On a day where cryptocurrency markets were roiled by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and most major altcoins posted declines of north of 10% in the past 24 hours, traders flocked to the on-chain shitcoin markets to find top crypto gainers today.

Israel is braced for a counterattack from Iran after they recently took out IRGC military leaders in Syria. Reports emerged on Friday that the US is moving warships to ready itself to defend Israel.

🚨🇺🇸🇮🇱 JUST IN: The United States has pledged to DEFEND ISRAEL if Iran attacks. Iran has stated this will make the US a target of Iran. pic.twitter.com/Esn0bPXWFX

— Jackson Hinkle 🇺🇸 (@jacksonhinklle) April 12, 2024

Tensions have been high in the Middle East since the October 7^th Hamas attack against Israel, and Israel’s devastating counterattack into Gaza.

Bitcoin was a relative safe haven versus most of the market, dropping just 4.5% to $67,000. That leaves it still only about 9% down from its recent record highs near $74,000.

With Bitcoin increasingly viewed as a form of digital gold, it could even rally if Iran/Israel/US tensions rise further.

But with the halving around the corner and Fed rate cut bets fading, investors may remain reluctant to pile in.

They may instead be eyeing up opportunities in the highly illiquid and volatile on-chain shitcoin markets.

On-chain markets refer to the market for tokens that are issued directly onto blockchains like Ethereum and Solana. The name “shitcoin” refer to the fact that most of these tokens are scams, pump-and-dumps, or lacking in real utility.

But on-chain shitcoin markets are also one of the only places where traders are able to secure gains of 10x or more in under 24 hours.

Here are the top crypto gainers today on Ethereum that traders will be watching, as per DEXTools.

As a reminder, potential investors should always do their own research into tokens and never risk more than they can afford to lose.

Top Crypto Gainers Today

42 times 10 (420)

A just-launched meme coin called 42 times 10 (420) is up 1,750% on Friday, as per DEXTools.

Despite these big gains, the token’s market cap was last around $150,000, with only around $40,000 in liquidity.

The token also still has less than 100 holders and only saw $28,000 in trading volumes over the past 24 hours.

As per DEXTools’ smart contract audit, the token has three concerning aspects to its smart contract. Traders should be very careful with this highly illiquid shitcoin.

WojakPepe (WOPE)

A new hybrid version of the Pepe and Wojak meme coins called WojakPepe (WOPE) is up 550% on Friday.

That’s as per DEXTools, who puts the token’s market cap at $1 million and liquidity at $100,000.

The token last had just over 550 holders and 24 hour trading volumes of $6,2 million. Not bad for a first day of trade.

That being said, the token has two concerning aspects to its smart contract, as per DEXTools.

The utility of the token also isn’t clear. So traders should be very cautious with this shitcoin.

pepcoin (PEP)

A new meme coin claimed to be the “retard cousin ov Pepe” called pepcoin (PEP) is up 1,150% on Friday.

But, as per DEXTools, it market cap was last only around $60,000 with $25,000 in liquidity and 220 holders.

That means a very small volume of sales could trigger a huge price crash. Traders should be very cautious of such an illiquid coin.

A Better Way to Make Quick Gains

Shitcoins offer the prospect of quick gains, but are very risky. That’s not just due to their illiquidity and volatility. Its also due to the fact that most are scams of some sort, or pump-and-dump schemes.

A potentially much better way to make quick exponential gains in crypto is to invest in crypto presales.

Up-and-coming web3 projects often sell their native token at a big discount to early investors to fund development.

If crypto investors can identify project’s with a great use-case, vision and competent team, they may be able to flip their presale tokens for a big premium at a later date, assuming the project gains traction.

But with so many presales vying for investor funds, it can be difficult to know where to look first.

Luckily, analysts at Cryptonews spend a lot of time combing the presale market for promising projects.

Here are their 18 favorite presales right now.

See the 18 Crypto Presales

Alternatively, check out this video from Cryptonews’ Crypto Arjay who discusses some of the best presales right now.