Costs of some mega-cap altcoins, together with Optimism (OP) and Kaspa (KAS), are on the verge of latest all-time highs due to heightened institutional curiosity within the cryptocurrency sector.
Because of billions of {dollars} flowing into Bitcoin ETFs, crypto native buyers seem to reinvest earnings in altcoins.
After weeks of a relentless rally between Jan. 23 and Feb. 16, the worldwide altcoin sector has grown by $108 billion as some mega-cap altcoins are near hitting new all-time highs this month.
Kaspa (KAS) worth: 7% away from all-time excessive
Kaspa (KAS) is a Layer-1 proof-of-work (PoW) cryptocurrency at the moment ranked thirty first on the worldwide crypto charts with a market capitalization of $3.2 billion. By its GHOSTDAG protocol, Kaspa combines the safety and decentralization of a PoW structure with excessive block charges and minimal affirmation occasions of a Proof of Stake (PoS) community.
KAS has scored vital worth features within the final 3-weeks, outperforming not simply the outstanding PoW cash, together with Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Money (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC), but additionally the general altcoin market.
Between Jan. 23 and Feb. 16, KAS’s worth elevated by 56%, including $1.1 billion to its market capitalization. By scoring one other 7% achieve, KAS will surpass its earlier international peak at $0.16, recorded on Nov. 19.
In comparison with the $108 billion progress in Complete Market Cap, excluding BTC and ETH, KAS has attracted about 1% of all capital inflows into the altcoin market within the final 3 weeks.
Why is Kaspa’s (KAS) worth rising?
The upcoming Bitcoin halving is one dominant narrative behind Kaspa’s current progress spurt. Business specialists anticipate over 20% of Bitcoin miners will go offline when block rewards are slashed from 6.25 BTC to three.13 BTC in April 2024.
Many miners might channel their assets in the direction of various Proof of Work networks, like Kaspa, that provide extra engaging returns.
Therefore, buyers seem like piling funds within the KAS coin to front-run the potential upside from the fallout of the upcoming Bitcoin halving. This might successfully ship KAS worth racing in the direction of a brand new all-time excessive within the coming weeks.
Optimism (OP) worth: 9% away from all-time excessive
Optimism (OP) is a outstanding layer-two blockchain constructed on Ethereum. Optimism advantages from the safety of the Ethereum mainnet and offers enhanced scalability utilizing its progressive, optimistic rollups.
Like different Layer-2 scaling options, the OP permits cryptocurrency buyers to hold out quicker and more cost effective defi transactions with out interacting primarily with the Ethereum mainnet.
OP token has drawn buyers’ consideration amid elevated demand for defi transactions triggered by the crypto market rally.
Between Jan. 23 and Feb. 16, Optimism’s worth beat the market common, gaining 53% and including about $1 billion in market capitalization. On Feb. 15, the OP worth peaked at simply 10%, away from hitting its all-time excessive of $4.30, recorded on Jan. 12.
Why is Optimism’s (OP) worth going up?
The continued OP worth rally seems to be pushed largely by industry-wide demand for defi providers.
Whereas Optimistic roll-ups have been launched in 2019, the OP governance token was solely launched in June 2022. However regardless of being comparatively new in the marketplace in comparison with Polygon (MATIC), Optimism has shortly grown to change into certainly one of Ethereum’s most in-demand scaling options over the previous 12 months.
Moreover, the chart reveals that Optimsm briefly surpassed Polygon community when its TVL peaked at $927.6 million on Jan. 11, the identical day OP worth hit an all-time excessive.
This shut correlation between OP worth and TVL progress traits emphasizes that the basic demand for defi options is the principle catalyst behind the continuing rally.
Optimism is residence to over 100 protocols, the most important being Synthetix (SNX), a derivatives alternate, Uniswap (UNI), a DEX, and Velodrome (VELO), an AMM.
With demand for these essential defi providers nonetheless on the rise, OP appears to be like set to shut the ten% hole and reclaim a brand new all-time excessive within the coming weeks.