Gate Research Institute: altcoin market shows significant warming ｜ Decentralized Finance Development SOL total holdings exceed 2 million coins

Summary

1. This week, the overall cryptocurrency market remains in a relatively strong oscillation, with both BTC and ETH slightly rising.
2. Tokens such as EIGEN, KMNO, and DRIFT performed remarkably, recording double-digit gains respectively.
3. DeFi Development further increased holdings by 60,000 SOL, total holdings exceed 2 million.
4. Benefiting from multiple treasury programs, Solana has increased by over 10% in the past 7 days.
5. The altcoin season index rises to 73, indicating a significant increase in altcoin market activity.
6. Forward Industries completed a $1.65 billion financing and established a treasury reserve strategy centered around SOL.

Market Interpretation

Market Commentary

• BTC Market —— This week BTC rose by 2.10%. BTC maintains a bullish structure in the short term, currently stabilizing above the 5MA, 10MA, and 30MA lines, with short-term moving averages showing a bullish arrangement. The MACD indicator continues to expand upward, with the momentum histogram increasing, indicating a sustained enhancement of bullish momentum. The current price has broken through the short-term consolidation range and briefly touched a high of 117,793 dollars. If the buying momentum continues, it is expected to challenge the resistance level above 118,000 dollars, with short-term support to be monitored around 116,300 dollars.
• ETH Market —— This week ETH rose by 0.56%. ETH maintains a fluctuating upward pattern, with the K-line stabilizing above the short-term moving averages. The 5MA and 10MA show a clear upward trend, indicating that the price is in a recovery channel. The MACD bullish momentum continues to be released, with red bars continuously increasing, and the fast and slow lines maintain a golden cross status, showing a healthy momentum structure. If the price stabilizes in the $4,630 range, it is expected to further attack the $4,680 high, with support levels falling between $4,560 and $4,520.
• Altcoins —— This week, major altcoins have continued to rise overall, with EIGEN experiencing a short-term increase of over 20%, standing out among the top 200 by market capitalization; other projects like MYX and KMNO also have significant room for growth.
• Stablecoins - The total market capitalization of stablecoins is currently $290.5 billion, with stablecoins like USDC and USDe continuing to attract strong market attention.
• Gas Fee —— This week, the Gas fee on the Ethereum network has slightly increased. As of September 18, the average Gas fee for the day was 0.266 Gwei.

Popular Tokens

This week, the Launchpad sector led the market with a 7-day increase of 26.1%, while the AMM sector benefited from the recovery of liquidity and an increase in protocol revenue, rising by 26.0%. The structural growth themes resonated with the community-driven Meme sector, focusing funds on speculative themes and emotional recovery as the dual main lines.

EIGEN Eigenlayer (+24.4%, circulating market cap 651 million USD)

According to Gate market data, the current price of EIGEN token is 1.9311 USD, with a 24-hour increase of up to 24.4%. EigenLayer is a modular re-staking protocol focusing on "verifiable infrastructure" that provides security guarantees and consensus expansion for decentralized validation services. Its subproject EigenCloud is expanding the AI trust layer and reputation system, recently collaborating with Google Cloud to launch the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), promoting a trustworthy transaction framework for AI Agents.

The main reason for EIGEN's significant rise this week is the collaboration with Google and the increasing popularity of the "Verifiable Reputation" concept. EigenCloud has become a launch partner for AP2, strengthening its strategic position in the Web3×AI ecosystem; at the same time, it has partnered with OpenRank to launch a public reputation system, sparking discussions on-chain and within the community.

KMNO Kamino (+23.21%, circulating market cap 236 million USD)

According to Gate.io market data, the current price of the KMNO token is $0.08389, with a 24-hour increase of up to 23.21%. Kamino is a one-stop decentralized lending and yield platform within the Solana ecosystem, dedicated to providing the safest and smartest financial tools, supporting automated strategy management, stablecoin yield aggregation, and on-chain risk control. Its flagship products include the USDC lending market, stablecoin yield pools, and automated rebalancing asset strategies, which are highly favored by institutions and advanced users.

KMNO's significant rise this week is mainly attributed to the platform's lending scale breaking historical highs and the growing popularity of stablecoin products. On-chain data shows that Kamino's total USDC lending has surpassed 500 million dollars, demonstrating its increasingly mainstream position within the Solana ecosystem. Coupled with the trend of DeFi capital returning, KMNO has become one of the standout protocol tokens in this market cycle.

DRIFT Drift Protocol (+17.15%, circulating market cap 297 million USD)

According to Gate.io market data, the current price of the DRIFT token is $0.8140, with a 24-hour increase of up to 17.15%. Drift Protocol is a decentralized perpetual contract platform within the Solana ecosystem, focusing on providing a trading experience for derivatives with low slippage, high leverage, and high liquidity. Its protocol architecture integrates AMM and order book mechanisms, allowing traders and liquidity providers to share matching efficiency, and has gradually become an important participant in the on-chain derivatives market.

