Geopolitical tensions crushed the more popular cryptocurrencies last week, but a few defiant underdogs bucked the trend.

Siren Surges Over 300%

BNB Chain (CRYPTO: BNB)-based Siren exploded 335% over the week, fueled by its listing on exchanges such as Binance Futures and Hashkey.

The memecoin, which draws inspiration from the legendary sirens of Greek mythology, hit an all-time high of $3.83 on Sunday, and its market capitalization ballooned from $456 million to $2.2 billion over the week.

MemeCore came in at distant second, rallying 20% over the week. The token, underpinning a Layer-1 blockchain, generated community buzz and expected liquidity incentives, driving speculative buying.

Cryptocurrency24-Hour Gains +/-Price (Recorded at 3:38 a.m. ET)
siren (SIREN)+335.17%$2.78
MemeCore (M)
               		+20.79%$1.78
HTX (CRYPTO: HTX)                         +3.70%$0.000001695
Tron (CRYPTO: TRX)                         +3.69%$0.3068
Wrapped Tron (CRYPTO: WTRX)             +3.44%$0.3071

The Rising ‘Sun’

Other winners included those connected to cryptocurrency billionaire Justin Sun.

HTX, the native token of the Sun-backed crypto exchange, climbed 3.70%, while Tron—the cryptocurrency project he founded—gained over 3.60%.

Tron rose after Tron Inc.’s (NASDAQ:TRON) accumulation of 161,222 TRX tokens, taking its total treasury holdings to more than $687 million.

Giants Struggle

Blue-chip coins offered little excitement. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) and Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) slid following President Donald Trump‘s ultimatum to Iran over the Strait of Hormuz.

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization contracted from $2.50 trillion to $2.35 trillion over the week.

Photo courtesy: Memory Stockphoto / Shutterstock