10,773.6%

MYX Finance is a multichain decentralized perpetuals trading platform that operates on Arbitrum, Linea, and BNB Chain. It offers users the ability to trade hundreds of crypto assets with up to 50x leverage, utilizing a unique Matching Pool Mechanism (MPM) designed to provide zero-slippage trade execution.

MYX is the largest gainer in Q3 2025. It grew from $0.15 per token on July 1 to an all-time high of $19 on September 11, 2025, and closed for the quarter at $16.4 per token, registering over $10,773% growth.

Catalysts for MYX’s growth in Q3 include:

• V2 Protocol Upgrade: On September 8, MYX confirmed its V2 protocol upgrade, which promised to introduce zero-slippage trading and cross-chain support for non-EVM chains like Solana, triggering a significant price rally.

• WLFI Listing: Listing WLFI allowed it to tap into the political narrative around President Donald Trump.

• Massive Short Squeeze: Between September 6 and 10, an overwhelming $89.51 million in short positions were liquidated, creating a feedback loop where forced buybacks pushed the price even higher.

However, the price has since significantly decreased in Q4, with the token currently trading at $2.86 at time of writing.

Zora (ZORA): 573.3%

Zora is a decentralized social network and creator platform built on the Base Layer 2 network. It allows creators to tokenize their content—such as posts, images, and videos—into tradable “creator coins.” This model creates a new economy where creators earn royalties from every trade of their tokenized content, directly monetizing their engagement.

Zora’s native token (ZORA) grew by over 573% during the quarter, reaching a new all-time high of $0.144 on August 14. This growth was a direct result of the platform’s viral adoption and its central role in the burgeoning SocialFi narrative.

• Creator Coin Boom on Base: The primary catalyst was the explosive popularity of Zora’s creator coin platform in August. The feature went viral on the Base network, with over 1.6 million tokens minted and trading volume reaching $470 million from 3 million traders. This surge in on-chain activity created immense, sustained demand for the ZORA token, which is used for minting and fees.   

• Coinbase Integration: As a key project on the Coinbase-incubated Base network, Zora benefited from deep integration with the Coinbase ecosystem.

Building on its Q3 momentum, Zora secured a listing on brokerage app Robinhood, and it is currently trading at around $0.097.

OKB (OKB): 281.2%

OKB is the native utility token of the OKX exchange and its ecosystem. It provides holders with benefits such as trading fee discounts, access to new token sales on the OKX Jumpstart platform, and serves as the native gas token for OKX’s Layer 2 network, X Layer.

The OKB token grew by 281% in Q3, surging from around $49 to $190 and setting a new all-time high of $255.50 on August 22.

In Q3, there was an overhaul of the token’s economic model, which may have led to the increase in interest. 

• Historic Token Burn and Supply Cap: The primary catalyst was a landmark announcement on August 13. OKX executed a one-time burn of 65.26 million OKB tokens (valued at $7.6 billion) on August 15, permanently removing over half of the circulating supply. Simultaneously, it upgraded the token’s contract to cap the total supply at 21 million—mirroring Bitcoin’s scarcity narrative.   

• X Layer Upgrade: On August 5, OKX’s X Layer blockchain was upgraded to support 5,000 transactions per second (TPS) with significantly lower fees. 

• Ecosystem Consolidation: The exchange also announced the decommissioning of its legacy OKTChain, consolidating all future activity onto X Layer and establishing the newly scarce OKB as the sole gas and governance token for the entire ecosystem.

Merlin Chain (MERL): 277.6%

Merlin Chain is a Bitcoin Layer 2 solution that integrates a ZK-Rollup network, a decentralized oracle network, and on-chain fraud proofs to expand the utility and scalability of the Bitcoin network. It aims to empower Bitcoin-native assets and protocols, enabling high-performance DeFi applications that leverage Bitcoin’s security and liquidity.

MERL‘s value grew by over 277% in Q3, rising from approximately $0.087 to $0.33. Some contributors to its growth included strategic market expansion and strong narrative alignment.

• Bithumb Exchange Listing: MERL was listed on Bithumb, South Korea’s second-largest exchange, on July 23. The introduction of a direct Korean Won (KRW) trading pair on July 24 tapped into the highly active Korean retail market.

