Bitcoin (BTC) closed 1.1% lower on Thursday, with the supercharged cryptocurrency markets experiencing a bout of profit-taking following a period of exponential growth since mid-October.
Bitcoin remained relatively stable in early-Friday trades however, the with BTC/USDT pair swapping for $43,200 at the time of writing.
Despite the more slugging performance in the latter half of the week, the world’s premier cryptocurrency is in a remarkably strong position compared to the start of the year, having rallied more than 160%.
Ongoing hype for spot-bitcoin exchange-traded funds remains the primary tailwind, though evidence of peak inflation and an end to central bank rate hikes have also spurred a risk-on appetite among investors.
Bitcoin’s bumper year-to-date performance – Source: tradingview.com
While bitcoin cooled off on Thursday, the second-largest cryptocurrency on the market Ethereum (ETH) shot up more than 5% to hit a fresh yearly high of $2,392.
Since then, the ETH/USDT pair has retraced slightly, though still remains in a buoyant position, swapping for $2,358 at the time of writing.
Solana leads the altcoin pack
Layer-2 alternative Solana (SOL) has led the price rises in the altcoin space.
Chief executive Bundeep Rangar at Fineqia International Inc (CSE:FNQ, OTC:FNQQF) pointed out that “the recent altcoins index growth was largely propelled by Solana for the second month in a row”, with exchange-traded products holding SOL increasing 99% in assets under management in November.
“This follows the 172% growth recorded in October. In the last two months, (exchange-traded products) holding SOL as underlying increased by 443% representing, 77% of the altcoins index AUM growth,” stated Rangar.
Solana’s year-to-date growth is over 600%, though it remains significantly below its all-time high after collapsing more than 95% during the 2022 crypto winter.
In the wider altcoin space, Cardano (ADA) and Avalanche (AVAX) have steered ahead of the market by surging more than 20% in past seven days.
Meanwhile, BNB, Ripple (XRP) and Tron (TRX) have failed to keep pace, the three altcoins adding only a few percentage points each.
Global crypto markets capitalisation headed above $1,61 trillion overnight, with bitcoin dominance falling below the 54% mark.