Weekends Are for Altcoins When It Comes to Crypto Market Gains

As reported on Bloomberg, “Bitcoin’s long been king of the cryptosphere. But alternative coins could be catching up while most investors are taking a breather.

“The so-called altcoins, which have lagged behind Bitcoin’s performance this year, are gaining steam. Ether, the second-largest digital token, is on pace to break a six-month streak of underperformance relative to Bitcoin, data compiled by Bloomberg show. In six of the last 10 weekdays, Ether has bested Bitcoin in terms of daily percentage gains and has outperformed the largest digital currency in eight of the last 12 weekends.

“Other coins are also catching up: XRP — the third-largest — has topped Bitcoin in seven of the last 11 days, the data show. In some corners of the market, that’s revived calls for an alt-season, or a period of time when smaller coins start to run up.

“’Altcoins will continue to catch up,’ Scott Freeman, co-founder and partner of JST Capital, said in an interview at Bloomberg’s New York headquarters. ‘With the realization that these technologies now are being adopted, they’re starting to solve real problems, and it’s coming to fruition at some level where the value proposition of these things is being recognized more broadly.’

“Cryptocurrencies have staged a comeback this year following 2018’s rout, thanks to expectations of greater institutional adoption and Facebook Inc.’s plan to launch a coin. That’s pushed some major financial institutions, including the People’s Bank of China, into looking to mint their own digital currencies.

“But regulatory pushback and a lack of progress on Facebook’s plans have stalled Bitcoin’s rally recently. It’s been hovering around $10,000 since July and is down about 5% over the past month. Meanwhile, Ether and XRP have advanced about 10% and 6%, respectively.”

Continue to read the full story on Bloomberg.

Track the current price of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and altcoins here.