Five altcoins to watch on Thursday and Friday: Memecoins and DeFi lead this week’s rally

Altcoins continue to perform well and investor sentiment has turned bullish on several well-known coins.

There are growing signs of a potential altcoin season, with this narrative increasingly dominating the market. While crypto markets declined on Thursday, June 12—bringing the total market cap down 2.44%, the altcoin market has been rallying over the past week. Specifically, Bitcoin’s (BTC) gains have encouraged traders to take on more risk in search of higher returns.

Among the top performers were memecoins and DeFi tokens, which led the pack among the 100 largest crypto assets over the past seven days. Notably, DeFi tokens Kaia (KAIA), AB (AB), and Uniswap (UNI), along with memecoins Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) and SPX6900 (SPX), saw the biggest gains.

DeFi tokens Kaia, Uniswap, and AB are back in focus

Kaia posted the strongest weekly performance, climbing nearly 60% over the last seven days. The Korea-based DeFi project recently announced the launch of a stablecoin denominated in Korean won. Given South Korea’s status as one of the most crypto-friendly markets globally, the news sparked renewed interest from traders.

DeFi token AB gained 34.84% over the week, largely due to its listing on Binance Alpha on June 7. The listing brought the layer-1 network into the spotlight, aided by Binance’s 115 million token airdrop, which significantly boosted visibility.

Uniswap, the world’s largest decentralized exchange, also benefited from broader developments in DeFi regulation. Its token rose 25.23% over the past seven days after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission signaled a more favorable stance toward DeFi. Notably, SEC Chair Paul Atkins equated DeFi with American values such as liberty and innovation.

Fartcoin and SPX6900 lead memecoin rally

Solana-based Fartcoin was the top-performing memecoin of the past week, gaining 49%. The token, originally inspired by Elon Musk’s fart jokes, surged on news of its Coinbase listing, which just went live.

However, Fartcoin has pulled back 4% since going live on the exchange, reflecting a broader market cooldown. Still, expanded access through Coinbase is likely to drive further demand for the token in the near term.

SPX6900 followed closely behind, climbing 46% over the week. The memecoin’s rally has been driven by continued whale accumulation, with the largest wallets now holding 16% of the supply. Technical indicators also point to bullish momentum, signaling strong engagement from traders.