---
title: "Crypto ‘altcoins’ lead push higher as Bitcoin jumps above $22,000"
description: "A rally in cryptocurrencies on Tuesday took Bitcoin closer to breaking out of a one-month-old trading range and ignited big jumps in smaller tokens commonly referred to as altcoins."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Business Maverick"
author: "Bloomberg"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/bloomberg/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-07-19-crypto-altcoins-lead-push-higher-as-bitcoin-jumps-above-22000/"
published: "2022-07-19T05:36:15"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 281
---

# Crypto ‘altcoins’ lead push higher as Bitcoin jumps above $22,000

> A rally in cryptocurrencies on Tuesday took Bitcoin closer to breaking out of a one-month-old trading range and ignited big jumps in smaller tokens commonly referred to as altcoins.

By Bloomberg · Published 19 July 2022, 07:36 SAST

## Content

The world’s largest virtual coin, Bitcoin climbed as much as 6.8% to the cusp of $23,000, a level it was last at in mid-June. Ether at one point added almost 11%. Solana also achieved a double-digit percentage gain.

Bitcoin has struggled to escape a $19,000 to $22,000 range as investors lick their wounds from a rout sparked by tightening monetary policy and exacerbated by the toppling of crypto lenders and the TerraUSD stablecoin.

A sustained break above could renew the speculative momentum that can grip crypto assets in the blink of an eye. Expectations for Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes are less aggressive now, which may help.

“We’ve just seen that momentum change, and I think that momentum change is going to last for the second half of this year,” said Julian Hosp, co-founder of Cake Defi, a crypto wallet solution provider.

Ether is extending a rally that began last week after developers of the Ethereum blockchain gave a target for the long-anticipated software update that is projected to lower the network’s energy usage.

Altcoins often outperform Bitcoin during rallies and underperform when prices are falling, in part because they’re a favourite of more speculative traders and tend to be less liquid.

“Bitcoin has recaptured the $22,000 level as some short-sellers need to call it quits,” Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, wrote in a note. Cryptos are starting to look attractive now that expectations for Fed tightening have eased, he added.

The recent rebound in Bitcoin has pared its loss this year to about 52%. It was trading at $22,220 as of 10:27 a.m. in Tokyo. The overall market value of digital tokens has retaken the $1 trillion level. **BM**