Capital is rotating toward projects that address real infrastructure friction while the broader market holds on to its recent recovery. Chainlink has been steadily defending the $11 area after a 23% weekly climb, and Aave has recorded gains of roughly 60% over the past seven days, including a 9% surge today. Bitcoin now trades near $77,000 following one of its best weekly performances in months, supported by solid ETF inflows and a more constructive risk tone.

According to an ICO Bench press release, that combination has created room for selective strength rather than random speculation, with crypto presales still drawing meaningful capital from investors seeking early positions ahead of listings. The release identifies LiquidChain (LIQUID), Aerodrome Finance (AERO), and Bitcoin Hyper (HYPER) as standout projects, because each targets a concrete bottleneck — cross-chain liquidity, Base-native trading depth, and Bitcoin's limited programmability — at a moment when the major tokens are already showing strength.

LiquidChain (LIQUID)

LiquidChain (LIQUID) is positioning itself as a new Layer 3 blockchain designed to connect Bitcoin's capital base, Ethereum's exceptional DeFi depth, and Solana's industry-leading speed within one unified environment. The L3's design aims for native asset representation without traditional wrapping, high-performance virtual-machine execution, and cross-chain messaging that keeps transactions atomic and verifiable. The architecture is also intended to deliver deeper liquidity pools and faster settlement for dApps, meme coins, and prediction markets that are currently fragmented across three separate chains.

LiquidChain is making “which chain? ” a thing of the past. ⟁ pic.twitter.com/ip83gw1P0u — LiquidChain (@getliquidchain) August 23, 2026

The native LIQUID token is live in presale at $0.01493, with almost $950,000 raised so far. The tokenomics plan allocates 35% of LIQUID's 11.8 billion total supply to ongoing development, 32.5% to marketing and media, 15% to business development and community efforts, 10% to rewards, and 7.5% to growth and exchange listings. Staking is available at purchase, with early rewards structured to support network participation at a 1,197% APY.

The release argues that the project's focus on trust-minimized state verification and unified pools aligns with the institutional and retail demand that has pushed Chainlink higher and lifted Aave's weekly performance. Early capital, it notes, is already flowing into infrastructure that reduces friction between the largest ecosystems, and LiquidChain's approach places it directly on that path.

Aerodrome Finance (AERO)

Aerodrome Finance (AERO) is the central liquidity hub and next-generation automated market maker on the Base network. It inherits proven mechanics from Velodrome V2, pairing a liquidity incentive engine with a vote-lock governance model that channels fees and emissions to active participants. Traders receive low-fee swaps with predictable rates; liquidity providers earn emissions by staking deposits; and voters can lock AERO into veAERO NFTs to direct incentives and collect weekly rewards. The protocol launched without VC funding or private token sales and runs fully on-chain with immutable, permissionless code.

AERO currently trades near $0.50 with a market cap of $490 million, and the token has posted weekly gains of 21% with 24-hour volume of around $48 million. The release places that performance within the broader DeFi recovery that has already driven Aave's 60% weekly surge and Chainlink's reclaim of the $11 area. As Base continues to attract activity and capital rotates into productive on-chain venues, the release contends that Aerodrome's position as the network's primary trading and liquidity marketplace gives the token a clear runway for further near-term gains.

Bitcoin Hyper (HYPER)

Bitcoin Hyper (HYPER) is building what it describes as the fastest true Layer 2 network for Bitcoin, bringing high-throughput execution, low-cost transactions, and smart-contract capability to the original chain. Users will deposit BTC through a canonical bridge that verifies block headers and transaction proofs via a Solana Virtual Machine-based relay, which then mints equivalent BTC on the Layer 2 for near-instant transfers, staking, DeFi, and dApps. Transactions will settle back to Bitcoin's Layer 1 with zero-knowledge proofs and periodic state commitments, preserving Bitcoin-grade security while removing fundamental constraints such as BTC's seven-transactions-per-second limit and persistently high fees.

Hyper speed. Maximum blast. pic.twitter.com/R7BUhvLCZW — Bitcoin Hyper (@BTC_Hyper2) August 24, 2026

The HYPER token will power all gas, staking, governance, and ecosystem access on the L2. It is currently available in presale at $0.0136851 per HYPER, with more than $33 million already raised toward a $33.5 million target. Staking offers a 35% APY for participants who buy and stake during the presale.

The project's timing coincides with Bitcoin's recent climb above $77,000 and the same increase in risk appetite that has lifted Chainlink and Aave. By unlocking programmable finance on Bitcoin itself, the release argues, Bitcoin Hyper offers a direct way for capital to remain inside the BTC ecosystem while accessing modern DeFi rails, and it points to the advanced stage of HYPER's presale, along with its staking rate, as the token draws users seeking scalable Bitcoin-native applications.

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