New Token ZEST Surges 131%! HTX Weekly New Asset Recap (May 18–May 24): Privacy Sector Makes a Strong Comeback, AI Narrative Continues to Gain Momentum
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New Token ZEST Surges 131%! HTX Weekly New Asset Recap (May 18–May 24): Privacy Sector Makes a Strong Comeback, AI Narrative Continues to Gain Momentum
HTX’s newly listed assets performed impressively last week (May 18–24): ZEST led all new tokens with a 131% weekly gain; privacy, AI, perpetual DEX (PerpDEX), and BTCFi sectors advanced in tandem, marking the market’s entry into a structural phase characterized by multiple concurrent themes.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insights
During the third week of May, the crypto market witnessed a long-awaited surge in profitability. Bitcoin oscillated repeatedly within a key price range, and the resulting sentiment spillover energized the altcoin market. Three dominant themes defined this week’s market action: (1) privacy coins—led by ZEC—rose collectively amid improving regulatory expectations; (2) the PerpDEX narrative—spearheaded by HYPE—attracted sustained capital inflows; and (3) NEAR advanced independently, supported by its fundamentals as an AI infrastructure platform. According to HTX data, top-performing assets over the past week (May 18–24) spanned core sectors including privacy, AI, DeFi, and PerpDEX. Among newly listed tokens, ZEST surged 131% weekly to emerge as the standout “dark horse” of the week.
PerpDEX Sector Heats Up; BTCFi and DeFi Catch Up: On-Chain Derivatives Narrative Strengthens
One of the most representative themes this week was the decentralized perpetual contract (PerpDEX) sector, anchored by HYPE. As market volatility rose, demand increased for high-efficiency, high-leverage, low-slippage trading environments. The market is re-pricing the “on-chain financial infrastructure” thesis. With continued progress in BTC Layer 2 solutions, staking yields, restaking, and on-chain asset expansion, BTCFi is emerging as a major growth vector following ETH-based DeFi.
- HYPE (Hyperliquid): Up 38% weekly, Hyperliquid stands as a leading on-chain derivatives trading infrastructure. It is a purpose-built, high-performance Layer 1 designed to power a fully on-chain open financial system.
- ZEST (Zest Protocol): A newly listed token that surged 131% weekly—the highest gain among all assets this week. Zest Protocol is a Bitcoin lending protocol. As a fresh entrant in the BTCFi space, ZEST’s explosive performance reflects strong ongoing market enthusiasm for the Bitcoin Finance narrative.
- ONDO (Ondo Finance): Up 28% weekly, representing the RWA/DeFi sector. ONDO has long been regarded as a flagship asset bridging real-world assets (RWA) and on-chain yield protocols, providing infrastructure for security tokenization and supporting protocols built around these assets (e.g., Flux Finance).
Privacy Sector Rebounds: ZEC and NIL Gain Momentum as Capital Reassesses “Anonymity Value”
Another highly distinctive theme this week was the broad rebound in the privacy sector. As on-chain regulation tightens, asset traceability improves, and user demand for privacy protection grows, the market is renewing its focus on anonymous transactions, zero-knowledge proofs (ZK), and privacy infrastructure value.
- ZEC (Zcash): Up 22% weekly—a veteran privacy asset. Compared to low-market-cap speculative tokens, ZEC benefits from deeper technical foundations and stronger market recognition, allowing it to lead early gains during the privacy narrative’s resurgence.
- NIL (Nillion): Up 60% weekly. Nillion is a private computing and storage network built for AI and data. Leveraging Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs), it enables computation and storage on encrypted data—powering use cases such as private personalized AI, encrypted databases, and other privacy-preserving applications.
AI Sector Momentum Continues: NEAR Leads as Infrastructure-Focused AI Assets Gain Favor
AI remains one of the market’s most persistent and resilient narratives. Over recent weeks, AI-related assets have consistently ranked among HTX’s top gainers—demonstrating significantly longer staying power than short-cycle trends. As concepts like AI agents, on-chain compute resources, and decentralized inference networks gain traction, investor attention increasingly centers on “which projects can truly support AI application deployment.”
- NEAR (NEAR Protocol): Up 56% weekly. NEAR is a hybrid asset combining public chain attributes, a robust developer ecosystem, and AI infrastructure narratives. NEAR Protocol serves as foundational infrastructure for the Open Web, offering a decentralized application platform with streamlined, user-friendly experiences for developers and end users.
- GENIUS (Genius): Up 54% weekly. Genius Terminal is the first private, ultimate on-chain terminal—an OS built for professional traders, designed to deliver full DeFi functionality without the friction of complex interactions.
High-Quality Assets Emerge Steadily; HTX Empowers Users to Capture Structural Opportunities
This week’s market clearly shifted from single-theme speculation toward a multi-threaded, structurally diversified allocation phase. The rise of on-chain derivatives infrastructure (exemplified by HYPE), the privacy sector’s revival (led by ZEC), and the re-rating of large-cap AI assets (driven by NEAR) formed the three pillars of this week’s strongest upward momentum.
As a globally leading digital asset exchange, HTX continuously monitors evolving market trends, focusing on priority sectors including AI, BTCFi, DeFi, RWA, and privacy infrastructure. HTX consistently lists high-quality, high-potential assets—helping users identify and capitalize on structural opportunities amid complex market conditions. As the market enters a new cycle of narrative rotation, fundamentally sound assets backed by robust ecosystems are likely to become the next focal point for capital.
About HTX
HTX was founded in 2013. After 13 years of growth, it has evolved from a cryptocurrency exchange into a comprehensive blockchain business ecosystem spanning digital asset trading, financial derivatives, research, investment, incubation, and more.
As a world-leading Web3 gateway, HTX pursues a strategic vision centered on global expansion, ecosystem prosperity, wealth creation, and security & compliance—delivering comprehensive, secure, and reliable value and services to cryptocurrency enthusiasts worldwide.
To learn more about HTX, please visit https://www.htx.com/ or HTX Square, and follow us on X, Telegram, and Discord. For further inquiries, please contact glo-media@htx-inc.com.
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