The core drivers of DRIFT's rise this week stem from the dual benefits of zero platform trading fees and a record high in Total Value Locked (TVL). The official announcement stated that the trading fees for BTC trading pairs have been reduced to 0 bp, giving it a significant cost advantage over similar protocols; meanwhile, the platform's total locked value (TVL) has surpassed $1.42 billion, setting a new all-time high, reflecting a continuous influx of funds and increased user retention.

This Week's Focus

DeFi Development added an additional 60,000 SOL, bringing total holdings to over 2 million.

Solana Treasury Company DeFi Development has recently increased its holdings by 62,745 SOL, estimated to be worth approximately 14.6 million USD at current market prices. This increase reflects the institution's strong confidence in the long-term value and ecological development of Solana, and highlights its position as an important participant in on-chain asset allocation.

As of now, the total holding of SOL by DeFi Development has exceeded 2 million coins, with a total valuation approaching 500 million dollars. This scale not only ranks among the top in institutional circles but may also have a structural impact on the market liquidity and price performance of SOL. Its continued asset investment is expected to further promote the activity and capital influx of projects on the Solana chain, solidifying its strategic position as a mainstream public chain.

Wormhole launches W Token 2.0, introducing a reserve mechanism and a 4% base yield.

The cross-chain communication protocol Wormhole officially released the W token 2.0 upgrade plan, introducing a new token economic model to enhance the functionality and attractiveness of holding the W token. This update includes the establishment of the Wormhole reserve mechanism and provides W token holders with a 4% base yield, aiming to build a more incentivizing long-term holding system.

In addition, Wormhole has optimized the original annual linear unlocking mechanism to unlock every two weeks, significantly enhancing the transparency of token release and the market response speed. Overall, Wormhole is strengthening the stability of its cross-chain ecosystem through more detailed token design and fund management, providing clearer value capture pathways for protocol participants.

TNL Mediagene launches digital asset treasury strategy, with BTC, ETH, and SOL as core allocations.

TNL Mediagene (NASDAQ: TNMG) announced that it will officially incorporate digital assets into the core of its corporate strategy and has initiated the construction of a Digital Asset Treasury (DAT). The company stated that it will only include BTC, ETH, and SOL, excluding tokens that do not meet the standards of market capitalization, liquidity, and institutional adoption, demonstrating its asset allocation logic centered on stability.

To promote the implementation of this strategy, TNL has formed an advisory group composed of Web3 experts from CoinDesk, Nonagon, hottolink, and Matter Labs, ensuring that its digital asset deployment balances strategy and compliance. CEO Joey Chung stated that this initiative will not only enhance the company's financial flexibility and support potential future mergers and acquisitions, but it will also allow its media and data platforms to delve deeper into the Web3 space, bringing dual growth momentum in both financial and business synergies.

Highlight Data

Benefiting from multiple treasury programs, Solana's increase in the last 7 days has exceeded 10%.

In the past week, the price of Solana (SOL) has continued to strengthen, with a cumulative increase of over 10%, currently hovering around $245. This round of gains is not only due to the overall market's regained risk appetite but is also closely related to several US-listed companies recently announcing large-scale establishment of Solana Treasury strategies. Following Helius's announcement of a $500 million financing to set up the SOL treasury, Forward Industries has disclosed that it has completed financing of up to $1.6 billion, planning to use SOL as a core reserve asset, with well-known institutions such as Galaxy Digital, Multicoin Capital, and Jump Crypto participating. This trend of "treasuryization" to some extent positions SOL as an emerging asset class in corporate financial strategies, reinforcing its market demand and value support.

At the same time, the performance of the Solana chain ecosystem also provides strong fundamental support for the price increase. Currently, Solana ranks second globally in total value locked (TVL) in DeFi, reaching 12.9 billion USD; the 7-day trading volume of decentralized exchanges has exceeded 33.7 billion USD, a nearly 30% increase month-on-month, indicating active capital inflow. The number of active addresses on the chain has surpassed 2.47 million, with daily transaction counts approaching 65 million, further highlighting users' high participation and stickiness to the Solana network. For investors, with the continuous implementation of institutional treasury strategies and the ongoing growth of ecosystem data, the price of SOL is at a critical juncture in a new upward cycle. If this trend continues, Solana is expected to launch an attack on historical highs in the coming weeks.

Jito TVL has increased by 11.93% in the last 7 days, with demand for liquid staking continuing to rise.

According to the latest on-chain data, the liquid staking protocol Jito in the Solana ecosystem has performed remarkably in the past 7 days, with its Total Value Locked (TVL) recording a 11.93% increase. Jito has now become one of the most influential staking platforms on Solana, continuously attracting capital inflow with its unique MEV revenue distribution mechanism and efficient validator management system. Especially against the backdrop of steadily rising Solana prices, more and more users are choosing to stake SOL to obtain dual returns—enjoying both regular staking rewards and additional incentives from MEV.

