Just 24 hours after XRP had one of its best days in a very long time, bitter rival (read: fork) Stellar Lumens (XLM) had an even better one.
Today, XLM rose by almost 30 percent, going from $0.0635 to $0.0889 in a matter of hours, according to data from Trading View.
Although the token subsequently corrected to about $0.080 as of the time of this writing, the rise was enough to surprise traders and hodlers who were not expecting such volatility from a token that’s been on a steady bear trend since May.
While it’s difficult to pinpoint a reason for the pump, the coin’s uptick may be related to the announcement by the Stellar Foundation to airdrop some 2 billion XLM (worth over $120 million) to the users of Slack competitor Keybase.
On the other hand, an airdrop (in theory) should generate downward pressure on the market due to excessive liquidity. But today's boost in the price of XLM could mean that the publicity was a good strategy for Stellar.
Overall, it’s been a bullish week for altcoins, but it’s still too soon to declare the start of the long-awaited “Alt Season,” according to eToro's Mati Greenspan.
The market analyst told his newsletter subscribers today that "it seems like it's still a bit early to be calling this an 'alt season' but it certainly has the potential to turn into one.”
But anyone who didn't buy XLM more than 24 hours ago may have missed the train. The token is already heavily overbought, and it looks like a correction could soon lower its price again—or at least, slow down the trend.
However, XRP and XLM are both currently providing the market with a clear signal: don’t count altcoins out just yet.