(Bloomberg) — While optimism that US exchange-traded funds will soon be allowed to hold Bitcoin has dominated the headlines from crypto much of this year, the biggest gains have come as of late from memecoins and new-fangled nonfungible tokens.
Most Read from Bloomberg
So—called altcoins such as Dogwifhat – yes, a dog pictured wearing a hat — are the hottest thing since, well the last time similar speculative tokens surged during the last bull market more than two years ago. Many of these tokens are jumping more than 1,000% in a matter of days while still trading at a fraction of a cent.
“Alt-season is back,” said Teong Hng, chief executive at crypto investment firm Satori Research. “The current situation exudes similar vibes like the 1Q of 2021.”
The resurgence has the tokens of the platforms where they trade, such as Solana and Avalanche, also surging in value, making them among the biggest gainers of larger tokens this year. The SOL and AVAX tokens are both up more than 10% on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin is trading at the highest price in more than a week with the Securities and Exchange Commission facing a Jan. 10 deadline to reject or approve ETFs. Bitcoin rose as much as 4.2% to $44,294 on Wednesday. The token, which accounts for about half of crypto’s $1.6 trillion market capitalization, last traded at $45,000 in April 2021.
“The feel-good factor is fueled by imminent spot BTC ETF approval in January and the FTX claims recovery which is now trading above 50 cents to the dollar,” Hng said.
Prices of claims on bankrupt crypto exchange FTX Group have soared as it moves closer to returning billions of dollars to customers and creditors, buoyed by a rally in digital assets.
FTX claims now trade at 57 cents to 73 cents on the dollar, depending on their size, according to data from Cherokee Acquisition, which brokers bankruptcy claims. That’s up from 50 cents to 53 cents in late October.
–With assistance from Sidhartha Shukla and Muyao Shen.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.
