Ethereum, Solana, Polkadot Set All-Time Highs as Crypto Market Tops $2.9 Trillion

Three of the top 10 largest cryptocurrencies by market cap each set a new all-time high price today as recent market momentum continues apace. Ethereum, Solana, and Polkadot each nudged up to new respective peaks, as they’ve done previously in recent days, while the total crypto market likewise set a new record.

EthereumEthereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency and the leading smart contractsmart contract blockchain network, just set a new all-time high price of $4,674, according to data from CoinGecko. It’s only about $7 higher than the previous peak set on Tuesday, but it’s steady growth that has propelled a 12% overall increase during the past seven days.

Solana is rising even faster right now, hitting a new peak price of nearly $237 per coin this afternoon. The Ethereum rival has steadily pushed upwards over the past day, beating its previous record of $219 per coin and rising 11% over the past 24 hours. It’s now up 18% over the past week.

As of this writing, Solana’s market cap is close to topping that of stablecoinstablecoin Tether to become the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Just yesterday, Solana flipped Cardano to take the fifth-place spot on the list.

Solana Flips Fellow Ethereum Rival Cardano as SOL Nears All-Time High

SOL, the native coin of the smart contract-enabled blockchain Solana, has risen in price by 7% over the last 24 hours to become the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, according to CoinGecko. In doing so, it has flipped Cardano's ADA, which has been unable to keep pace with its fellow "Ethereum killer." ADA's price is up 2% on the day, but it has shed 8% of its value over the last week. Solana's market cap now stands at above $64 billion, compared to $63.5 billion for Cardano....

Another rising Ethereum rival, Polkadot, has likewise nudged up to a new peak price today. Polkadot just passed the $50 mark on Monday for the very first time, and hit an all-time high of just under $55 per coin earlier this afternoon. The blockchain network's native cryptocurrency is up nearly 20% on the week.

Amid these increases and others of late—including Bitcoin’s own recent all-time high, plus momentum behind metaverse-related coins and tokens—the overall cryptocurrency market is currently at a new peak of $2.91 trillion, per CoinGecko.

Today, Bitcoin is down 0.3% over the last 24 hours, at a current price of $63,202. As mentioned, the leading cryptocurrency set its own all-time high last month, reaching nearly $67,277 on October 20.