Yesterday, the eyes of the world were turned to the decision to be made by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding spot Bitcoin ETFs. During the hours of heightened anticipation, comments suggesting that the news about the ETF had already been priced in may have been proven right. Following the approval, BTC continued on a horizontal trajectory, while altcoins appeared to take flight. On the evening of January 10, the SEC approved all Bitcoin ETF applications, including those from BlackRock and Fidelity, after a painful process.
Altcoins on the Rise
Following the approval, Bitcoin prices, which everyone expected to surge incredibly, rose to $47,600 before experiencing any pullback. In the last 24 hours, BTC gained only 1.3% in value.
Even more interesting was the reaction of BTC to the fake news published the previous day. Following the hacking of the SEC’s social media account the previous day, BTC prices experienced clearer rises with the ETF news that was released.
Analysts also made statements on the subject. They indicated that the price movement that occurred the previous day had already had its price effect on Bitcoin and that the news about the ETF had turned into a sell news in light of these events. Indeed, it seems to be the case.
However, the SEC, with many crypto assets showing double-digit increases today, seems to have ignited what many call the ‘altcoin season.’ ‘Altcoin Sherpa’ commented, “I personally did not expect altcoins to behave this way.”
An important figure in the industry, Dan Gambardello, pointed out a different aspect, commenting on altcoins that showed a stronger stance compared to Bitcoin after the ETF approval, saying “Welcome to crypto.”
Meanwhile, crypto trader Scott Melker said:
Gary Gensler has rewarded us with an altseason. Is there a better outcome than finally approving a Bitcoin Spot ETF and instead seeing altcoins rise?
The total crypto market value reached its highest level in 21 months at $1.85 trillion with a 3.8% increase during the day. The path was paved not by BTC but by altcoins.
More importantly, considering the altcoins in the top twenty by market value, most were performing better than Bitcoin at the time of writing.
Today’s Top Performing Altcoins
Ethereum, which drew significant reactions from investors during the recent market surge, was one of the day’s biggest winners, rising by 10% to its highest price since May 2022 at $2,603.
The rise became widespread among altcoins. Cardano (ADA) led the market surge, reaching $0.573 with a 12% increase during the day. On the other hand, Avalanche (AVAX), closely followed by Turkish investors, rose to $38.65 with a similar increase, while Polkadot (DOT) saw a 14.6% increase to $8.02 at the time of writing.
Chainlink (LINK) found buyers at $14.91 with a 9.6% increase, while Polygon (MATIC), one of the leading altcoins in the market, reached $0.906 with a 12% increase.
Among the day’s most notable altcoins are Uniswap (UNI), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Optimism (OP), Near Protocol (NEAR), Filecoin (FIL), Arbitrum (ARB), and Immutable (IMX).
