In fact, several altcoins and meme coins also posted strong gains. Ethereum has seen a more mixed sentiment profile. According to Santiment, discussion around the world’s largest altcoin by market cap has focused less on price action and more on staking-related developments, including staking rewards tied to regulated investment products. While interest in staking has increased, sentiment has remained scattered.
This essentially reflects a lack of a clear directional catalyst for ETH in early 2026. This is true for several major outperformers, as retail sentiment remains uneven and highly reactive to short-term catalysts.
For instance, Ripple (XRP) stood out with a nearly 14% weekly gain. This coincided with an increased attention around XRP’s January escrow unlock, which released 1 billion tokens, with a large portion reportedly re-locked. The scheduled supply event, combined with strong early-year momentum, drove a surge in retail participation. However, optimism rose sharply as traders attempted to buy perceived dips, followed by renewed caution as prices corrected from recent highs.
Meme coins have also re-entered the spotlight. The OG, Dogecoin (DOGE), saw double-digit gains over the week, supported in part by strong performance from the 21Shares 2x Long Dogecoin ETF, which posted gains of roughly 38-39% in the first days of 2026. The ETF’s performance has contributed to fresh interest across the meme coin sector.
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