Trending crypto this week: why Starknet, ZKsync, Sonic and Derive are getting searched

Four coins that we have not covered before showed up on CoinGecko's trending list on October 10, 2026: Starknet, ZKsync, Sonic and Derive. Three of them have a dated news event behind the attention. One does not. Here is what happened, what is still unconfirmed, and what to keep in mind before you read too much into a trending badge.

What "trending" actually measures

CoinGecko's website says its trending page ranks coins by how often they were searched on CoinGecko in the past 3 hours. Its API documentation uses a 24-hour search window and returns the top 15 coins by default. We checked the list at 6:27 p.m. EDT on Saturday, October 10, and all four coins below were on it. Other names on the list, such as Celestia, Uniswap and Zcash, are already covered elsewhere on our site.

That means a coin is trending because people are looking it up. It does not mean a coin is safe, useful or a good buy. Price swings, airdrops, social media posts and bad news can all send searches higher. To judge a project on its merits, use our guide on how to evaluate a crypto project, and read up on crypto risk management before acting on anything you see trending.

Starknet (STRK): talk of becoming a layer 1

Starknet is a layer 2 network that bundles transactions and settles them on Ethereum using validity proofs. The biggest news this week came on Thursday, October 8. Starknet posted that it is "actively considering" becoming a layer 1, meaning its own base blockchain, and named 2027 as its target for becoming fully quantum-resistant.

StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson tied the idea to his TOKEN2049 talk in Singapore. His argument, as Bankless reported it, is that a layer 2 depends on Ethereum's security, so a standalone chain could run its own cryptography upgrades without waiting on Ethereum's schedule. Bankless also noted there is no formal proposal or vote yet. On October 10, StarkWare went further and called an independent L1 its "clearest path forward," though Starknet's own account had described the move a day earlier as "a question, not a decision." Treat this as an idea under discussion, not a decision.

Two other items are worth noting. Starknet's v0.14.4 upgrade, which lets apps prove much larger transactions and adjusts some fee weights, went live on mainnet on October 5. Starknet's own documentation also lists a token unlock of up to 127 million STRK for investors and early contributors on the 15th of each month through March 2027, so the next one falls on October 15.

ZKsync (ZK): a distribution deal in Japan

ZKsync is another Ethereum layer 2 built on zero-knowledge proofs. Its developer, Matter Labs, also sells Prividium, a platform that lets banks run their own private ledgers while proving the results on Ethereum.

On October 5, Matter Labs and NexBridge, a Tokyo company that builds infrastructure for regulated yen stablecoins, announced a memorandum of understanding. NexBridge plans to promote Prividium and offer it to Japanese lenders, trust banks and securities houses. The two companies plan to work on stablecoin issuance, tokenized deposits, cross-border settlement and tokenized securities. A follow-up post on October 7 kept the story in front of readers.

Keep the scale in view. An MoU states intent, and the announcement does not name a Japanese bank, a launch date or any committed volume. ZKsync's token page says Prividium's institutional contracts include protocol-fee provisions, but the on-chain systems that would route those fees through ZK are still being built in stages, and it is up to ZKsync governance to decide if and when they are turned on. Whether this deal leads to meaningful token use depends on deployments that have not been announced yet.

Sonic (S): searches without one clear catalyst

Sonic is a newer layer 1 blockchain from the team behind Fantom, and its S token replaced FTM. Sonic is trending on CoinGecko searches without one clear news catalyst this week. We found no major launch, listing or incident dated October 4–10.

A few scheduled items may explain some of the curiosity:

• Airdrop claim deadline. In April, Sonic Labs put the unclaimed S from its first two airdrops at roughly 32.69 million. Holders have until October 15, 2026 to claim; after that, the contract lets anyone trigger a burn of whatever is still locked. A token burn permanently removes tokens from supply.
• Supply audit. In a September 21 letter, CEO Matt Visser pledged that validator rewards would be the only source of newly minted S. He added that Sonic Labs had hired an outside firm to review the token's supply and how it had been reported, and expected a final report in a few weeks. As of October 10 we have not seen the findings published.
• Conference appearances. The same letter listed Sonic events during TOKEN2049 week in Singapore on October 6 and 8.

Sonic has been through a lot of leadership change in the past year, including a June 2026 board overhaul. If you follow the project, the published audit results will be the item worth reading closely.

Derive (DRV): an options exchange rebuilds on Ethereum

Derive runs an on-chain exchange for crypto options and other derivatives. Its V3 relaunch is the clearest driver here. According to Bankless, the migration finished on Tuesday, October 6, and Derive's announcement that trading had resumed went out in the early hours of Thursday, October 8, Eastern time.

V3 retires Derive's own rollup chain. Orders are still matched off-chain for speed, but Derive says margin and settlement are now checked with zero-knowledge proofs verified on Ethereum, and user collateral sits in Ethereum contracts. Borrowing now extends beyond USDC to ETH, WBTC and HYPE, and qualifying traders can margin ETH and BTC positions together in a single account, so exposures that offset each other reduce the collateral they need.

Governance is also in play. On October 2, a Snapshot vote opened on raising the share of protocol fees used for weekly DRV buybacks from 35% to 50%. Derive has since confirmed the change: its October 6 weekly buyback update said buybacks will receive 50% of protocol fees starting October 14, up from 35%.

What to watch next

• October 15: Starknet's monthly investor and contributor unlock, and the claim deadline for Sonic's unclaimed airdrop tokens, which can be burned after that date.
• Starknet's L1 idea: whether it becomes a formal governance proposal with technical details.
• ZKsync in Japan: a named institution, a production deployment or disclosed volume would say more than the MoU does.
• Sonic's supply audit: the published findings, and how Sonic Labs responds.
• Derive's buybacks: the first weekly purchases funded at the new 50% share after October 14, and whether V3 trading activity holds up over the coming weeks.

Trending lists change daily, and a coin can drop off as quickly as it appeared. For background on how supply schedules like these affect a token, see our guide to market cap and tokenomics. Details are as of October 10, 2026.

Published October 10, 2026 by Dave McNaught. Educational content, not financial, legal or tax advice. Spot an error? Request a correction.

About the author

Dave McNaught

Dave McNaught has worked in IT since 1999 and founded All Business Technologies (ABT) in 2003, a Boston-area firm providing Managed IT, Cybersecurity, Managed AI, Web Design and App Development. He publishes The Crypto Guide.

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