According to CoinMarketCap’s trending metrics, IOST, Ontology, and Donkey emerged as the standouts, each benefiting from very different catalysts.
IOST: buybacks fuel confidence in Asian expansion
IOST gained 8.91% in 24 hours and nearly 10% over the past week, helped by a $3 million token buyback program launched in July. The program, set to run for 90 days, has already tightened circulating supply, while trading volumes climbed above $117 million in July alone.
Backing the momentum is IOST’s partnership with DWF Labs and BEBE, designed to scale real-world asset (RWA) infrastructure in Asia. While buybacks highlight management’s confidence, analysts caution that long-term success depends on how effectively the network executes its $2 million RWA lending protocol scheduled for Q3 2025.
Key metric to watch: airdrop rollout details and completion of the buyback program over the next month.
Ontology: Africa-focused Web3 adoption gains traction
Few assets matched Ontology’s 47.38% daily surge, which extended its seven-day rally to 54.4%. The driver: the launch of Ontology Africa on August 13. This community-led initiative aims to deploy validator nodes and onboard local developers, positioning Ontology as a Web3 identity and staking hub for the continent.
The expansion builds on the project’s June 2025 roadmap, which outlined staking enhancements to improve decentralized identity infrastructure. Analysts see this move as part of a broader shift where regional ecosystems, especially in Africa, become testing grounds for scalable blockchain adoption.
Key metric to watch: validator participation rates and new African partnerships emerging from the initiative.
Donkey: a meme-fueled stampede
While IOST and Ontology gained traction from fundamentals, Donkey’s 53.32% daily surge was powered by pure meme culture. Inspired by Binance founder CZ’s viral “I am a donkey” meme, the token rocketed 261% over the past week and more than 1,600% in a month.
Recent listings on HTX and BSC pushed trading volume up 172% in just 24 hours, attracting short-term speculators riding the meme coin wave. But with little underlying utility, the token’s sustainability remains tied to community engagement and speculation over a potential Binance listing.
Key metric to watch: whether liquidity holds as broader market attention shifts back to Bitcoin dominance.
Fundamentals vs. memes: what’s next?
The contrast between IOST and Ontology’s fundamentals-driven rise and Donkey’s meme-fueled surge highlights the diverse drivers shaping today’s crypto market. While buybacks and regional expansion offer measurable roadmaps for sustainability, meme tokens thrive on narrative cycles that can fade as quickly as they emerge.
For traders, the critical near-term signal will be whether IOST can complete its buyback program and whether Ontology can sustain African adoption momentum. Meanwhile, Donkey remains a wild card — its future tied more to sentiment than to substance.
