The price of Bitcoin (BTC-USD) has just broken above $50,000, its highest level in more than two years. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization had declined 20% to $39,000 after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a number of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on Jan. 10 of this year, sparking fears that a prolonged slump could be underway.
But now, BTC has come all the way back and is trading above the $49,000 level it was at just before the ETFs were approved. The current rally brings Bitcoin’s gain over the last 12 months to 130%. As impressive as that is, Bitcoin still needs to rise another 36% to reach its all-time high of $68,000 that it hit in November 2021.
Bulls say that the upcoming halving event, which is when the rewards miners earn for new Bitcoin is cut by 50%, could be just the catalyst to send BTC to a fresh peak. So, which other cryptocurrencies are also rallying right now? Which digital token could be the next Bitcoin? Here are three cryptos that investors shouldn’t ignore.
Solana (SOL)
The price of cryptocurrency Solana (SOL-USD) remains on fire. In the last 12 months, the price of SOL has gained 455%. That’s much greater than the 130% increase seen in Bitcoin during the same time period. While Solana’s price pulled back a bit to start the year, it has since rebounded and is now closing in on the high it reached on Christmas Day last year. With momentum behind it, SOL looks like it can continue to rally with the broader crypto market.
Solana benefits from the fact that it has many of the same characteristics as Ethereum (ETH-USD). Specifically, Solana helps to facilitate decentralized finance (DeFi) transactions, though at a faster rate than Ethereum. Solana can validate and process 50,000 transactions per second compared to just 13 transactions a second for Ethereum. This has led some crypto bulls to claim that SOL is superior to Ethereum and that it is among the very best digital assets investors can own.
Ethereum (ETH)
Debate with Solana aside, Ethereum remains the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, and many analysts see the digital token outperforming Bitcoin this year. British bank Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) expects that spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) will be approved in the U.S. in May of this year, and that, in the lead-up, the price of ETH will rise 52% from current levels and reach $4,000. Ethereum’s price is already up 12% year-to-date, bringing its 12 month gain to 74%.
Standard Chartered sees the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approving Ethereum ETFs on May 23, which is the deadline for the Wall Street regulator to rule on spot ETF applications it has received from asset managers VanEck and Ark/21 Shares. In a note to clients, Standard Chartered said there is “no fundamental reason” for the SEC to treat Ethereum ETFs any differently than the Bitcoin ETFs it approved on Jan. 10. The bank, and others, expect ETF approvals to be a huge catalyst for ETH this year.
XRP (XRP)
Panic broke out recently on reports that $112 million of cryptocurrency XRP (XRP-USD) was stolen from the digital wallet of Ripple Chairman Chris Larsen. XRP is the sixth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, and it is the native token of the XRP Ledger, a blockchain that specializes in payments and DeFi. Ripple Labs, the company that built the network and supports XRP, runs cross-border payment platforms on blockchain networks that are focused on financial institutions.
Larsen went on social media to clarify that while there had been a breach to his personal XRP accounts, the Ripple network itself had not been hacked. According to reports, 213 million XRP tokens were stolen from Larsen’s personal crypto wallet and have since been laundered through multiple exchanges. Larsen said he is working with law enforcement to identify the hacker who stole his XRP tokens. The theft is largely responsible for XRP’s price being down 15% year-to-date.
Investors and crypto bulls should view the drop in XRP as a buying opportunity. Despite the current decline, XRP’s price remains up 42% over the last 12 months. And many analysts consider it a top DeFi token to own for the long-term.
On the date of publication, Joel Baglole did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