• Dominance of the “BTCfi” Narrative: Merlin Chain successfully positioned itself as a leader in the growing Bitcoin DeFi (BTCfi) narrative, appealing to investors looking to make their BTC holdings productive through staking and DeFi.

• Cross-Chain Expansion: On August 21, Merlin Chain launched its wrapped Bitcoin asset, M-BTC, on the Sui Network. 

Mantle (MNT): 225.7%

Mantle is a high-performance Ethereum Layer 2 network built with a modular architecture. It uses a ZK-Rollup to offer high throughput and low fees for a wide range of applications, including DeFi, RWAs, and GameFi. The MNT token is used for governance and to pay for gas fees on the network.

MNT grew by over 225% in Q3, closing the quarter at a record high of $1.92. Some possible reasons for this rally include a major technical upgrade and a high-profile partnership that captured a powerful mainstream narrative.

• OP Succinct Mainnet Upgrade: On September 16, Mantle completed its mainnet upgrade to “OP Succinct,” transitioning into a ZK-Rollup, introducing one-hour finality—an improvement over the seven-day withdrawal period for optimistic rollups.

• Exclusive Partnership With USD1: Mantle was selected as the exclusive Layer 2 network for World Liberty Financial to launch its USD1 stablecoin.

• BitDAO Migration: The migration from BitDAO (BIT) to the unified Mantle (MNT) brand was completed in July.

While MNT reached a new high of $2.86 in early October, the token is now trading around $1.72. 

Story (IP): 196.3%

Story Protocol is a blockchain designed for the tokenization of intellectual property (IP). It provides infrastructure for registering assets like artwork, music, and even AI training datasets as on-chain “IP Assets.” This allows for programmable licensing, automated royalty distribution, and transparent provenance tracking, aiming to create a more open and equitable creator economy.

The IP token grew by over 196% in Q3, reaching an all-time high of $14.78 on September 21. Some reasons for its performance include a landmark corporate adoption and its strategic positioning at the intersection of AI and on-chain IP.

• Corporate Treasury Adoption: On September 9, Nasdaq-listed Heritage Distilling (CASK) announced it would adopt the IP token as its primary treasury reserve asset. The company launched a $360 million IP token reserve program, backed by a $220 million financing round from top-tier VCs like a16z Crypto.

• AI Narrative Alignment: Story Protocol effectively positioned itself as critical infrastructure for the AI industry by offering a solution for creating rights-cleared, verifiable datasets for training AI models. 

• Institutional Investment Products: Grayscale launched a Story Trust on July 31, providing institutional-grade access to the IP token and signaling strong investor confidence in the on-chain IP sector.  

Ribbita by Virtuals (TIBBIR): 161.3%

TIBBIR is the token for the Ribbita AI agent, which operates within the Virtuals ecosystem. The project, associated with Ribbit Capital, aims to innovate at the intersection of AI and fintech. The project was launched in stealth mode with 87% of the total supply offered in public sale.

TIBBIR grew by 161% in Q3. Its growth appears to be purely speculative and tied to prevailing market narratives.

• AI Narrative Speculation: The token’s primary driver was its association with the popular Decentralized AI and “Agentic Finance” narratives. 

While public information is limited, TIBBIR is currently trading near a new all time high at around $0.3967.

SwissBorg (BORG): 157.6%

SwissBorg is a crypto wealth management platform that allows users to trade, invest, and earn yield on a wide range of crypto assets in a regulated environment. The BORG token is central to its ecosystem, providing holders with benefits like reduced fees, boosted yield rewards, and governance rights.

The BORG token grew by over 157% in Q3, a rally driven not by a single announcement but by a series of actions that reinforced investor confidence and created sustained demand for the token.

• Boosted Investor Confidence: Following a security exploit on a partner platform on September 8, SwissBorg immediately announced it would fully reimburse all affected users from its own treasury funds,boosting trust in the project’s financial stability and user-first approach.   

• “Paid to Trade” Program: On September 30, SwissBorg launched a “Paid to Trade” program, offering users cashback rewards of up to 90% on their trading fees, paid in BORG tokens. The BORG tokens for these rewards are bought back from the open market, creating a consistent source of buying pressure.   

• Deflationary Tokenomics: The project continued its deflationary model with a burn of 275,000 BORG tokens on September 5, further reducing the circulating supply and reinforcing the token’s scarcity.   

