The air was thin and the views increasingly spectacular for many rising altcoins this week. The cryptoverse as a whole has seen a great deal of interest recently from investors previously on the fence. That’s combining favorably with a seemingly green-lights-far-ahead economy and interest rates that might stay elevated longer than expected. Oh, and the estimates-crushing quarter just posted by a top crypto exchange operator.
Plenty of coins and tokens were marching higher across these past few trading days. Popular utility coin Polkadot (CRYPTO: DOT) was up by more than 9% week to date as of early Friday morning, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The same source indicated that Chainlink (CRYPTO: LINK) and Avalanche (CRYPTO: AVAX) had both risen by around 10%, while Lido Staked Ether advanced by 14%.
The new ETFs continue to have a powerful effect
The Polkadots and Chainlinks of this world are, to a significant degree, marching happily behind the Pied Piper of cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. The one digital currency asset many investors own has really been on a tear lately, rising by over 35% in only three weeks to smash through $50,000 per coin.
Much of this is fueled by thick and rapid monetary flows into the recently introduced spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These give investors the nice opportunity to hold an investment based purely on the coin and its value, with almost none of the traditional headaches — remember your digital wallet password or else! — associated with direct crypto investment. It’s hardly a wonder that they’re so popular.
As Bitcoin’s market cap dwarfs even the most famous runners-up, where it goes altcoins usually follow. Honestly, would any of us look back at all if we were worth in excess of $1 trillion? Especially if the No. 2 (Ethereum, by the way) was clocking in at a “mere” $339 billion. Bitcoin is the asset that sets the pace for the rest, and especially with those attractive new securities on the market that’s not likely to change anytime soon.
A very solid base
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention another factor putting the glow on crypto these days. On the back of sharp increases in trading volume late in the year, the aforementioned exchange operator Coinbase Global obliterated the consensus analyst estimates for its fourth quarter.
Some of the company’s growth numbers were shockingly high; revenue rose at a nearly 50% year-over-year clip (to $905 million), while Coinbase flipped to a nine-figure headline net profit of $273 million.
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Eric Volkman has positions in Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Avalanche, Bitcoin, Chainlink, Coinbase Global, and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Why Altcoins Like Polkadot and Chainlink Looked Unstoppable This Week was originally published by The Motley Fool