Layer-1 tokens are back in the spotlight. After a sluggish start to the month, dominated by forced liquidations and hawkish Fed sentiment, the crypto market has finally found support. Green candles are starting to reappear and capital is rotating back into assets that showed durability during the worst of the chop.
Two beneficiaries of this shift are Aptos (APT) and Sui (SUI). Both networks have been overshadowed lately by the revitalized Solana and the rise of ETH. But over the last 24 hours, these newer Layer-1 contenders have started to attract fresh inflows. With speculative appetite quietly returning and momentum is forming, with Layer-1 tokens a key category to watch as the week develops.
Let’s dive into Aptos and Sui to determine why capital is now flowing back into high-growth plays across the Layer-1 and gaming ecosystems.
Aptos Moves First
Aptos has been one of the more volatile alts over the last quarter, but this week, price action has looked more positive. APT has climbed over the past 24 hours, pushing back toward a range that traders have been eyeing for weeks and is currently trading for $2.86.
The catalyst for this recovery isn’t just Bitcoin finding support: Aptos onchain metrics are looking encouraging, particularly in terms of the number of active wallets, alongside heightened interest from developers migrating toward Move-based frameworks. Open interest on APT perps is ticking up again, but critically, funding rates remain neutral. That signals spot demand is in control – not leverage tourists. Traders are willing to buy and wait, in other words, rather than gambling on a quick flip.
Sui Catches Up in Style
When the two Layer-1 charts are compared side by side, Sui is showing a similar structure to Aptos but with greater velocity. That said, its price has been sluggish this week, down 4% over the last 24 hours while other assets are in the green, and the latest SUI price predictions suggest it’s not out of the woods yet. As a result, SUI can be filed under “Yet to Pump” which means there’s significant upside should it prove to be a late runner.
There’s also a narrative tailwind here. Aptos and Sui are the two biggest chains running Move, the language developed originally at Meta to make smart contracts safer and more modular. Traders want upside that Bitcoin and Ethereum simply can’t offer at this stage of the cycle, and outside of Solana, Sui is the smart contract chain that’s shown the most real traction: its DeFi and gaming ecosystems are well developed, and there’s a solid and highly engaged user base in place.
EV2 Presale Launches to Reimagine Web3 Gaming
While Aptos and Sui consolidate, a different kind of speculative energy is building around EV2, the newly launched presale that has been accruing social chatter – and several whale buys – since going live at the start of the week. Set in a cosmic battlefield where alien infiltration risks spoiling the fun, EV2 requires players to fight their way to supremacy.
The key to winning at EV2 is acquiring the best weapons and armor, which is just one of the many things that can be done with the project’s native token. This is all-out space combat wrapped inside an MMORPG defined by AAA-production values and true player ownership. Funtico believes it can onboard traditional gamers in serious numbers with EV2, and while that remains to be seen, in the here and now, the project’s presale is ticking over nicely.
Market Warms Up But Sentiment Stays Neutral
The last 24 hours have been encouraging for crypto, following the week-long downturn but there’s still going to be some chop in the days to come. Don’t start longing everything just because most assets are showing signs of support.
The next major BTC resistance sits around $94K. If it breaks through that range with conviction, which the latest five-day BTC price prediction suggests, the probability of a push to fresh highs increases sharply. ETH, meanwhile, has a cleaner chart. If ETH breaks the $3,200 resistance level, a rapid move toward $3,400 or higher becomes plausible.
This much can be said with confidence: there are tokens in the top 100 right now that will be 20% higher by this time next week – and identifying the runners from the also-rans calls for nothing more than a little analysis. Watch the charts, follow the fundamentals, and add the most promising tokens to your watchlist. Put the work in and the wins will take care of themselves.