The prices of some large-cap altcoins, including Optimism (OP) and Kaspa (KAS), are poised to hit new all-time highs thanks to increased institutional interest in the cryptocurrency sector.
Thanks to billions of dollars invested in Bitcoin ETFs, crypto-native investors appear to be reinvesting their profits into altcoins.
After weeks of relentless rallying between January 23 and February 16, the global altcoin sector grew by $108 billion, with some large-cap altcoins poised to hit new all-time highs this month.
Kaspa (KAS) price: 7% away from all-time high
Kaspa (KAS) is a layer 1 proof-of-work (PoW) cryptocurrency currently ranked 31st in global crypto rankings with a market cap of $3.2 billion. Through its GHOSTDAG protocol, Kaspa combines the security and decentralization of a PoW architecture with the high block rates and minimal confirmation times of a Proof of Stake (PoS) network.
KAS has seen significant price gains over the past 3 weeks, outperforming not only major PoW coins including Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (CEPRB), and Litecoin (SLD), but also the overall altcoin market.
Between January 23 and February 16, KAS's price increased by 56%, adding $1.1 billion to its market capitalization. By achieving an additional 7% gain, KAS will surpass its previous global high of $0.16, recorded on November 19.
Compared to the $108 billion growth in total market capitalization, excluding BTC and ETHKAS has attracted approximately 1% of all capital inflows into the altcoin market over the past 3 weeks.
Why is Kaspa (KAS) price increasing?
Bitcoinâs upcoming halving is one of the dominant narratives behind Kaspaâs recent growth spurt. Industry experts expect more than 20% of Bitcoin miners to go offline when block rewards drop from 6.25 BTC to 3.13 BTC in April 2024.
Many miners could channel their resources to alternative proof-of-work networks, like Kaspa, which offer more attractive returns.
Therefore, investors appear to be accumulating funds in KAS coin to anticipate the upside potential fallout from the upcoming Bitcoin halving. This could actually propel KAS price to a new all-time high in the coming weeks.
Optimism Price (OP): 9% away from all-time high
Optimism (OP) is a major layer two blockchain built on Ethereum. Optimism benefits from the security of the Ethereum mainnet and offers enhanced scalability through its innovative and optimistic rollups.
Like other layer 2 scaling solutions, OP allows cryptocurrency investors to make faster and more profitable defi trades without primarily interacting with the Ethereum mainnet.
The OP token has attracted investor attention amid increased demand for defi trades triggered by the crypto market rally.
Between January 23 and February 16, Optimism's price outperformed the market average, gaining 53% and adding approximately $1 billion to the market capitalization. On February 15, the price of PO peaked at just 10%, far from the all-time high of $4.30 recorded on January 12.
Why is the price of Optimism (OP) increasing?
The current rise in OP prices appears to be largely driven by industry-wide demand for defi services.
While Optimistic roll-ups launched in 2019, the OP governance token didn't launch until June 2022. But while it's relatively new to the market compared to Polygon (MATIC), Optimism s 's rapidly growing to become one of the most in-demand Ethereum scaling solutions over the past year.
Additionally, the chart shows that Optimsm briefly surpassed the Polygon network when its TVL peaked at $927.6 million on January 11, the same day OP's price hit an all-time high.
This close correlation between OP price and TVL growth trends highlights that fundamental demand for defi solutions is the primary catalyst for the ongoing rally.
Optimism hosts over 100 protocols, the largest being Synthetix (SNX), a derivatives exchange, Uniswap (Uni), a DEX, and VĂ©lodrome (VELO), an AMM.
With demand for these critical challenge services still on the rise, OP appears poised to close the 10% gap and return to a new all-time high in the coming weeks.
