Latest on-chain data shows that while Bitcoin (BTC) is displaying signs of weakness, there’s a category of digital assets that is steadily outperforming the leading large-cap coins like BTC and Ether (ETH). Specifically, infrastructure tokens like HYPE and NEXO are holding their own despite the rising bearish sentiment in the wider crypto market.
HYPE and NEXO take the spotlight amid weak market
The top cryptocurrency by market cap, BTC, has declined by almost 23.5 percent on a year-to-date (YTD) basis, currently trading at around $66,900 level. Recent developments surrounding the digital asset, including Strategy selling about $2.5 million worth of BTC have dented the overall institutional confidence in the premier digital asset.
Investors are now looking at infrastructure tokens to capture the upside. One standout performer in this space is Hyperliquid’s HYPE token, which is up 174 percent YTD. Another token that could replicate HYPE’s extraordinary performance is NEXO.
The NEXO spot taker cumulative volume delta (CVD) has shown various signs of a jump in recent days – very similar to the pattern exhibited in early 2024. If the token price follows its trajectory from 2024, then higher prices could be on the horizon.
For the uninitiated, NEXO spot taker CVD measures the difference between aggressive buy orders and aggressive sell orders in NEXO’s spot market over time. When CVD is rising, it indicates stronger buy pressure from market takers, while a falling CVD signals heavier selling pressure.
Infrastructure token cycle ahead?
An important metric to monitor if the market is anticipating an infrastructure token-led cycle ahead, is the BTC dominance chart. The following weekly chart shows that BTC dominance is still significantly elevated from its November 2022 low levels.
That said, it has seen a fall recently, tumbling from around 65.7 percent in June 2025, to 58.6 percent as of June 3, 2026 – a decline of more than 11 percent. Further decline in this metric, potentially to as low as 48 percent could be just the catalyst required to ignite an altcoin rally.
As for why infrastructure tokens specifically, the answer lies in investor focus on protocols with real revenue and fees, stablecoin rails, and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). Infrastructure tokens are also likely to benefit from rising institutional interest.