Bitcoin (BTC-USD) surpassed $100,000 per coin for the first time in history on Wednesday night, sparking a rally across cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin's recent rally came after President-elect Donald Trump nominated Paul Atkins to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. Atkins is believed to have been chosen for the position because he is crypto-friendly.
Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, is currently up more than 40% since the election. However, other crypto tokens are experiencing even stronger gains. Ethereum (ETH-USD) is up about 60%, and smaller tokens like Ripple (XRP-USD), Cardano (ADA-USD), and Dogecoin (DOGE-USD) are up by triple digits.
Andrew Baehr, head of product at CoinDesk Indices, told Yahoo Finance that the reason small-scale cryptocurrencies are seeing more activity is because they have higher regulatory hurdles to overcome than Bitcoin, which already has an ETF attached. He said it was likely.
“Other assets rely more on regulated pavement,” Baehr said. “Think about smart contracts, stablecoins, the future of finance, Web3, things that are going to change our lives in the future. They need regulatory paving.”
Baehr added that for retail investors looking for small amounts of crypto exposure within a broader portfolio, that doesn't mean participating in the risk-on rally with smaller coins.
“You really have to get into the weeds to track [the smaller coins]”And the timing is almost impossible,” Baehr said.
