Smaller cryptocurrencies rise due to Bitcoin
Smaller cryptocurrencies rose in conjunction with Bitcoin's breach of the $ 30,000 barrier, as the Ether coin, linked to the blockchain (Ethereum), Ethereum, surpassing the $ 1,000 barrier on Monday, reaching its highest level since February 2, 2018.
Ether is trading at $ 1,045, up 30 percent in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinDesk, the cryptocurrency news site.
This comes after Bitcoin hit a new all-time high, and briefly crossed the $ 34,000 barrier.
The world's largest cryptocurrency by market value rose to $ 34,452 early Sunday, before retreating to about $ 31,800 on Monday.
Ripple's project-linked XRP coin rose about 7 percent in the last 24 hours on Monday, and traded around 23 cents.
It's still worth less than half of what it was about two weeks ago, when the US Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against Ripple claiming that the company had placed an offer for unregistered securities with XRP.
Meanwhile, Litecoin rose more than 10 percent on Monday to around $ 155, and Litecoin was created by entrepreneur (Charles Lee) Charles Lee with the goal of processing transactions faster than Bitcoin's core blockchain network.
Bitcoin alternatives, sometimes referred to as altcoins in the cryptocurrency industry, often improve in times of Bitcoin's strength.
Several smaller cryptocurrencies gained additional strength after Bitcoin approached the $ 20,000 barrier in 2017, amid growing interest from retail investors in this emerging field.
"The massive pace of gains is impressive, but it carries with it the risk of very sharp corrections when they arrive," said John Hardy, head of FX strategy at Saxo Bank.
Ether was trading at an all-time high above $ 1,400 in mid-January 2018.
The cryptocurrency network recently started a major upgrade called Ethereum 2.0, which is expected to make it faster and more secure.
Rising cryptocurrency investors believe that Ethereum could become the blueprint for the next generation of the decentralized internet, as it supports applications across its network.
The main theme in 2020 is the emergence of decentralized finance, or DeFi, which aims to replicate traditional financial products, such as loans, but without intermediaries such as banks.