Top 5 Cryptos of the Week – February 16, 2026

During the past week, the crypto market experienced renewed upward momentum, with several mid-cap and emerging crypto assets significantly outperforming the broader market.

While major assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin showed relatively moderate price movements, capital rotation into smaller projects created strong percentage gains among select tokens. Increased trading activity, ecosystem announcements, and speculative momentum contributed to sharp rallies across multiple sectors.

Below is this week’s list of the Top 5 Crypto Assets by percentage increase, highlighting the strongest performers and their latest market prices as of February 16, 2026.

#1 Pippin (PIPPIN) – Weekly Gain 165%

Pippin (PIPPIN) became this week’s strongest-performing crypto asset, recording an impressive 165% increase and reaching a market price of $0.7. The project, positioned within the emerging community-driven token segment, experienced rapid growth primarily due to a surge in social media attention, increased trading volume across major exchanges, and short-term speculative inflows from retail traders seeking high-momentum opportunities.

Additional momentum was supported by liquidity expansion and new exchange listings, which significantly improved accessibility for investors. As a result, PIPPIN attracted strong short-term capital inflows, pushing it to the top of this week’s market gainers list.

#2 Stable (STABLE) – Weekly Gain 56%

Stable (STABLE) ranked as the second-best performing crypto asset of the week, posting a 56% price increase and reaching approximately $0.027.

The strong upward movement appears to have been driven by growing market attention toward stability-focused DeFi infrastructure projects, alongside increased liquidity participation within decentralized trading platforms where the token is actively utilized. Market analysts also point to the expansion of staking incentives and newly announced ecosystem integrations as contributing factors behind the recent rally, encouraging both short-term traders and yield-focused participants to accumulate the asset.

Rising trading volumes across multiple exchanges further amplified bullish momentum, helping STABLE maintain consistent upward pressure throughout the week and positioning it among the most actively watched mid-cap crypto assets in the current market cycle.

#3 Humanity Protocol – Weekly Gain 37%

Humanity Protocol secured the third position among this week’s top-performing crypto assets, delivering a 37% weekly increase and reaching a market price of approximately $0.2.

The recent price acceleration is widely associated with rising interest in identity-verification and privacy-focused blockchain solutions, a sector that has been gaining traction as digital identity infrastructure becomes increasingly important for Web3 applications. Market optimism was further strengthened by ongoing ecosystem development updates, strategic partnership discussions, and increased developer engagement around the protocol’s technology stack.

In addition, growing trading activity and improved liquidity conditions across several exchanges supported sustained buying pressure throughout the week. These combined factors helped Humanity Protocol attract both speculative capital and long-term interest, reinforcing its position among the week’s strongest gainers.

#4 Zcash (ZEC) – Weekly Gain 28%

Zcash (ZEC) ranked fourth among this week’s leading crypto asset gainers, recording a 28% increase and reaching a market price of approximately $295. The upward movement was largely supported by renewed investor interest in privacy-focused blockchain technologies, particularly as demand grows for confidential transaction solutions across both institutional and retail segments.

Analysts also attribute part of the rally to improved market sentiment toward legacy privacy coins, which have recently seen higher trading volumes and stronger capital inflows after a prolonged consolidation period. In addition, broader market speculation surrounding potential technology upgrades and ecosystem expansion contributed to increased buying activity, allowing ZEC to maintain steady upward momentum throughout the week and re-enter the spotlight among top-performing large-cap crypto assets.

#5 Morpho (MORPHO) – Weekly Gain 23%

Morpho (MORPHO) closed this week’s top gainer list with a 23% price increase, bringing its market value to approximately $1.38. The recent upward movement is largely linked to growing activity within the decentralized lending sector, where Morpho’s protocol continues to gain adoption due to its efficiency-focused liquidity optimization model.

Increased borrowing and lending volumes across DeFi platforms utilizing the Morpho infrastructure helped strengthen investor confidence and supported sustained market demand for the token. Additionally, ecosystem development updates and expanding integrations with major decentralized finance applications contributed to improved visibility among institutional and advanced DeFi participants.

These combined factors generated steady capital inflows throughout the week, allowing MORPHO to maintain consistent growth and secure a place among the strongest-performing crypto assets.

Summary

This week’s market activity once again demonstrated how rapidly capital can rotate across different segments of the crypto ecosystem, allowing emerging and mid-cap assets to outperform the broader market.

While major crypto assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin maintained relatively stable price movements, strong liquidity inflows into selected projects created significant percentage gains among high-momentum tokens. The leading performers - PIPPIN, STABLE, Humanity Protocol, Zcash, and Morpho - benefited from a combination of ecosystem developments, sector-specific narratives, increased trading volumes, and speculative demand. As market sentiment continues to evolve, investors are closely monitoring similar high-growth opportunities that may emerge in the coming weeks, particularly within DeFi, infrastructure, and privacy-focused blockchain sectors.