Bitcoin News Today: OG Altcoins Surge 20.3% 9% 6.4% Following XRP Bitcoin Highs

Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash experienced significant value increases on Friday, following the new all-time highs set by XRP and Bitcoin. This surge in older cryptocurrencies, often referred to as "OG tokens," has sparked discussions about the potential onset of an altcoin season. Akshat Vaidya, the Chief Investment Officer of venture capital firm Maelstrom, suggested that the pumping of these old-school tokens could be an early indicator of a broader altcoin season. However, he cautioned that investors might need to wait for a "true altseason" before newer tokens start to see gains.

Ethereum Classic led the pack with a 20.3% increase over the past 24 hours, although it remains significantly below its 2021 all-time high. Ethereum Classic was created in 2016 following a hack on The DAO, a venture capital fund on Ethereum, which resulted in a hard fork. Those who opposed the fork continued to support Ethereum Classic.

Litecoin also saw a notable increase, reaching a four-month high of $110.12 before retracing to $108.73, up 9% on the day. Created by former Google employee Charlie Lee in 2011, Litecoin was designed to be faster than Bitcoin and was one of the earliest projects inspired by Satoshi Nakamoto’s whitepaper.

Bitcoin Cash, the 19th largest cryptocurrency, climbed 6.4% on the day. It was created following a disagreement and hard fork of Bitcoin in 2017 over a proposal to change the block size. This split resulted in the creation of Bitcoin Cash, which was later hard forked into Bitcoin SV and Bitcoin Cash ABC, now known as eCash.

Vaidya noted that older coins with deeper liquidity and investor familiarity are attracting capital first. He emphasized that a true altseason would be necessary for newer coins to see significant gains. The surge in OG altcoins follows XRP setting a new all-time high of $3.65 after a seven-year wait, as its legal battle with the SEC appears to be nearing resolution.

Other altcoins such as Uniswap, Dogecoin, and Hedera also saw notable gains, with increases of 17.5%, 11.3%, and 7.6% respectively. The favorable U.S. government policy and well-timed institutional engagement have contributed to renewed interest in the crypto market, according to Sean Dawson, Head of Research at Derive, an on-chain options platform.