With October marked by a more than 15% drop in the price of Bitcoin, few cryptocurrencies are performing well. However, a few diehard altcoins are doing well: find out which ones and why they are outperforming the market as a whole.
An Uptober that is drifting away
While the price of Bitcoin has recorded a negative performance of -15% over the last 30 days, Ether, for its part, has experienced a more marked decline of around -23%.
Few altcoins have managed to perform well in such conditions. And yet, one narrative in particular has attracted the interest of investors during October: privacy and associated tokens.
Among the five cryptocurrencies with the best performance in October are M, WBT, TAO, ZEC, and DASH:
5 – MemeCore (M): +17%
Memecore is a layer 1 blockchain dedicated to memecoins, launched in early September. Its native token, M, is used for transaction fees, governance, etc. Over the last 30 days, the price of the M token has risen by nearly 17%. However, caution is advised: its valuation of over $3.9 billion seems largely disconnected from fundamentals that are still uncertain.
4 – WhiteBIT Coin (WBT): +18%
WBT is the native cryptocurrency of the WhiteBIT exchange platform, launched in 2018. WBT holders enjoy several benefits on the platform: reduced trading fees, free daily withdrawals, staking bonuses, etc.
The rise in the price of WBT crypto could be fueled by weekly buybacks, which are used to burn the token. According to Whitebit’s official website, 469,509 tokens were purchased and then burned during the month of October, representing approximately $20 million at the time the purchases were made.
Buyback and burn mechanisms are generally very popular with crypto investors because they are perceived as a redistribution of value to token holders, particularly as these mechanisms can create buying pressure on an asset by reducing the supply available on the markets.
Over the past 30 days, the price of WBT has risen by more than 18%, even reaching a new ATH of $55.3 per unit.
3 – Bittensor (TAO): +33.6%
Bittensor is a project that combines artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain to radically transform knowledge exchange through a decentralized structure. It is based on subnets, autonomous mini-networks specializing in AI tasks where miners and validators are rewarded according to their performance in TAO, the project’s official cryptocurrency.
Over the last 30 days, the price of TAO has increased by 33.6%.
Among the catalysts that contributed to the token’s appreciation was the launch of an ETP (regulated financial product) via Deustche Digital Assets on the Swiss stock exchange at the end of October.
This event helps to give the project a certain legitimacy, particularly from an institutional point of view. As we also mentioned in our columns, Bittensor is about to experience its first halving, around December 10.
This milestone will be decisive for the future of the project, as daily emissions are expected to drop from 7,200 to 3,600 TAO. Beyond the potential impact on the price of TAO, there are many questions about the future rewards for network contributors, which will be reduced by half.
It is important to remember that while the price of TAO remains at nearly -44% of its ATH, its total valuation is only -26% due to the continuous issuance of the token. In other words, the circulating supply has increased, keeping the overall valuation close to its peak despite a lower unit price.
2 – Zcash (ZEC): +223%
ZEC is the cryptocurrency of the Zcash blockchain, a fork of the Bitcoin blockchain but with a focus on privacy thanks to ZK-SNARK technology.
Over the past 30 days, the price of ZEC has jumped 223%, driven in particular by renewed interest in privacy, reignited by debates on the Chat Control project.
As a general rule, when controversies arise around privacy issues, privacy-related cryptocurrencies tend to appreciate. With prices driving narratives, more and more analysts and influencers on social media have been promoting ZEC, sometimes with expectations that defy belief.
I promise if you have a soul and a good faith belief, crypto is genuinely easier to trade.
You should own your money and no government, bank, or any other asshole should have a say otherwise.
That is why Bitcoin is going to win ($10mil/btc +) and zec might win ($500k/zec +)
— Tulip King (bull arc) 🌷 (@0xTulipKing) November 1, 2025
In this post, an analyst at Messari draws a parallel between the potential valuations of BTC and ZEC: “This is why Bitcoin will be worth $10 million per unit and ZEC could be worth more than $500,000 per unit.”
It should be noted, however, that this theory is highly unlikely, as such a valuation for ZEC would be equivalent to $10.5 trillion, roughly the GDP of Japan or the combined GDP of Germany and the United Kingdom.
1 – Dash: +325%
DASH is following in the footsteps of ZEC, benefiting from increased media exposure since the explosion of the privacy coin narrative.
Over the last 30 days, the price of DASH has skyrocketed, posting a +325% gain over this period.
It is highly likely that DASH has appreciated recently due to the performance of ZEC. Indeed, some traders must be betting on the fact that DASH is a kind of beta play. In other words, traders/investors are falling back on an asset with converging characteristics.
However, it should be remembered that this kind of hype is usually short-lived and that corrections are often violent when the narrative loses momentum.
Honorable mentions
Among the cryptocurrencies not included in the previous ranking due to their valuation below the Top 100, we can mention:
The H token from the Humanity project with a performance of 240% over the last 30 days.
The COAI token from the ChainOpera AI project, with a performance of 225% over the last 30 days.
The ATONE token from the Cosmos ecosystem, with a performance of 203% over the last 30 days.
The ZEN token from the Horizen project, also a beta play from ZEC, with a performance of 104% over the last 30 days.
The VIRTUAL token with a performance of 26% over the last 30 days. The performance of the Virtuals Protocol token was notably driven by the narrative surrounding tokens that meet the x402 standard. The ZORA token from the eponymous SocialFi application, which has appreciated by 22% over the last 30 days.
