Why Altcoins Were Winning This Week

This week was a choppy one for cryptocurrencies. As a group they mostly sank in value initially before rebounding strongly on Friday.

As a result, many ended up in positive territory over the course of the week. Prominent altcoins BNB (CRYPTO: BNB) and Sui (CRYPTO: SUI) each recorded gains of roughly 13%. Both were probably somewhat jealous of Litecoin (CRYPTO: LTC), which rose a juicy 22% higher.

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Bad news and good news

The major news item dampening the desire for cryptos at the week's kickoff was regarding inflation. On Wednesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics published its latest update on everyone's least favorite economic indicator. It revealed that the consumer price index (CPI; the "basket" of prices that gauges inflation) rose by 3% in January year over year, and 0.5% month over month.

This was higher than expected by numerous economists, with the latter figure being the loftiest since August 2023.

Inflation is a sentiment-dampener for many investments, particularly cryptocurrencies. In inflationary times, folks tend to plow their money into "safety," assets to keep their money as secure as possible. As they do that, they often shed the riskier plays in their portfolios, and even the most popular digital coins and tokens are considered relatively high-risk. So investors traded out of cryptos on the news.

But not so fast! As the work week came to a close, several tailwinds blew into the sector to reverse the downward trend. One was the results of Coinbase, which reported its fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 earnings on Thursday.

To say the top crypto exchange operator crushed it on headline results would be greatly underestimating the case. The company's $2.3 billion in revenue for the quarter was far above the consensus analyst estimate of $1.6 billion, and its per-share net income of $4.68 trounced the punditry's $3.32 collective projection. There clearly has been vast interest, and activity, in cryptos so far this year.

Gamifying the industry

Elsewhere in the corporate sphere, of all businesses GameStop was a cryptocurrency booster on Friday. CNBC reported, citing unnamed "sources familiar with the matter," that the company is mulling investments into cryptos. This would include, but likely not be limited to, Bitcoin, and is part of a broader strategy to invest in alternative and offbeat assets.

No one could have predicted such an eventful and volatile week for cryptocurrencies. If the following week is calmer, though, we might see a bit of a pull-back as some investors book profits by selling out of recent purchases.

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Eric Volkman has positions in Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Coinbase Global, and Sui. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.