The market added 3.56% this week, but Bitcoin wasn't the story. Week 36 was defined by explosive altcoin breakouts, a rising wave of investor greed, and some equally brutal losses at the bottom of the table. If you're tracking Bitcoin week performance alongside the broader field, this recap breaks down where the gains (and pain) landed.
What happened
- Total crypto market cap rose from roughly $2.69 trillion to $2.79 trillion. The Fear & Greed Index climbed from 62 to 73, staying in "Greed" territory all week with a 68.4 average — a clear signal of how sentiment shaped this week's crypto performance.
- Bitcoin gained 1.1% to $79,739, while Ethereum stayed nearly flat at $2,491.74. XRP added 1%, Solana slipped 0.2%, and TRON fell 1.4%.
- Zcash was the standout among larger-cap assets, jumping 36%. BNB advanced 6.9%, Hyperliquid rose 5.8%, and Dogecoin added 4.6%.
- The real fireworks came from lower-ranked tokens. STONK surged 635%, followed by Useless Coin at 251.7%, MarsCoin at 238.8%, Pons at 180.2%, and Arbitrum at 112.9% — the kind of speculative runs that define altcoin season.
- Losses stayed concentrated but hit hard: Collector Crypt dropped 36.4%, Pump.fun lost 20.5%, and MetaDAO fell 9.7%. Meanwhile, QCP's investment research attributed Bitcoin's rally mainly to short covering (traders closing bets against BTC) rather than fresh leverage entering the market.
What to watch next week
- Bitcoin participation: Watch whether BTC can build on this modest gain through broader demand, rather than leaning on short covering alone.
- Altcoin durability: Triple-digit gains in STONK, USELESS, MARSCOIN, PONS, and ARB set a high bar for follow-through — and reversals in this segment tend to be just as sharp as the rallies.
- Sentiment and breadth: Greed hit 73 even as performance varied wildly across assets. The question now is whether market-cap growth spreads out, or stays concentrated in a small cluster of volatile tokens.
This recap reflects investment research (MiFID II Del. Reg 2017/565 Art. 36) and does not constitute an investment recommendation (MAR Art. 3(35)).