While there has been a significant Bitcoin price hike over the past week, the altcoin market is not benefiting from the same Christmas hype. Of course, some altcoins seem to benefit from the holiday season, among them big names like Ethereum and Binance Coin.
However, the general trend is for a downward motion among the majority of altcoin market representatives.
Why is the altcoin market different?
Bitcoin is, without a doubt, the most popular cryptocurrency out there. A significant factor in this is the fact that it was the first-ever cryptocurrency to surface. Being the first always means getting the most attention.
Even so, altcoins have become an even more significant segment of the cryptocurrency market, as they all serve more specific purposes than Bitcoin. Ethereum, for example, has the purpose of being the primary operational token of all ethereum-based blockchain platforms. Probably this is one of the reasons why its price is going up in the past several days, beaking past the USD 130 mark.
Source: Cryptopolitan
Altcoins vs. Bitcoin
What is surprising at the moment is that altcoin and Bitcoin pairings are falling in value as well, despite the price hike BTC is experiencing.
A good example is the XRP/BTC trade pair, where the value of the pair has fallen by 3.35%. This is unexpected as XRP is gaining strength when paired with USD, with a rise in the value of close to 1%.
These statistics show that while altcoins are gaining popularity, Bitcoin remains the dominant name in the cryptocurrency sector.
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