The crypto market as a whole is seeing a nice move higher in today's session, with a 4% move to the upside over the past 24 hours. However, as of 2:45 p.m. ET, three key tokens are seeing outsized moves and are leading the charge higher. Bitcoin Cash (BCH -4.61%), Mantle (CRYPTO: MNT), and Bittensor (CRYPTO: TAO) are 11.6%, 12.6%, and 8.7% higher, respectively, over the past day.
These moves are driven by improved sentiment in the crypto sector, as a number of macro and token-specific catalysts take hold today.
On the macro front, a lower U.S. dollar has investors shaking off the effects of continued strength in the key currency benchmark Bitcoin (BTC -1.49%) that the entire crypto sector is gauged against. A higher U.S. dollar had continued to put pressure on most cryptocurrencies in recent weeks, as rate-cut bets were pushed out amid strong economic data. With recent commentary from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell suggesting rate cuts are on the table (at some point this year), the market appears to be pulling back in terms of its bearish bets on long-duration assets.
There are also a number of notable idiosyncratic catalysts worth paying attention to when it comes to these three tokens. Let's dive into what's driving this price action in the markets today.
Why are these three tokens in the limelight today?
Bitcoin Cash is among the leading cryptocurrencies in today's market in terms of upside movers, due to this project's recent halving.
No, not that halving. Bitcoin's halving event is still slated to take place later this month.
Bitcoin Cash reported it successfully completed its reward halving today, with its block reward now sitting at 3.125 BCH (down from 6.25 BCH previously). This halving event will reduce the supply of newly minted tokens (similar to the upcoming event for Bitcoin). So, holding demand for this transaction-oriented network stable, prices should rise. Investors were quick to price in this move, once the token's second halving had officially been completed.
After hitting a fresh all-time high last week, Mantle is once again seeing strong momentum build as anticipated selling from large investors abates. Mantle's recent move is tied to a newly released reward system that went live right around the time it hit its all-time high last week. The so-called "Mantle Rewards Station" will allow users to connect their wallets and launch MNT tokens into a vault, in exchange for rewards over time. These rewards for locking up tokens are being paid out of the project's treasury, with stakes also able to claim rewards until April 25 (when the lock-in period ends).
Bittensor's rally today appears to be part of a reversion rally, as investors pile back into this AI token. A previous short case made by Eric Wall, a well-known critic of certain altcoin projects, suggested that Bittensor's network didn't create much in the way of value -- in fact, there may be more waste created by its network tied to redundant miners doing similar activity with little to no network benefit. Upon rebuttal from investors, it appears the market is taking the view that the truth is somewhere in the middle, and this token's recent decline was likely unwarranted.
Are these three tokens the ones to watch right now?
Of course, most investors will be focusing their attention primarily on Bitcoin and the other megacap tokens in the market. These three altcoin projects certainly don't normally garner outsized investor interest.
That said, a halving event, AI-related catalysts, and a short thesis/battle are going to be catalysts that will stir up investor opinions on one side or the other. These are three battleground cryptos I think are worth watching in the coming weeks, and are tokens that could see outsized trading volumes as well.
