Altcoin Rally Accelerates as Bitcoin Breaks Above $81,000

The crypto market cap surged to $2.8 trillion, up 3.9% over the past 24 hours, as Bitcoin broke above $81,000 and triggered a wave of short liquidations.

Bitcoin's price jumped to $80,958.93, with roughly $140 million in crypto shorts liquidated within 60 minutes. However, the bigger story is how far altcoins are outpacing Bitcoin's move.

Zcash led the charge, surging 17.7% in 24 hours and 20% over the week to trade at $943.48, with volume more than doubling to $750 million. XRP jumped 10% to $1.46, Solana climbed 6.3% to $104.63, Cardano rallied 12.7% to $0.2227, and Dogecoin gained 9.6% to $0.08981.

Crypto trader Michaël van de Poppe pointed out that when Bitcoin stalls within a range, momentum tends to rotate into altcoins. With Bitcoin breaking decisively higher rather than stalling, the rotation appears to be accelerating. Experts also noted that the 'OTHERS' category of altcoins is on the verge of breaking out of a large bullish pattern, an early sign that the altseason is just getting started.