Altcoins Explode as Bitcoin Hits $21K, Compound (COMP), Helium (HNT) Rally Over 35%

Alternative cryptocurrencies, otherwise known as “altcoins,” exploded in price action as Bitcoin touched the $21,000 mark in a weekend run. This follows after sentiment improved due to encouraging macroeconomic data.

The DeFi token Compound (COMP) remains a top gainer in the DeFi sector as its price shot up more than 35%. While the reason for the massive spike remains unknown, a scroll through the official Twitter page of Compound Labs indicates an ongoing vote process to implement Proposal 143, which seeks to upgrade the price feed implementation of Compound v2 to use Uniswap v3 data for the UAV, replacing Uniswap v2 data.

Helium’s HNT token was 27% higher at $2.87 at press time. The massive uptick follows Solana’s massive 50% spike as the crypto markets rallied. Helium, a network of hotspots, announced it was moving to the Solana blockchain in the first quarter of 2023.

Metaverse tokens have also chalked up significant gains in the last 24 hours. At the time of writing, Decentraland’s MANA token is up 34% in the last 24 hours. Sandbox and Axie Infinity are up almost 16% in the last 24 hours.

Bitcoin touches $21K

The key $21,000 price point was reached as the price of Bitcoin increased by a staggering 11%. At the time of publication, BTC was trading at $20,441 as some of the gains slowed.

On Saturday, the digital asset markets had a significant and widespread recovery driven by the leading cryptocurrencies Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum, which are currently up 8% as of this writing.

The global market cap briefly crossed back over the important $1 trillion threshold before returning to around $961 billion at press time.