Pepe, Pearl top this week’s crypto gainers as Akedo surges 25%

• Despite subdued trading activity, Akedo tops the weekly crypto gainers with a 25% advance, while its 24-hour trading volume fell 14.7%.
• Following its inclusion in Coinbase's asset listing roadmap, Pearl gained 18% over the week.
• Scrutiny of trader Kimchi's token, which plunged 98% after its launch on the platform, accompanied PUMP's 6% weekly rise.

Gains in Akedo (AKE), Pepe (PEPE) and Pearl (PEARL) stand out as macro developments weigh on Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and XRP heading into the weekend. The three weekly crypto market leaders have advanced 25%, 21% and 12%, respectively.

Best-performing cryptocurrencies: How are Akedo, PEPE and PEARL leading crypto market gains?

Akedo (AKE)

Weekly gain: 25%

A 25% advance put Akedo at the top of the group. On Wednesday, the AI-powered game development project underwent a scheduled unlock of approximately 2.11 billion AKE tokens, worth $63 million at the time. Friday brought further gains: at the time of writing, AKE was trading at $0.036, a rise of 16% over the past 24 hours. Trading activity nevertheless remained subdued, with volume declining 14.7% over the same period.

Pepe (PEPE)

Weekly gain: 21%

With a weekly advance of 21%, Pepe took second place among the top performers. At the time of writing, its 24-hour gain stood at 8.8%, with interest coming from a Pepe meme that Brian Armstrong, CEO of crypto exchange Coinbase, shared in a public post on X, the social media platform.

Pearl (PEARL)

Weekly gain: 18%

An 18% weekly advance placed Pear third. Coinbase's decision on Tuesday to add the token to its asset listing roadmap may have contributed to the gain. At the time of writing, however, it was priced at $2.01, a decline of 7% over the past 24 hours.

MemeCore

Weekly gain: 11%

Broader interest in memecoins helped MemeCore (M), a meme-focused blockchain project, advance 11%. Following last week's integration of LayerZero and Stargate, the project also widened its cross-chain capabilities, allowing M, USDC and USDT to be transferred to BNB Chain and Base.

These developments did not prevent a marginal 0.3% decline in M over the past 24 hours.

Monero (XMR)

Weekly gain: 9.9%

The wider rally in privacy-focused tokens lifted Monero by 9.9%. Increased trading activity on Thursday accompanied a rise of more than 12%, taking the token to around $650. By the time of writing, however, XMR had declined 1.2% over the past 24 hours.

Dash (DASH)

Weekly gain: 9.8%

A 9.8% advance over the past seven days put Dash next on the list. Its gains came alongside a rebound in privacy-focused tokens, with Zcash (ZEC) recording a 3.3% rise over the past 24 hours. DASH's own 24-hour gain stood at 6.5% at the time of writing.

Venice (VVV)

Weekly gain: 8%

Interest in AI-powered cryptocurrencies supported an 8% weekly advance in Venice. VVV powers Venice AI, which provides privacy-focused access to generative AI services. Rapid user growth and the launch in Europe of exchange-traded products (ETPs) tracking VVV were also highlighted in recent reports. Over the past 24 hours, however, the token declined 1.4%, while trading volume slumped 45%.

Lighter (LIT)

Weekly gain: 7%

Plans to seek US regulatory approval for its decentralised derivatives exchange were followed by a 7% weekly advance in Lighter. In November, its founder announced plans to apply for Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) licences. Approval could enable the platform to serve institutional customers.

Pump.fun (PUMP)

Weekly gain: 6.3%

As the Solana-based token launchpad broadens its ecosystem, Pump.fun posted a weekly rise of 6.3%. Among the recent developments was the introduction of perpetual futures trading on Hyperliquid, which could provide additional revenue opportunities.

Scrutiny of crypto trader Kimchi's token launch accompanied a 2% decline in PUMP over the past 24 hours. After Pumpfun co-founder Alon reposted the token, market interest drove its market capitalisation to roughly $15 million. Moments later, it crashed 98%.

VeChain (VET)

Weekly gain: 5.5%

A 5.5% advance placed VeChain last on the list. Infrastructure development continues at the enterprise-focused blockchain, whose 2026 roadmap includes network upgrades and AI-related applications.