Bitcoin's price breached $87,000 for the first time since late January, triggering a market-wide cryptocurrency rally that lifted several major altcoins. Ether rose 6% to $2,770, while BNB crossed $800, and both XRP and Dogecoin posted double-digit gains.
Altcoin Performance
Ether briefly touched $2,800 before pulling back to $2,770, lifting its market capitalization to $338 billion. The asset remains 44% below its all-time high of $4,946.05 reached on August 24, 2025, though its recent gains have narrowed year-to-date losses to less than 7%.
BNB, ranked as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency, surpassed $800 for the first time since late January, reaching $806 before trading volatility pulled it back. XRP jumped from $1.40 to $1.54 over 24 hours, though its year-to-date losses remain above 10%.
Dogecoin posted the largest gain among top-tier altcoins at 14%. Other notable gainers included Stellar Lumens up 11%, Sui up 15%, and Bittensor up 19%. In contrast, Zcash dipped 1.4%, NEAR fell 1.6%, and ENA slipped 4.7%. Total altcoin market capitalization rose from approximately $1.25 trillion to nearly $1.3 trillion.
Market Dynamics
Trading volume expanded significantly alongside price increases, with bitcoin and major altcoins posting their highest combined weekly volume since early March, according to market intelligence platform Santiment. The firm noted that approximately $648 million in short positions were liquidated as bitcoin approached $85,000, helping to accelerate the rally.
Santiment cautioned that while rising volume can validate a breakout, extreme volume surges could signal increasing crowd behavior rather than fresh demand entering the market.
