Crypto Top 5: The Altcoins That Kicked Off December With A Bang

Altcoins have been on a spectacular move since Bitcoin passed the $99,000 mark, and some of them are expected to lead the impending altcoin season that could drive more interest in cryptocurrencies beyond the king of all crypto, BTC.

The following crypto assets are in a league of their own, even outperforming Bitcoin at some points in the last few weeks and starting off the holiday month with a strong momentum that could carry on through the new year.

$XRP – A Category 5 Pump

XRP's weekend pump has been described by prominent crypto figure Crypto Bitlord as a "Category 5 Super Vortex Flippening Pump" after the XRP Ledger's native asset toppled Solana (SOL) and overtook Tether (USDT) to become the world's third most valuable cryptocurrency.

Crypto Bitlord noted how XRP is "literally sucking the life out of major coins to fuel its growth," adding that if BTC, ETH, and SOL remain in the red by Tuesday, "XRP is going to Mars and there's nothing anybody can do about it."

At one point on Monday night, XRP breached $2.80, getting closer to its all-time high of $3.40 way back in 2018. The digital coin has slightly retreated to around $2.70 but is still up by over 10% in the last 24 hours, as per CoinGecko data.

XRP's November chart was also a sight to behold, starting below $1, then surging gradually in the second half of "Moonvember" to ultimately hit $1, then spike above $1.80 before December.

The altcoin also outperformed Bitcoin multiple times throughout the past month, including that time when BTC spiked above $99,000 when the world's largest cryptocurrency by market cap increased 2.3% while XRP logged a 24.9% surge. The alternative crypto asset is on a 437.5% gain in the last 30 days.

$TRX – The Underrated Token?

TRX, the native token of Justin Sun's TRON blockchain, has shown significant momentum in recent weeks, even if it started slow in the first week of November. One crypto user described the crypto asset as an "underrated, stealth climber" that may outperform other top altcoins in the long run.

On-chain data shows that TRX prices had a very slow climb in the first week of November, but the token spiked in the middle of the month. It started off at around 0.16, then closed the month at around $0.20. It has been on a nearly 40% spike in the last 30 days and is up by over 9% in the last 24 hours.

TRX's surge has been associated with renewed interest in the TRON blockchain, especially after the team behind the network announced that it was investing $30 million into U.S. President-elect Donald Trump-backed World Liberty Financial.

Soon after the investment news, WLFI announced it had added Sun to its advisory board. It was also around that time when Sun bought the banana taped to a wall art piece for $6.2 million. He has since eaten the banana.

$XLM – Targeting $1

Stellar, which is known for its interoperability features, has gained increased attention in recent weeks, driving its native cryptocurrency, XLM, near its all-time high at $0.8756 early in 2018.

Just like TRX, XLM was quite slow moving in the first two weeks of November before significantly surging at the end of the uptrend month. It is now challenging $0.70 as it moves toward its previous ATH close to $1.

Other coins have seen significant growth in the past month, but XLM is on a different level, gaining nearly 528% in the last 30 days and continuously surging, albeit on a slower pace than XRP.

One crypto user dubbed XLM as "a moon resident," a term used to describe crypto assets that are meant to hit new milestones and steadily make their way to the top.

$AVAX – Steadily Breaking Through

Avalanche (AVAX) is still far from its all-time high above $144 in 2021, but it has made massive moves over the past few weeks, breaking the $50-mark overnight and riding the altcoin season wave.

Notably, AVAX was trading in the $20 lows at the start of the month before steadily rising to start December at $45. The altcoin has gained 118% in the last 30 days and is up by almost 7% in the last 24 hours.

A crypto investor noted that in crypto, "history often repeats itself," and if AVAX takes a hold of the same momentum as it did late in 2021, it is "heading $100+ with haste."

$LTC – Beating the 2017 Pump?

The "Moonvember" journey of Litecoin (LTC) appears to have been neglected by some in the crypto world due to the powerful moves of XRP since the 2024 U.S. elections wrapped up.

However, LTC holders haven't wavered, believing that its recent move above $120 is just the beginning and it has the potential to repeat its 2017 surge but on "a much larger scale."

Litecoin's 2017 pump saw the Bitcoin-evolved cryptocurrency starting below $50 then closing the year above $232. Analysts noted that 2017 was the best year for the altcoin, even if its all-time high of $410.26 was recorded in 2021.

Like other altcoins that pumped after the BTC-triggered surge after the U.S. elections, LTC started November slow before surging mid-month and starting December above $100.

The digital coin increased over 93% in the last 30 days and is on a week-long rally of 40%, but as several crypto observers put it, it could just be the start of a much bigger move for the token originally based on the BTC protocol.

To compare, Bitcoin has been down 0.7% in the last day and is up by nearly 40% in the last 30 days. All the altcoins listed above performed better than BTC in a 30-day period, except TRX, which was on par with Bitcoin's performance.