Cronos (CRO): 132.4%

Cronos (CRO) is the native token of the Crypto.com exchange and the Cronos Chain, a high-throughput Layer 1 blockchain built with the Cosmos SDK. The CRO token is used for paying gas fees, governance, and unlocking benefits like trading fee discounts for users of the Crypto.com platform.

CRO’s value grew by over 132% in Q3, rising from $0.082 to $0.19. Some catalysts to this growth include a major strategic partnership that brought mainstream adoption and a powerful political narrative to the ecosystem.

• Partnership with Trump-Backed Projects: On August 26, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) announced a strategic partnership with Crypto.com, which included acquiring 684.4 million CRO tokens (worth $105 million) for its corporate treasury. This high-profile endorsement immediately drove speculative interest.   

• Truth Social Integration: The partnership was solidified on September 9 when the Truth Social platform launched a feature allowing its premium users to convert their on-platform rewards (“Truth Gems”) directly into CRO tokens. This created a practical utility and a direct onboarding ramp for millions of non-crypto-native users.   

Ethena (ENA): 112.2%

Ethena is a synthetic dollar protocol built on Ethereum. It oversees the USDe synthetic dollar, which maintains its peg through a delta-hedging strategy using crypto assets and short futures positions. The ENA token is used for governance of the protocol.

ENA grew by over 112% in Q3, more than doubling its value as it topped $0.81. The token’s growth was driven by institutional adoption and a series of deliberate governance actions that strengthened the underlying stability of its USDe stablecoin.

• Institutional Adoption and Buybacks: A major catalyst came on September 5, when StablecoinX, a subsidiary of the Ethena Foundation, announced it had raised $530 million to acquire ENA as a treasury asset. The plan included a commitment to spend at least $5 million daily on ENA buybacks, creating significant and sustained buying pressure.   

• Reserve Fund Diversification: Throughout Q3, the Ethena DAO initiated and debated numerous proposals to diversify its $46 million Reserve Fund. The proposals included adding real-world assets (RWAs) like BlackRock’s BUIDL fund and other tokenized treasury products, which enhanced the robustness and appeal of the USDe stablecoin that ENA governs.

Ethena has since experienced significant volatility in October due to its USDe briefly depegging on Binance during the market flash crash. However, according to reports, this was not a true depeg, as it only affected Binance.

Final Thoughts

While the market saw broad gains, with major assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum nearing or setting new all-time highs, top gainers for Q3 were largely driven by three dominant themes:

1. The Power of Narrative Alignment: The most successful projects masterfully aligned with the quarter’s dominant trends. The rise of “Digital Asset Treasuries” (DATs) provided powerful, mainstream validation for Story Protocol, Cronos, and Ethena, as corporate and institutional entities publicly added their native tokens to their balance sheets. Similarly, the “Bitcoin DeFi” (BTCfi) and “SocialFi” narratives fueled the growth of Merlin Chain and Zora, respectively, while politically-adjacent hype cycles created speculative fervor around MYX Finance, Mantle, and Cronos.  

2. Engineered Scarcity and Tokenomics: Beyond narratives, re-engineering a token’s economic model may also be a potent catalyst. OKB’s historic token burn and permanent supply cap—mirroring Bitcoin’s scarcity—created a massive supply shock that forced a market re-rating and drove its 281% gain. SwissBorg also demonstrated the power of deflationary pressure through its continued token burns and a new “Paid to Trade” program that created consistent buy-pressure from the open market.  

3. Verifiable Technical Milestones: Tangible technological progress provided the foundation for several major rallies. Mantle’s “OP Succinct” upgrade made it the world’s largest ZK-Rollup by TVL, delivering institutional-grade features that attracted high-profile partners. Likewise, the announcement of MYX Finance’s V2 upgrade and OKB’s X Layer performance enhancements may have also contributed to their subsequent price surges.  

Note that this article only takes into account tokens that were listed before July 1 2025, and only considers tokens and projects within the top 300 tokens by market capitalization on CoinGecko. You can check out the full list of top gainers and losers on CoinGecko.

Disclaimer: This article is only for informational purposes and should not be considered financial advice. Always do your own research and note that crypto investments carry significant risks.