Top Crypto Gainers Today, August 20 – Lighter, Hyperliquid, Pepe

Highlights:

• Lighter is drawing attention from the inclusion of its founder at the CFTC meeting, strong perpetuals activity, and ongoing token burns.
• Hyperliquid rallied on Trump’s U.S. access comments and Coinbase’s integration of Hyperliquid-powered perpetual futures.
• PEPE has seen heavier trading activity as broader risk appetite and meme coin interest strengthened.

Crypto prices are rallying on Thursday, fueled by the Treasury buyback expansion and the SEC’s latest crypto offering proposal. Over $190 billion has been added to the market capitalization in the last 24 hours, pushing the value to $2.43 trillion. The Fear & Greed Index has also surged from Fear to Neutral, at 61 levels.

The rally also triggered a wave of liquidations, with leveraged traders caught on the wrong side of the move. Total liquidations over the past 24 hours totaled $3 billion, according to CoinGlass data. Amidst this broad market rally, several assets have outperformed in the market by recording robust gains. In the section below, we will take a look at the top crypto gainers today, such as Lighter, Hyperliquid, and Pepe.

Top Crypto Gainers Today

1. Lighter (LIT)

Lighter has emerged as the top crypto gainer today, with a surge of 27%. This latest bullish momentum has broken LIT out of the consolidation period around $2.30, pushing the value above $2.90. Moreover, its trading volume has exploded by over 200% to $95 million.

Lighter’s rally follows fresh attention around founder Vladimir Novakovski’s CFTC Innovation Advisory Committee appearance on August 20. His participation places Lighter beside major finance and crypto figures during a closely watched regulatory discussion.

🚨 $LIT JUST GOT A SEAT AT THE TABLE.

Lighter founder Vladimir Novakovski will participate in the CFTC Innovation Advisory Committee meeting alongside some of the biggest names in finance and crypto.

Does this mean the CFTC endorses Lighter? NO.

But when the future of… pic.twitter.com/6aVVKpz2qC

— Mr. Foresight (@mrforesight64) August 20, 2026

Meanwhile, Mihawk Research reported about $33 billion in perpetual trading volume over 30 days. Lighter generated roughly $2.26 million in fees and burned 15.6 million LIT during that period. Under its July model, protocol fees fund buybacks, while purchased tokens move to an Ethereum burn address. 

2. Hyperliquid (HYPE)

Hyperliquid’s price is up by 25% over the last 24 hours. The altcoin is now up by 28% and 14% on the weekly and monthly charts. Currently, the price is hovering around $71, with a market cap of $18 billion.

HYPE rallied after President Donald Trump said regulators are working on a U.S. pathway for Hyperliquid. During Wednesday’s White House meeting, Trump said CFTC Chair Michael Selig is “working very hard” on the effort. Moreover, Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao noted that Hyperliquid’s U.S. entry could open the door for more decentralized exchanges.

Trump says the CFTC is working to bring Hyperliquid to the US.$HYPE jumped 11% on the news.

The quote, from today's White House crypto meeting: "I understand that Mike [Selig, CFTC Chairman] is also working to bring Hyperliquid into the United States in a fully compliant and… pic.twitter.com/ob37AH59OS

— Simon Taylor (@sytaylor) August 19, 2026

Meanwhile, Coinbase integrated Hyperliquid-powered perpetual futures into its Base App for eligible users. The service offers more than 290 markets and leverage reaching 50x. Together, regulatory progress and wider distribution strengthened demand for HYPE.

3. PEPE

The frog-themed memecoin, PEPE, has joined the list of the top crypto gainers today, with a gain of 22% on the daily chart. The price has rallied from lows of $0.000002576 to $0.000003200. The price is hovering around $0.000003195, with a market cap of $1.30 million.

Pepe climbed with the broader crypto market after macro signals improved risk appetite across digital assets. The U.S. Treasury doubled long-term bond purchases, while President Trump backed the Clarity Act. Bitcoin gained 10.94%, helping total crypto market value rise 9.9%. That market strength pushed traders toward higher-beta meme coins.

Pepe, Zcash, Solana rally as Bitcoin crosses $68K!

It's no surprise that Bitcoin affects other assets' prices.

This time around, $PEPE, $SOL, and $ZEC have experienced a slight push following Bitcoin's latest run in the past hour.

The altcoin market is also booming, with… pic.twitter.com/S9BpJEr0pB

— BSCN (@BSCNews) August 19, 2026

Pepe also drew stronger trading activity during the sector rotation. Volume jumped 464% to $442.62 million as social media interest increased. Traders also discussed Pepe’s possible role on Robinhood Chain. Continued Bitcoin strength above $71,000 could support wider meme coin momentum.