Bitcoin (BTC) has topped $19,000 in a fresh bullish surge, but traders are all about altcoins on Nov. 24.
In what many are heralding as the beginning of “alt season,” large-cap cryptocurrencies are seeing their biggest gains in three years.
XRP, XLM lead new “alt season”
Cointelegraph takes a look at five of the biggest movers, all of which have returned to at least a $1 billion market cap.
XRP
Ripple’s XRP token is gaining traction on social media after a curious lull, thanks to its weekly gains that have topped 110%.
At press time, XRP/USD traded at $0.62, having reached $0.92 before a sudden 30% crash, which came in tandem with Coinbase experiencing a major technical outage.
Nevertheless, the token still remains far from its peak of over $3, or roughly 80% from its all-time high.
By comparison, Bitcoin is now just 3% from its all-time high in December 2017.
Stellar Lumen (XLM)
On the back of XRP’s resurgence, Stellar Lumen (XLM) beat its daily gains to pass $0.18 and deliver over 90% weekly returns.
A classic move for the sister altcoin, which tends to follow XRP in bull markets, Lumen returned to its position from November 2018. Its all-time highs lie at just above $0.60.
Cardano's ADA
Another major success story this week, Cardano's ADA topped 50% weekly gains, much of which occurred prior to Wednesday’s altcoin action.
With a market cap now above $5 billion, Cardano became the eighth-largest cryptocurrency, clipping $0.16.
Against a backdrop of all-time highs above $1, however, much ground remains for investors to see significant returns from previous years.
IOTA (MIOTA)
The fourth-biggest weekly rises belonged to Iota (MIOTA) on Wednesday, whose weekly gains totalled just under 50%.
Currently at 26th on CoinMarketCap’s list of cryptocurrencies, Iota hit $0.36 this week, but the path to new all-time highs remains decidedly uncertain — those lie at close to $5.50.
Dash
A familiar face among altcoin traders, Dash brought up the rear among the week’s risers, with Dash/USD gaining nearly 40% over the past seven days.
At press time, the pair traded at $115, still far from its record of near $1,500.
“Bitcoin dominance. In case you were wondering, this is what alt season looks like,” said popular trader Scott Melker, noting that the index failed to break upward this week.
“Quite reminiscent of 2017. Alts have a brief window to party, then you get back into Bitcoin, it rages. Rinse, repeat,’” he added.
“Our week of alt euphoria was amazing. Now we wait and see.”