Earlier in the week, Altcoins succumbed to selling pressure after the Bitcoin price dropped to lows of $54,000. The markets are now recovering as selected Altcoins are posting double-digit gains while others chased after new all-time highs.
Notable performers in the last 24 hours are Binance Coin (BNB +4.48%), XRP (+5.81%), Filecoin (+11.82%), VeChain (VET +13.52%), PancakeSwap (CAKE +11.58%), Kucoin token (KCS +35.19%), 0X (ZRX +22.03%), WAVES (+28.18%), Basic Attention Token (BAT +24.67%), Tezos (XTZ +8.77%), THORChain (RUNE +15.25%).
A handful of Altcoins such as New Kind of Network (NKN), Binance Coin, PancakeSwap, Thorchain, Basic Attention Token, Tezos, Enjin Coin, WAVES refreshed new all-time highs on April 9. New Kind of Network (NKN) has increased by nearly 1,500% since the beginning of March to a new all-time high of $1.43 on April 9. At a present price of $1.41, NKN has gained 68.10% in the last 24 hours and 612.07% weekly. NKN or New Kind of Network, launched in 2018 is an open-source protocol for public blockchain-based peer-to-peer networks to share network bandwidth and internet connectivity. NKN claims to be the “biggest blockchain network in the world in terms of full consensus nodes” according to the project’s website, with 67,266 nodes running.
In the last few weeks, a large number of Altcoins have broken from their sideways ranges to post double-digit gains while some refreshed new all-time highs and it seems that investors are interpreting the recent trend as a new ‘Altcoin season’.
‘Altcoin season’ or ‘Altseason’ refers to the phenomenon that is part of the cryptocurrency market cycle that causes many Altcoins to skyrocket in their USD and BTC pairs.
Altcoins are surging higher as Bitcoin price consolidates below $60k. From historical data from previous bull markets, the surge in Bitcoin price is often followed by a consolidation phase. During this time, traders tend to turn their attention to Altcoins. Bitcoin gains are shifting into smaller-cap cryptocurrencies, leading to Altcoin breakouts.
It’s hard to argue that the Altcoin market is not a bull market right now with various assets hitting new all-time highs, but this rally shows different characteristics and catalysts than the 2017 bull market. In 2017, investors were encouraged by the attractiveness of high returns on initial coin offerings (ICOs), which promised a lot, but brought very little in the form of a real working “product”.
The current Altcoin season has been spurred by the growing interest in Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and pure speculation of buying and staking nonfungible tokens (NFTs). Exchange tokens such as BNB, Kucoin Token (KCS) have also seen a substantial rise in value. Exchange listings and protocol developments brought a new wave of enthusiasm and trading volume for select projects such as Enjin Coin.
Summarily, analysts say that multi-year highs and even all-time highs for many tokens prove that the Altcoin season is close. Another telltale sign of the upcoming Altcoin season is when obscure and lesser-known projects start to generate insane profits as traders try to jump on the rising price.
Third, as in previous cycles, after Bitcoin (BTC) jumps in price significantly and then enters a period of consolidation, funds begin to migrate to Altcoins with large and small market caps.
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