Altcoin Momentum Pushes Crypto Market Cap Past $4 Trillion

The cryptocurrency market closed the week on a positive note, with its total market capitalization briefly exceeding $4 trillion. Ether and $LINK were standout performers, rising over 21% and 33% respectively.

Top Performers: $ETH and $LINK

The cryptocurrency market closed the week higher, with its total market capitalization briefly surpassing the $4 trillion mark for the second time in two weeks. The market was driven by altcoins, many of which posted double-digit gains. These gains saw bitcoin ( BTC)’s dominance drop from nearly 62% on Aug. 3 to 57% by Aug. 9.

Ethereum ( $ETH) was one of the top performers of the week, having surged by more than 21% to close at approximately $4,215, a level last seen in December 2021. As reported by Bitcoin.com News, some analysts believe it is poised to surpass its all-time high of $4,878.26, while the most optimistic see it reaching $10,000 before the end of the year.

Meanwhile, chainlink ($LINK) recorded the biggest surge (33.6%) among the top 20 digital assets by market capitalization. After starting the week trading just above $15, $LINK rallied to reach a peak of $21.22 before retreating to $21.14 (12:27 p.m. EST on Aug. 7). This was the first time $LINK’s price had been above $20 since Feb. 5 of this year.

Other notable gainers in the period included dogecoin (DOGE), which went up by more than 24%, while XLM rose by 20.4%, followed by HYPE at 17.3%. The biggest gainer of the week among digital assets tracked by Coingecko was MYX, which rose by an astronomical 1,439%, followed by TROLL with 273.2% and SOON with 159%.

Although many digital assets ended the week higher, a few, including TON, closed 3.2% lower. $XMR was one of the biggest losers of the week, dropping by 7% over seven days. The significant plunge in $XMR’s value coincided with reports that the Monero network is bracing for a potential 51% attack, reportedly being orchestrated by the Qubic network. This looming threat of a coordinated attack, which could compromise the network’s integrity and security, appears to have directly fueled market anxiety and contributed to the digital asset’s sharp decline.

Meanwhile, graphite protocol (GP), VINE and ULTIMA were the biggest losers, dropping by 49.4%, 28.1% and 20.3%, respectively.