Best Performing Smart-Contract Cryptos This Week: XLM, PRIME, IOTA

Key Takeaways

• Stellar had a successful week, as it recovered by more than a quarter, leading the smart contract category.
• Gaming token Echelon Prime was also up more than 25%, thanks to the news that it was working on its own blockchain.
• IOTA performed well over the course of seven days as work started on its Rebased upgrade. 

Cryptocurrencies linked to smart contracts—computer programs that automatically execute once certain conditions are met—make up the largest single crypto category by market cap.

Let’s take a look at three smart-contract tokens that ended 2024 strongly and are already making a mark in 2025. 

Stellar (XLM): Up 27.6%

Stellar’s XLM coin was one of the best-performing smart-contract cryptocurrencies, last week. Launched in 2014 by Jed McCaleb and Joyce Kim, it is one of the oldest cryptocurrencies still making waves on the market.

On Dec. 27, 2024, XLM was worth $0.353. Over the following week, however, it rose.

The coin was in recovery mode after having dropped following a significant November rally and, on Jan. 3, Stellar was trading at about $0.4505, a weekly upturn of more than 25%. Not only that, but it was back in the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

Echelon Prime (PRIME): Up 25.2%

Echelon Prime is a platform designed to support a series of Web3 games, most notably the Parallel sci-fi trading card game. First released in March 2023, the system’s PRIME token surged in late 2024, thanks to the announcement that it was setting up its own blockchain .

On Dec. 27, 2024, PRIME was worth about $11.26. By Jan. 3, the Ethereum-based token had risen by more than 25% to reach $14.10.

IOTA: Up 17.9%

IOTA is one of the largest cryptocurrencies associated with the Internet of Things (IoT). This category covers devices that aren’t traditional computers or smartphones but still have some kind of internet connectivity.

IOTA had a pretty strong week, as work started on its Rebased update, which the IOTA community approved  on Dec. 19.

Once Rebased is completed, it will make the platform fully decentralized and cheaper and give holders the chance to receive IOTA as staking rewards. On Dec. 27, IOTA was worth $0.2951.

By Jan. 3, though, it had climbed almost 18% to stand at $0.348.