Ether, XRP and different & # 39; Altcoins & # 39; are accumulating as Bitcoin on the way in which to all-time excessive

Bitcoin isn't the only cryptocurrency that has been making strong gains lately.

Ether, XRP and a handful of other so-called "altcoins" or alternative cryptocurrencies rebounded on Monday after the world's most famous digital currency rose.

At around 9:15 a.m.CET, Ether exceeded the $ 600 level, a point it has not reached since June 2018, according to industry website CoinDesk. XRP soared 29% to almost 55 cents at one point, hitting its highest level in over two years.

Ether last rose 8% to $ 595 in the past 24 hours, after previously rising 13%, while XRP was 19% higher at around 54 cents. Both are up around 350% and 180%, respectively, since the start of the year.

Investors in the crypto industry said altcoins are following the momentum Bitcoin has seen lately. Bitcoin crossed the $ 18,000 line last week and is close to an all-time high near $ 20,000 that it hit in late 2017 before falling to $ 3,122 the following year.

"What you usually see in space is Bitcoin running and then some time later – possibly a few weeks, possibly a month – the altcoins are then exported," Peter Wall, CEO of London crypto mining company Argo Blockchain, told CNBC . "Bitcoin leads and altcoins follow."

Another altcoin, Chainlink, rose 6% to around $ 15. It is currently up more than 740% since the start of the year.

Chainlink is often associated with a concept called "DeFi", or decentralized finance, which aims to restore traditional financial products like loans without the need for intermediaries like banks.

DeFi has become a popular topic in cryptography this year, and several new projects are emerging. It was compared to the initial coin offering [ICO] from late 2017, when several new virtual coins appeared.