What happened
One of the more intriguing top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization few investors may have heard of is Cosmos (ATOM 2.51%). This token has been on a tear over the past week, appreciating nearly 30%. Today, it rose 5.8% over the past 24 hours, as of 1:15 p.m. ET.
This impressive performance has been driven by two key factors investors have their eye on.
First, cryptocurrency exchange FTX announced that it would list Cosmos' ATOM token on a spot market basis. The ATOM-USD and ATOM-USDT trading pairs will be available starting at 2 p.m. UTC today.
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Secondly, investors appear to like Cosmos' range of partnerships that have come about of late. In particular, a previously announced bridge between Cosmos' blockchains and Polkadot, the Astar/Shiden Network, has recently reached a key milestone. Investors appear to be bullish on this catalyst, as it represents another catalyst for Cosmos' ecosystem growth.
So what
Any time a given token is listed on a prominent exchange, the increased liquidity stemming from this move tends to move said token higher in the near term. Traders looking to get ahead of this move tend to take a bullish stance on those tokens, which has been one of the drivers behind Cosmos' impressive move over the past few days.
In addition to this near-term catalyst, the longer-term interoperability work Cosmos is undertaking is perhaps a bigger deal for investors. Those taking the longer view of where the crypto-focused future lies may like how Cosmos is providing for scalability and interoperability -- two key areas that are lacking with many blockchains. The larger Cosmos' ecosystem gets, the greater the potential for token price performance as investors flock toward projects with the ability to grow without limitation.
Now what
Cosmos' network of interconnected blockchains could very well be the future we've all been waiting for. However, until this key infrastructure is built out, and we get a clearer picture on how these bridges will work, there is heightened risk for investors. That said, considering how quickly Cosmos has appreciated in the market capitalization rankings, it's clear many investors are big believers in this network's ability to achieve its interoperability and scalability goals.
Right now, Cosmos is a network with both near-term and longer-term catalysts, with a backdrop of very positive momentum in the crypto world. Accordingly, I think this token is one that could take investors with the stomach for volatility on a very fun ride from here.
