As Bitcoin stays above the $30,000 mark, a number of usually quiet altcoins are surging. In the past 24 hours, CoinGecko data shows that NFT marketplace and aggregator Blur's native BLUR token is up more than 11%.
Blur, which launched an airdrop in February, is the the largest recent rival to market leader OpenSea. In the past week, it is up 15%, trading for $0.39.
Other alts experiencing a surge include the new meme coin Pepe, which launched in April and is based on the Pepe the Frog internet meme. It's up modestly by nearly 2% in the past 24 hours, trading for $0.00000162.
But compared to the past week it's a winner—having surged by 74% in the past seven days.
Also up significantly is Flex Coin, the native token of crypto exchange CoinFLEX: it's up over 21% in 24 hours and 62% in the past seven days.
What Is Pepe? The Ethereum Meme Coin Inspired by the Iconic Cartoon Frog
Launched in mid-April 2023, PEPE is an example of a meme coin, though one of a different variety than the oft-popular Dogecoin (DOGE) or Shiba Inu (SHIB) tokens. Meme coins—cryptocurrencies based on internet memes, celebrities, and world events, and usually popularized and promoted by influencers or major figures in the space like Elon Musk—have drawn both investor attention and eye rolls over a perceived lack of seriousness. But the potential for investors to score big with meme coins is real,...
And Arbitrum, a layer-2 rollup on Ethereum, is also doing well in the past day, having jumped nearly 6% in 24 hours. The project in March launched its native governance token ARB.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, was up 1.6% in the past 24 hours at the time of writing.
The world's largest and oldest cryptocurrency broke past $30,000 last week, then $31,000 for the first time in over a year. It since then it's mostly been able to stay above $30,000.
What is Bitcoin?
—Bitcoin started it all. It was the first cryptocurrency, and it launched an industry that now includes thousands. But who invented it, how does it work, and why is it so important? What is Bitcoin? Bitcoin (BTC) is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency. Think of it as a digital token. You can't physically touch or hold Bitcoins, and all Bitcoin transactions are logged on a public, decentralized, immutable ledger. The first official purchase using Bitcoin was for pizza in May 2010. Two pizzas from Papa...
The surge in investment comes after the world's biggest asset manager BlackRock applied to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a spot Bitcoin ETF—something that the regulator is yet to approve. Investors think the Wall Street giant has a better chance than anybody to get the approval stamp on the product.
Bitcoin Cash, Stacks, and Pepe Lead Alts Parade as Bitcoin Breaks Above $29,000
The rest of the market has caught the wave as Bitcoin today broke above $29,000—the first time since May—following a number of high-profile exchange-traded fund (ETF) filings in the States. That means a couple of usually sleepy altcoins are surging. Bitcoin Cash, a Bitcoin spin-off which has struggled to find a market since launching in 2017, is the third-best performing cryptocurrency in the past day: It's up 26% in 24 hours, trading for over $130, according to CoinGecko. Bitcoin, the biggest...
Bitcoin's rally is also in part driven by the launch of a new digital asset exchange, EDX Markets, which is backed by the likes of Fidelity, Charles Schwab, and Citadel Securities.
The exchange offers investors four coins: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash.
All have experienced price surges in the past week, especially Bitcoin Cash—which is up over 118% in the past seven days, trading hands for $232.57.
