Altcoins Stage a Comeback: Ethereum, XRP, and Cardano Lead the Charge

Crypto’s sleeping giants wake up swinging. Ethereum smashes resistance levels while XRP and Cardano ride the wave—proof that even the ’serious’ altcoins can pump when Bitcoin takes a breather.

Market watchers whisper ’altseason’ as ETH flirts with its 2025 high. Meanwhile, ADA’s smart contract upgrades finally get the attention they deserve—better late than never for the ’academic’ blockchain.

Ripple’s legal team pops champagne (quietly) as XRP volume doubles. Traders pile in, hedge funds pretend they saw this coming, and your uncle starts asking about ’that PayPal coin’ again.

Let’s be real—half these projects still run on hopium and GitHub commits. But when the fiat printers start humming, even the skeptics check their portfolios twice.

Beginnings of an "altcoin season"?

The term "altcoin season" refers to a scenario that typically follows an initial Bitcoin rally, during which profits flow into smaller cryptocurrencies. In this phase, altcoins tend to outperform Bitcoin as investors seek higher returns in smaller, less established assets. According to theory, such a phase begins with a significant increase in the second-largest digital asset, ethereum (ETH).

Indeed, the first signs of such a development are beginning to show. On Thursday, Ethereum recorded its largest daily gain since 2021 with a +21.7% increase. Whether this is a short-term countertrend or a sustainable trend reversal remains to be seen. Since 2022, Ethereum has significantly underperformed compared to Bitcoin. Measured by the ETH/BTC ratio, the number two cryptocurrency is still trading near multi-year lows.

Ethereum, Dogecoin, and Avalanche take the lead

ETH led the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization this week with a +35.82% gain. Close behind were Dogecoin DOGE (+31.69%) and Avalanche AVAX (+22.75%). Overall, altcoins ended the week with solid double-digit percentage gains. Retail favorites XRP (+19.02%) and Cardano ADA (+19.44%) slightly lagged behind the competition.

Only three cryptocurrencies failed to break the +10% mark over the past seven days: Bitcoin BTC (+8.62%), BNB (+8.30%), and Tron TRX (+6.54%). However, this trio had also suffered less during the previous correction phase. At the sector level, the most volatile narratives-AI cryptocurrencies, memecoins, and gaming-performed particularly well.

Haftungsausschluss
Alle Angaben in dieser Publikation erfolgen ausschliesslich zu allgemeinen Informationszwecken. Die in dieser Publikation zur Verfügung gestellten Informationen stellen keine Anlageberatung dar und sind auch nicht als solche beabsichtigt. Diese Publikation stellt kein Angebot und keine Empfehlung oder Aufforderung für eine Anlage in ein Finanzinstrument einschliesslich Kryptowährungen und dergleichen dar und ist auch nicht als Angebot, Empfehlung oder Aufforderung beabsichtigt. Die in der Publikation enthaltenen Inhalte stellen die persönliche Meinung der jeweiligen Autoren dar und sind nicht als Entscheidungsgrundlage geeignet oder beabsichtigt.

Risikohinweis
Anlagen und Investitionen, insbesondere in Kryptowährungen, sind grundsätzlich mit Risiko verbunden. Der Totalverlust des eingesetzten Kapitals kann nicht ausgeschlossen werden. Kryptowährungen sind sehr volatil und können daher in kurzer Zeit extremen Kursschwanken ausgesetzt sein.