Crypto Market Surges Ahead of Weekend as Memecoins and Liquid Staking Lead Rally

According to fresh data from Santiment, the cryptocurrency market is closing the week with strong momentum, as several sectors post impressive double-digit gains in total market capitalization over the past seven days.
Among the standout performers are memecoins, which surged by 18.78% to a combined cap of $51.9B, and the liquid staking sector, which exploded 27.06% to hit $35.1B.
These gains suggest growing appetite for higher-risk, higher-reward plays and yield-bearing assets, respectively.
Also seeing significant inflows were Layer 1 blockchains, up 19.44% to a total cap of $609.1B, and NFTs, which climbed 12.58% to reach $7.1B.
Gaming, DeFi, ERC20 tokens, and even traditionally slower-moving sectors like Real World Assets and Social tokens also showed solid growth, reflecting widespread bullish sentiment.
The broader rally comes as Bitcoin hovers above $100K and investor optimism builds ahead of key technical and macroeconomic milestones.
With momentum this strong heading into the weekend, traders are closely watching to see if this rally sustains or sets the stage for a correction.