From the perspective of capital flow, the growth of Jito's TVL not only reflects the strong demand for liquid staking in the market but also demonstrates its capital efficiency advantages in DeFi composite applications. Users holding JitoSOL can realize multiple utilizations of funds in lending, liquidity pools, and other derivative protocols, which further enhances the attractiveness of Jito. As the overall heat of the Solana ecosystem rebounds, the DeFi and LST (Liquid Staking Token) sectors continue to expand, and Jito's locked position is expected to continue to rise, providing long-term positive support for the governance token JTO and the overall activity of the Solana network.

The altcoin season index has risen to 73, indicating a significant warming in the altcoin market.

The latest data shows that the CMC Altcoin Season Index has risen to 73/100, reaching a new high in nearly a month and significantly up from last month's 45. This indicates that over the past 90 days, the majority of altcoins among the top 100 crypto assets by market capitalization have outperformed Bitcoin, and market sentiment is gradually shifting towards "altcoin season." From the trend chart, the total market capitalization of altcoins has steadily increased over the past two months, forming a positive feedback with the index trend, indicating that more funds are flowing into non-Bitcoin assets.

Historical data indicates that when the index exceeds 75, it is generally seen as entering a full-blown altcoin season. The current index is approaching this critical point, coupled with the recent activity in the Solana, LSD sector, and Meme segment, investors' risk appetite for altcoins has significantly increased. If the trend continues, the altcoin market is expected to further amplify gains, driving more on-chain ecosystem activity and capital inflow.

Financing Weekly Report

According to RootData, from September 11 to September 18, 2025, a total of 14 cryptocurrency and related projects announced the completion of financing or mergers and acquisitions, covering multiple sectors such as cryptocurrency treasury and stock tokenization. Overall financing activity remains high, indicating continued capital investment in key areas such as digital asset treasury and asset tokenization. Below is a brief introduction to the top three projects by financing scale this week:

Forward Industries

On September 11, it was announced that a financing of $1.65 billion has been completed, mainly to establish a treasury reserve strategy centered around SOL, enhancing shareholder value through large-scale holding and allocation of SOL, and supporting the company's long-term development and operations.

Forward Industries (NASDAQ: FORD) is an innovative company focused on providing leading global enterprises with innovative product design, manufacturing, procurement, and distribution services, covering the complete chain from concept design to global supply chain logistics. Forward Industries is transitioning to a Solana Treasury Company.

Helius Medical Technologies

Announced on September 15 that it has completed a $500 million financing, primarily used to establish and expand the SOL Treasury, which focuses on SOL as its core asset reserve. This will enhance asset returns through staking and yield strategies, while also supporting company operations and long-term strategic development.

Helius is a leading neurotechnology company focused on the medical device field, dedicated to using non-invasive platform technology to treat neurological function deficits, enhance the brain's compensatory abilities, and promote neural plasticity, thereby improving the lives of patients with neurological diseases. The company has announced the establishment of the SOL Treasury.

Turing Capital Brokerage

Keyrock announced on September 8 that it has acquired Turing Capital in Luxembourg for $27.8 million to launch its asset and wealth management business.

Turing Capital Brokerage ("TCB") is a brokerage firm based in Spain that has obtained a license from the Bank of Spain to operate as a licensed institution in compliance with the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). This regulation provides a unified regulatory framework for crypto assets, issuers, and service providers across the European Union.

Focus Next Week

Token Unlock

According to Tokenomist data, the market will see significant unlocks of certain important tokens in the next 7 days (2025.9.18 - 2025.9.25). The top 3 unlocks are as follows:

• OP will unlock approximately $9.46 million worth of tokens in the next 7 days, accounting for 6.5% of the circulating supply.
• ZRO will unlock approximately $5.14 million in value over the next 7 days, accounting for 23.2% of the circulating supply.
• VELO will unlock tokens worth approximately $4.66 million in the next 7 days, accounting for 17.1% of the circulating supply.
  Reference Source

• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/BTC_USDT
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/ETH_USDT
• Coinmarketcap, https://coinmarketcap.com/
• jin10, https://rili.jin10.com/
• Coinmarketcap, https://coinmarketcap.com/view/stablecoin/
• etherscan, https://etherscan.io/gastracker
• Coingecko, https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories
• Coinmarketcap, https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/altcoin-season-index/
• PR Newswire, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tnl-mediagene-nasdaq-tnmg-to-establish-digital-asset-treasury-302559129.html
• The Block, https://www.theblock.co/post/371140/defi-development-acquires-nearly-15-million-in-sol-pushing-solana-holdings-above-2-million-tokens
• Wormhole, https://wormhole.com/blog/wormhole-announces-w-token-2-0-upgrade
• Defillama, https://defillama.com/
• CoinMarketCap, https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/altcoin-season-index/
• Rootdata, https://www.rootdata.com/Fundraising
• Tokenomist, https://tokenomist.ai/

Disclaimer Investing in the cryptocurrency market involves high risks. Users are advised to conduct independent research and fully understand the nature of the assets and products being purchased before making any investment decisions. Gate is not responsible for any losses or damages resulting from such investment decisions.