TL;DR

Bittensor (TAO) led crypto discussions on September 23, driven by an 80% weekly surge, while the lesser-known Hamster (HAM) gained attention after its airdrop controversy. Near Protocol (NEAR) ranked third in trending assets, experiencing a 30% price spike in a week.

What Drives the Interest?

The crypto market started the week on the right foot, with numerous assets witnessing substantial price increases or capturing investors attention for other reasons.

Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and many more leading cryptocurrencies have been at the forefront of gains on a weekly scale, but according to analytics platform Santiment, they did not see the highest increase in discussions on Monday (September 23). The entity estimated that the token topping that ranking is Bittensor (TAO).

The AI-related blockchain protocol has been trending due to the impressive price surge of its native token. TAO is up a whopping 80% on a weekly scale and 100% in the past 14 days, currently trading at around $565 (per CoinGeckos data).

TAO Price, Source: CoinGecko The lesser-known altcoin Hamster (HAM) was placed second. The project caught the eye of industry participants after the team promised to distribute a substantial amount of tokens to its community. However, it turned out that the majority of users were not eligible for the airdrop which has caused a huge frustration.

Near Protocol (NEAR) rounded up the top three list. The price of the token spiked by almost 30% in the last week, which could be one reason for the increased interest. According to Santiment, another element is the excitement surrounding the NEAR community and its activities.

One such effort is the promotional event called the Olympiad campaign. It includes competitions where participants can earn rewards, such as tokens or trips, by completing tasks like promoting the Near Protocol on social media platforms. The campaign is mainly designed to boost community participation, strengthen the user base, and increase engagement within the ecosystem.

Is TAO Ready for Further Gains?

The assets significant uptick was noted by numerous analysts who envisioned this could be the starting point for a more aggressive rally. X user CryptoWizardd predicted that TAO could enter the top 10 crypto club before the end of 2024. Currently, it is placed on the 30th spot with a market capitalization of around $4.1 billion, while the 10th place belongs to Toncoin ($14.1 billion). 

Conversely, Defi_Mochi claimed that everyone is bullish on TAO because no one actually checks its emissions. The crypto enthusiast maintained that the assets circulating supply will substantially increase within the next year, meaning its price could head south (should demand not catch up with the pace).

Everyone is bullish $TAO because no one actually checks its emissions lol.

50% of circulating supply hitting the market within a year.

An additional $2.2B worth of $TAO at current prices will be issued within this H1 (Ends at 16 November 2025) pic.twitter.com/KjXKkQ0rcW

TAOs current circulating supply stands at around 7.3 million tokens, while the maximum it will ever reach is 21 million (just like Bitcoin).