President Joe Biden’s lackluster debate performance last week has enhanced the chances of Donald Trump, a pro-crypto candidate, making a return to the White House. Despite this political shift, the market’s attention has been captivated by other factors.
Altcoins Struggle Amid Low Volatility
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) and Ether (ETH-USD) have experienced low volatility, creating a challenging environment for altcoins that typically thrive on market movements. According to David Zimmerman, a DeFi analyst at K33, the altcoin market has seen significant downturns, especially in sectors like GameFi tokens, while AI tokens have remained stagnant. This is despite a surge in new token launches, with an average of 250,000 new coins being introduced each month in the second quarter on Ethereum (ETH-USD) and major Ethereum-based layer-two chains.
“As majors continue to chop and pull back somewhat during this ‘low-vol summer’, the altcoin markets have been hit relatively hard,” Zimmerman noted in a Wednesday report. Memecoins have been a notable exception, growing to a $50 billion collective market capitalization. Tokens centered on the US political race and celebrities were the biggest drivers of this growth.
Market Metrics and Trends
A measure tracking the total crypto market capitalization excluding Bitcoin and Ether fell nearly 22% in the second quarter. “Altcoin beta is doing exactly what it is designed to do by outperforming – only it is to the downside in this case,” Zimmerman explained.
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