Crypto Market Stalls as Risky Assets Momentum Wanes, Loom Network (LOOM) Leads Gains

Bitcoin (BTC) retreated to $63,000 from this week’s high of $64,000 while the total market cap of all coins remained at $2.2 trillion.

Cryptocurrency prices remained largely unchanged on Saturday, as the recent momentum among risky assets appeared to wane.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) price hovered around $63,000, after hitting a high of $64,000 earlier this week. The total cryptocurrency market cap stood at $2.2 trillion.

Other risk assets also saw a mixed performance, with the Dow Jones rising 27 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indices fell 0.25% and 0.29%, respectively.

As reported by Benzinga on Friday, the price action was likely driven by the "triple-witching event," where options contracts valued at over $5.1 trillion expired.

Loom Network led gains as open interest surged

Loom Network (CRYPTO: LOOM), which was recently delisted from Binance, emerged as one of the best-performing altcoins.

The token price surged to $0.0668, notching its highest swing since July 22. The price also marked an increase of 61% from its lowest point in 2023.

The surge came amid a spike in 24-hour volume, which reached over $174 million — higher than the token's market cap of $80 million.

Data showed a surge in open interest in the futures market, climbing to over $27 million, not seen since March 27, and significantly higher than the month's low of $4.7 million.

Ontology Gas (CRYPTO: ONG) also ranked among the top tokens on Saturday.

The token price soared for five consecutive days, reaching a high of $0.387, not seen since July. The market cap reached $142 million.

Similar to Loom Network, ONT open interest also surged, reaching $15.7 million, not seen since June 7.

On the fundamentals front, Ontology's ecosystem performance has not been strong in recent years, with total value locked in its decentralized finance ecosystem dropping to $7.1 million, compared to a record high of $374 million in 2021.

Simon’s Cat Token Surges to Record High

Another top-performing token was Simon's Cat (CRYPTO: CAT), which surged to a record high of $0.000040.

According to Nansen data, the token's market cap soared to over $297 million, while exchange volume rose to $168 million, marking the highest level since Sept. 12.

The token price also rose as the number of token holders increased to 217,680 in the last 24 hours, while the number of tokens in exchanges dropped to 1.85 trillion from last week's 1.87 trillion.

A drop in the number of tokens in exchanges is generally considered positive, as it indicates that more people are storing the tokens in wallets.

Among the other top-performing cryptocurrencies, ARK saw a rise of 23%, followed by Powerledger and Theta Fuel, which rose by 20% and 8%, respectively.

Mother Iggy, Neiro on ETH, Billy, and Cat In A Dogs World were among the notable laggards.