BTC has moved out of reach for many traders, but altcoins are where the action is

There’s no question that Bitcoin (BTC) is enjoying a fantastic year, but as the original cryptocurrency’s momentum looks to be stagnating, other, smaller cryptocurrencies are racing ahead. These cryptocurrencies, known as ‘altcoins,’ i.e., alternatives to Bitcoin, don’t quite have the name recognition of Bitcoin. But ignore them at your own peril — many of them present investment opportunities that are potentially superior to Bitcoin, and recent market activity seems to back this up.

Bitcoin’s recent dip down to below $50K pulled its dominance rate down to 49.5%, its lowest level in almost three years. This indicated an increased interest in altcoins and led a large number of traders to declare ‘alt season’ open, with the prediction that altcoins will outperform Bitcoin in the short term.

Conventional wisdom, such as it exists in the relatively new world of crypto trading, points to the tradition that the value of altcoins tends to follow that of Bitcoin: when the original cryptocurrency rises, it tends to lift all boats. Likewise, when BTC sinks, it can drag others down with it. But that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.

The top altcoins to watch

In 2021, a year that represents a real turning point for cryptocurrency, old patterns may no longer apply as altcoin prices appear to be disengaging from Bitcoin. Notably, the 2nd-ranking cryptocurrency by market cap, Ethereum (ETH), hit a new all-time high this week even as Bitcoin’s price sank 20% from its all-time high. This may have had something to do with Visa announcing that they would support cryptocurrency payments on the Ethereum blockchain at the end of March.

Dogecoin (DOGE) also hit a new all-time high (again), once more due to tweets from Elon Musk. The Tesla founder declared himself ‘The Dogefather’ on Wednesday while promoting his upcoming TV appearance on Saturday Night Live on May 8, a date that Dogecoin traders would do well to pencil into their diaries! Musk has promised to “put a literal Dogecoin on the literal moon” via the next rocket launch of his commercial spaceflight company SpaceX.

Chainlink (LINK) has also been performing well following the release of the Chainlink 2.0 white paper, which detailed the decentralised oracle solution’s innovations for smart contract architecture.  LINK hit an all-time high of $44 before a correction to $36 but remains a strong choice for investment.

Other altcoins to watch right now include Qtum (QTUM) and Pancakeswap (CAKE) — innovative tokens that both hit recent all-time high prices but remain affordable to retail investors — as well as established altcoins such as Litecoin (LTC) and Monero (XMR).

Why the altcoin rush?

Every coin has its own function, whether as a digital currency, governance token, smart contract gas, etc. Even ‘meme coins’ such as Dogecoin have their role. One key attraction is their affordability. What is attracting many people to altcoins even during the Bitcoin dip could well be that. Although BTC has dropped from its all-time high, it’s a resilient asset that has bounced back since the dip and is holding at around $55K at the time of writing. That still puts purchasing a whole Bitcoin out of the remit of many retail investors. However, nowadays, more and more people are looking to invest in the crypto market, and altcoins are much more affordable and accessible to new traders who are getting their foot in the door and building up their portfolios.

Join in the altcoin season on StormGain

With altcoin season in full swing, traders should choose a reliable crypto platform that offers a wide range of altcoins for their portfolio and bring them the best returns on their investment. StormGain, the crypto trading platform with low fees and high leverage, has just debuted a new range of altcoins, including all the above-mentioned trending assets and many, many more! Not only do StormGain clients get the best deals on ETH, XMR, LINK, CAKE, DOGE and other altcoins, but you can also benefit from the unique advantages of the StormGain platform, such as interest earning and a built-in Bitcoin cloud miner.

Registering with StormGain is easy. Just sign up via our website or smartphone app, choose a username and password and start trading in a few seconds! Try it now and reap the benefits of altcoin season with the crypto platform that brings you the best perks on the market.