Crypto strategist Juan Villaverde says Ethereum is leading the crypto markets as BTC plays catch up.
In a new post, the Weiss Crypto Ratings analyst says that over the past week, Bitcoin has displayed a relatively lackluster performance as altcoins take off.
“What’s odd is that Bitcoin (BTC, Tech/Adoption Grade ‘A’) was clearly a laggard, barely able to move higher during a week when crypto assets generally were quite strong.
It’s unusual to see such a stark contrast between the Weiss 50 Crypto Index and the Weiss 50 Ex-BTC Crypto Index.”
Villaverde says Ethereum (ETH) spearheaded the crypto charge last week as the second-largest cryptocurrency is the “clear winner on a volume-adjusted basis.”
He also notes that the optimism in smaller names continues to build up due to the growth of decentralized finance (DeFi) projects.
“Beyond Ether, we note excitement around DeFi-related projects such as Chainlink (LINK, Weiss Liquidity/Availability Grade ‘B’) and third-generation smart-contract platforms like Cardano (ADA, Tech/Adoption Grade ‘B+’) and Tezos (XTZ, Weiss Tech/Adoption Grade ‘B-‘).”
Villaverde says BTC’s absence is a cause of concern for the short-term outlook of the entire crypto market.
However, the analyst says that in the long run, BTC will continue to benefit from its growing narrative as a store-of-value asset.