Can Stellar beat Bitcoin after rising 75% in 2020

With a 75percent year-to-date rise, are we ready to witness Stellar beat Bitcoin? BTC has proven its resilience during pandemic-fuelled economic uncertainty. Despite the brutal March sell-off, Bitcoin has quickly rebounded to trade somewhat flat for the year-to-date.

🚀 $XLM #Stellar has continued its phenomenal month of April with social dominance and social volume continuing to surge as the crowd figures out whether its run can continue. It’s up another 9.1% the past 24h, and 34.5% the past 30d. Check it yourself! https://t.co/5CUX9q8Cwg pic.twitter.com/hml6QjXm0Q

— Santiment Intelligence (@SantimentData) April 27, 2020

As investors look forward to upcoming Bitcoin halving and more COVID-19 market rout, some relatively unknown cryptocurrencies have taken the limelight from BTC. Stellar Lumens, or XLM, has risen more than 75 percent since the start of 2020. This has put it in the league of top crypto players with many questioning – can Stellar beat Bitcoin in 2020?

Can Stellar beat Bitcoin despite COVID-19 market rout

This year began on a sordid note for cryptocurrencies, and most have lost a significant portion of their value, especially post-March 12 market rout. Bitcoin, too, touched new lows for the year and has since then impressively regained the lost territory. However, not many investors can invest in BTC due to high valuation, forcing them to look for alternatives in the crypto realm.

What surprises the most about XLM’s rise is that it isn’t even counted amongst the top ten cryptocurrencies by any measure. CoinMarketCap data shows how the XLM has doubled from its March lows.

Stellar Market Cap by CoinMarketCap

Bitcoin, too, has shown that it is a valuable asset and worthy of the ‘safe haven’ asset tag. Despite recouping losses, Bitcoin is yet to regain the pre-pandemic momentum that defined its February to January price action. On the other hand, Stellar Lumens has not only bounced back; it has roared. No wonder some are thinking – can Stellar beat Bitcoin?

There’s more to Stellar Lumens than meets the eye

In the past seven days alone, the XLM price has jumped more than 40 percent. The exact reason behind such a drastic move is yet to be ascertained. Furthermore, the phenomenal growth is backed by social volume increase and, subsequently, a surge in social dominance.

Issuer-Enforced Finality is one of Stellar’s most powerful, but least understood, features. Check out @jachlipala‘s blog on what it means and how it combines the certainty of a permissioned network with the interoperability of a permissionless network. https://t.co/1NpQxWCQUu

— Stellar (@StellarOrg) April 28, 2020

As traders figure out further surge potential, XLM is charting new highs. It is too early to predict if Stellar beat Bitcoin or not since data, trade volume, and timeline are insufficient. If not in valuation, a ‘Stellar beat Bitcoin’ event can happen in terms of absolute returns.

Meanwhile, investors are preparing for a whole new post-Coronavirus economy. Looming economic uncertainty and policy failures will make -haven assets a necessity, and it looks like cryptocurrencies are rising to the challenge.

The crypto realm is as susceptible to global macro-economic upheavals as any other asset. However, hidden gems like Stellar Lumens have shown that crypto still holds the potential to power up the post-Coronavirus economy.