Altcoin Market Shows Signs of Recovery: XRP, CVX and AI Tokens Post Significant Gains

The altcoin market is presenting significant price movements at the beginning of the new year. While some tokens are driven by fundamental factors, other examples demonstrate how narratives and mix-ups can cause volatile swings.

XRP Posts Double-Digit Gains Thanks to ETF Inflows

Ripple's XRP token delivered a remarkable performance at the start of the week, rising approximately twelve percent within 24 hours ^[3]. The price temporarily reached around $2.40 and currently trades at $2.38 – the highest level since November 13, 2025 ^[3]. It remains 34.6 percent below its all-time high of $3.65 ^[3].

Rachael Lucas, crypto analyst at BTC Markets, attributes the movement to technical factors: "We saw a breakout from a falling wedge pattern while the price held above the 50-day moving average" ^[3]. Additionally, short positions worth more than $250 million were liquidated, which intensified the upward pressure ^[3].

XRP spot ETFs played a significant role. They recorded net inflows of $46.1 million on Monday – the highest daily figure since early December ^[3]. Total trading volume for these products rose to over $72 million ^[3]. Vincent Liu, CIO of Kronos Research, explains: "XRP ETFs are benefiting from renewed focus on payment applications and offer a liquid way to capture market exposure" ^[3]. Since the launch of the first XRP ETF in mid-November, continuous capital inflows have been registered over eight weeks ^[3].

Convex Finance: 40 Percent Pump Due to Ticker Confusion

A curious development occurred with DeFi token Convex Finance (CVX), which temporarily surged more than 40 percent, reaching a peak above $2.50 ^[1]. At the time of analysis, CVX was trading at around $2.10 ^[1]. Notably, there were no fundamental changes to the project itself ^[1].

The trigger was confusion with the CVX ticker symbol of Chevron stock. Geopolitical developments surrounding Venezuela and the subsequent rally in Chevron shares apparently caused confusion ^[1]. During a phase of low market liquidity, particularly over the weekend, this overlap was enough to trigger speculative buying ^[1].

The background: Venezuela possesses the world's largest proven oil reserves with approximately 300 billion barrels ^[1]. The prospect of political realignment and access for U.S. companies suddenly changed market expectations ^[1]. Chevron, as the only major with relevant operational presence in Venezuela, benefited as its market capitalization increased by several billion dollars within a short time ^[1].

Fundamentally, nothing changed for Convex Finance. The protocol remains an established building block in the DeFi ecosystem, but the price increase was clearly narrative-driven ^[1].

Broad Market Recovery Among Altcoins

Driven by a price increase in Bitcoin, which climbed back above $94,000, the entire altcoin sector showed its bullish side ^[2]. Ethereum gained nearly nine percent on a weekly basis, while Solana benefited from a memecoin rally and rose 13 percent ^[2]. Binance Coin increased by seven percentage points, while DeFi project Aave jumped 17 percent, nearly offsetting its losses from the previous week ^[2].

An interesting newcomer is Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL), an AI token that has appreciated significantly in value since the beginning of the year ^[2]. The relative strength of this altcoin compared to competitors impressed market observers ^[2]. However, the price has so far failed to sustainably reclaim the 200-day moving average around $1.10 ^[2].

Market experts remain cautious despite the recovery and are waiting for confirmation of the bullish development through sustained inflows into Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs ^[2].