StrictScore Score Changes October 2026: 49 Rating Moves

Over the past 30 days, our scoring engine refreshed 210 assets across all six pillars of the STRICT Score framework: Sustainability, Transparency, Revenue, Innovation, Community, and Tokenomics. While 161 assets held their prior rating, 49 moved by at least one point.

Sector dispersion was wide. Stablecoins recorded 10 rating moves (7 upgrades and 3 downgrades, for a net gain of +14 points), while all 6 AI movers and all 3 real-world asset (RWA) movers rose. Decentralized finance split into 4 upgrades and 4 downgrades for a net sector change of -9 points as multi-week security halts and token dilution weighed on older blue chips.

Which tokens led the StrictScore score changes October 2026?

Five assets gained between 4 and 14 points on stronger supply distribution, reserve verification, or peg recovery during the 30-day window. Five others lost between 3 and 7 points following vault exploits, lending market-share contraction, or persistent emission dilution.

Why did KOGE, USAT, and SushiSwap earn higher ratings?

Upgrades in the StrictScore score changes October 2026 cohort clustered around completed token unlock schedules and verifiable reserves. Exhausted vesting removes venture overhang penalties from Tokenomics.

KOGE ($KOGE) posted the largest single jump, rising 14 points from 31 to 45 after its October 2 refresh. Approximately 3.38 million of its 3.44 million maximum supply (over 98%) is already issued on BNB Smart Chain, lifting Tokenomics to 65. Even so, KOGE remains in the Common tier (0-59) with a Risk score of 8/10 because 24-hour trading volume sits near $20,400 against a $214.25 million market cap.

USAT ($USAT) climbed 5 points from 76 to 81 on October 2, crossing from the Rare band (70-79) into the Epic band (80-89) with a Risk score of 2/10. Our USAT fundamental report scores Transparency at 90 and both Sustainability and Tokenomics at 85. Issued under state and federal digital-asset banking charters with monthly CPA attestations and 1:1 cash and short-term U.S. Treasury reserves, USAT aligned directly with the U.S. GENIUS Act framework.

apxUSD ($APXUSD) recovered to $0.99 across $317.42 million in total value locked (TVL) after dipping below 80 cents in June 2026 during preferred-equity collateral volatility, lifting its score from 48 to 53. Meanwhile, SushiSwap ($SUSHI) rose from 48 to 52 on October 12 as circulating supply passed 98% with zero 12-month unlock overhang, while SushiSwap's open-source repository (opens in a new tab) and SushiXSwap route cross-chain swaps across 15 blockchains and $110 million in TVL.

SPX6900 ($SPX) advanced 6 points from 54 to 60, entering the Uncommon tier. Because meme tokens do not generate protocol cash flow, the Revenue pillar is marked not applicable and left out of the weighted average rather than scored as zero. Its 931 million circulating supply (93.1% of the 1.0 billion cap) and 82 Community score drove the upgrade.

What drove the downgrades for THORChain, Compound, and Curve?

Downgrades during the StrictScore score changes October 2026 cycle hit established protocols where operational halts, fee-capture gaps, or supply inflation outweighed strong codebases.

THORChain ($RUNE) fell 7 points from 69 to 62 on October 3, carrying a 9/10 Risk score. While its native cross-chain swap engine still earns 80 on Innovation, a May 15, 2026 exploit drained roughly $10.7 million from an Asgard vault through a GG20 threshold-signature weakness. As documented on THORChain's official portal (opens in a new tab), the network paused swaps and liquidity actions for more than five weeks before restarting on June 23, 2026, pulling Sustainability and Revenue down to 55.

Compound ($COMP) dropped 5 points from 69 to 64 on October 3. Although Compound V3 (opens in a new tab) secures $1.06 billion in isolated multi-chain lending TVL and earns 82 on Transparency, borrow interest flows into protocol reserves without an active fee switch for COMP holders. That gap held Revenue to 48 while larger rivals Aave and Morpho captured lending share.

Curve Finance ($CRV) and crvUSD ($CRVUSD) saw cuts of 3 and 4 points. Curve Finance (opens in a new tab) maintains $1.65 billion in multi-chain TVL and routes 50% of swap fees to veCRV lockers (78 on Revenue, 80 on Innovation), but its 1.57 billion circulating supply represents only 51.8% of the 3.03 billion maximum cap. That 48.2% unminted supply overhang capped Tokenomics at 60 and trimmed its overall score from 77 to 74. Companion stablecoin crvUSD moved from 77 to 73 on third-party LlamaLend integration risks, including a March 2026 sDOLA market manipulation exploit ($239K to $240K in attacker profit) and $700K in lingering October 2025 bad debt.

Decred ($DCR) slipped 4 points from 82 to 78 on October 2, moving from the Epic band to the Rare band. Decred's documentation (opens in a new tab) verifies a capped 21 million supply, an on-chain treasury of roughly 874,152 DCR, and 11.11 million DCR (63.5% of circulating supply) locked in PoS governance tickets. However, 24-hour trading volume near $871,000 against a $261.90 million market cap and regulatory overhang ahead of the July 1, 2027 EU AMLR privacy rules lowered Community to 56.

How to use monthly rating revisions in your research

Tracking StrictScore score changes October 2026 underscores a critical rule for portfolio screening: separate protocol utility from token accrual. Curve and Compound run battle-tested smart contracts with over $1 billion in TVL each, yet one faces 48.2% remaining supply dilution and the other passes zero direct fee revenue to token holders.

Use three concrete thresholds when reviewing our scoring methodology and track record before acting on a rating change:

1. Demand a Tier boundary plus Risk confirmation: Prioritize upgrades that cross into the Rare (70-79) or Epic (80-89) bands with a Risk score at or below 5/10, as USAT (81 score, 2/10 Risk) demonstrated this month.
2. Audit the Tokenomics versus Revenue spread: When a DeFi token scores 75+ on Innovation but under 65 on Tokenomics or Revenue, check whether unminted emissions exceed 25% of max supply or fee switches remain inactive.
3. Wait two full refresh cycles after a security halt: When a protocol like THORChain suffers a vault or bridge exploit (Risk score 8/10 or higher), require at least 90 days of uninterrupted post-restart liquidity before treating a depressed price as a fundamental discount.