Two cryptocurrencies to watch out for

Most media coverage on the cryptocurrency market usually centers on top ten tokens such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Litecoin (LTC) or Bitcoin Cash (BCH) that people might miss out on exciting developments when it comes to lesser-known digital currencies.

One of these lesser-known cryptocurrencies is Cosmos (ATOM). According to a report by Decrypt, the crypto seems to be inching its way sneakily into becoming one of the top ten digital currencies by market capitalization.

Lately, the cryptocurrency has shown remarkable resilience despite prevailing negative market sentiment. On December 12, ATOM inched higher by 7 percent while top cryptocurrencies saw price declines between 1 to 3 percent.

And its gain is not a one-day thing either. The cryptocurrency’s price has been on the rise these past few months and rose by around 26 percent since September. For comparison, bitcoin plunged by around 31 percent, ether by around 20.5 percent and XRP by 13.7 percent during the same period.

The report explained that its recent price hike is likely because of the announcement that ATOM can be staked on the Binance staking platform, which means owners could earn a passive income in the form of staking rewards.

Cosmos’ market cap is now $741 million based on CoinMarketCap data. Its rank has risen from being the 20th to become the 16th biggest cryptocurrency based on market cap. Trading volume has likewise doubled since July this year and volume is now above $200 million a day.

Another cryptocurrency to watch out for is XTZ. According to NewsBTC, this cryptocurrency could experience a boom if Bitcoin continues to plunge.

At the moment, BTC is down 50 percent compared to its peak price this year. If it continues with its downward trend, it could benefit other tokens such as XTZ. In fact, XTZ’s market valuation experienced a two-fold rise in the past two quarters.

This has something to do with the safe-haven narrative of bitcoin. Investors treated BTC as a hedge against the escalating US-China trade war and its price continued to hike when Facebook was set to enter the crypto market in June. This resulted in a price surge for bitcoin and an accompanying price drop for altcoins.

But things have changed. Facebook’s Libra was beset with problems with regulators and investors started to unload some of their BTC holdings. Cryptos such as XTZ became more attractive once more especially with the XTZ staking services being offered by a number of exchanges such as Coinbase, Kraken, and Binance.