After the holiday season, the cryptocurrency market experienced a surge with several digital assets seeing significant gains of 10% or more, leaving Bitcoin and Ethereum trailing behind.
On December 27th, a diverse group of cryptocurrencies emerged as the top performers, including Ethereum layer-2 solutions, Bitcoin forks, a native layer-1 blockchain token, and a Polkadot parachain. This surge in prices is believed to be a result of traders implementing a rotation strategy, cashing in profits from previous investments and shifting their focus to other altcoins following a series of positive trends in the market during the fourth quarter of 2024.
These top gainers showcased impressive double-digit increases, ranging from 10% to as high as 25%, as reported by CoinMarketCap.
Among the standout performers were the Bitcoin forks Bitcoin SV (BSV) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH), which ranked second and seventh respectively, with gains of 24.7% and 11% driven by heightened trading activity. These forks may have benefited from their association with the original Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain and token, particularly amidst the buzz surrounding spot BTC ETFs. BSV was trading above $62, while BCH surged past $256 following the uptrend.
Additionally, Ethereum’s layer-2 solutions also saw significant gains, with Optimism (OP), Polygon (MATIC), and Arbtrium (ARB) all experiencing notable price increases. OP soared over $4 with a gain of over 23.8%, while MATIC surpassed $1 with an 18.1% increase and ARB rallied 12.1% to reach $1.50.
The native token of the privacy-focused blockchain Mina, MINA, also made remarkable progress, reaching $1.40 after an 18.3% increase and a trading volume of nearly $500 million. Mina utilizes zero-knowledge technology to empower developers in creating dapps and privacy-preserving smart contract platforms.
At the forefront of the top gainers was Astar (ASTR), with a 25% surge in just 24 hours despite a trading volume of $145 million. Astar operates as a parachain within the Polkadot ecosystem, allowing users to deploy smart contracts across various decentralized networks and virtual machines, including the popular Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
The cryptocurrency market on December 27th displayed a dynamic range of top performers, signaling a promising start to the new year for digital asset investors.