Crypto Market Sees Major Gains: Zilliqa Leads with 41% Surge

• ​Zilliqa (ZIL) leads with a 41.1% surge, highlighting strong market interest in emerging tokens.
• Parcel (PRCL) and Hooked Protocol (HOOK) show significant growth, signaling DeFi sector optimism.
• AI and DeFi tokens like Ronin (RON) and ARC reflect increasing investor confidence in blockchain.

On July 3, 2025, several lesser-known cryptocurrencies experienced price increases, with Zilliqa (ZIL) taking the lead. According to Phoenix Group’s daily market update , a variety of altcoins, spanning decentralized finance (DeFi) and AI-driven projects, showed major growth. ZIL stood out with a 41.1% price surge, signaling a growing investor desire for emerging tokens in the market.

Zilliqa, a high-performance blockchain known for its scalability and efficient transactions, emerged as the top daily gainer. The token’s price surged by 41.1%, reaching $0.01. Its market capitalization increased to approximately $286.8 million, signaling the strong market interest in this developing blockchain platform.

Parcel (PRCL) and Hooked Protocol (HOOK) Follow

Closely following Zilliqa’s performance were Parcel (PRCL) and Hooked Protocol (HOOK). Parcel saw a 28.7% increase, with its price rising to $0.08 and a market cap of $39.4 million. This boost in value shows a positive shift in market sentiment toward emerging DeFi projects.

Similarly, Hooked Protocol gained 27.4%, bringing its price to $0.50. Its market capitalization reached $16.7 million. These two tokens’ strong performances point to a growing interest in decentralized applications and blockchain technology that focuses on practical use cases.

AI and DeFi Tokens Show Solid Growth

Beyond the DeFi projects, other gainers were Ronin (RON), AI Rig Complex (ARC), and Arcana (XAR), or those that recorded gains daily. Ronin shot up by 20.5% which is indicative of investor interest into the token. ARC grew by $20.3 and XAR by $18.5. These tokens are linked to developments around AI and DeFi technologies, which still keep retail and institutional investors interested.

The upwards performance of these tokens is indicative of the general rise in investor confidence in upcoming blockchain projects. Due to its reputation and popularity, DeFi and AI-related asset tokens show improvement in both price directions, which is an indicator that the further evolution of these tokens may be favorable. The market remains unstable and widespread volatility offers advantages in short term profits. Nevertheless, these profits also indicate how dynamic the crypto market can be, with smaller, under-the-radar projects producing high returns.