Top 3 Trendiest Altcoins Amid Price Increases and Airdops

TL;DR

Bittensor (TAO) led crypto discussions on September 23, driven by an 80% weekly increase, while the lesser-known Hamster (HAM) gained attention after its airdrop controversy. Near Protocol (NEAR) ranked third in trending assets, experiencing a 30% price increase in one week. What drives the interest?

The crypto market started the week off on the right foot, with numerous assets witnessing substantial price increases or catching the attention of investors for other reasons.

Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and many more leading cryptocurrencies have led the gains on a weekly basis, but according to analytics platform Santiment, they did not see the highest increase in discussions on Monday (23 September) . The entity estimated that the token that heads this ranking is Bittensor (TAO).

The AI-related blockchain protocol has been trending due to the impressive price increase of its native token. TAO is up 80% on a weekly basis and 100% in the last 14 days, currently trading around $565 (according to CoinGecko data).

TAO Price, Source: CoinGecko

The lesser-known altcoin Hamster (HAM) placed second. The project caught the attention of industry participants after the team committed to distributing a substantial amount of tokens to their community. However, it turned out that most users were not eligible for the airdrop, which has caused a lot of frustration.

Near Protocol (NEAR) rounded out the top three list. The price of the token increased by almost 30% in the last week, which could be one of the reasons for the increased interest. According to Santiment, another element is “the excitement surrounding the NEAR community and its activities.”

One such effort is the promotional event called the Olympics campaign. It includes competitions where participants can win rewards such as tokens or trips by performing tasks such as promoting the Near protocol on social media platforms. The campaign is primarily designed to drive community engagement, strengthen the user base, and increase participation within the ecosystem.

Is TAO ready for more earnings?

The significant increase in the asset was noted by many analysts who imagined that this could be the starting point for a more aggressive rally. X user CryptoWizardd predicted that TAO could enter the top 10 crypto clubs before the end of 2024. It is currently ranked 30th with a market cap of around $4.1 billion, while the 10th place belongs to Toncoin ($14.1 billion).

Conversely, Defi_Mochi stated that “everyone is optimistic about TAO because no one actually verifies its emissions.” The crypto enthusiast argued that the asset’s circulating supply will increase substantially over the next year, meaning its price could head south (if demand doesn’t keep pace) .

Everyone is optimistic $TAO because no one actually checks their emissions lol.

50% of the circulating supply reaches the market within a year.

An additional value of 2.2 million dollars $TAO at current prices will be issued during this first semester (Ends November 16, 2025) pic.twitter.com/KjXKkQ0rcW

— Defi_Mochi (@defi_mochi) September 24, 2024

The current circulating supply of TAO is around 7.3 million tokens, while the most it will ever reach is 21 million (same as Bitcoin).

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