While Bitcoin has been grabbing headlines with its historic run past $10,000, the altcoin market is staging a rally of its own that is turning heads across the cryptocurrency world. On November 28, 2017, several major alternative cryptocurrencies posted explosive gains, with Cardano leading the pack with a staggering 138% single-day surge.
TL;DR
- Cardano (ADA) surged 138.74% in 24 hours, reaching $0.1197 with a 319% weekly gain
- IOTA gained 40.65% daily to hit $1.50, with a 66.49% increase over the week
- Stellar (XLM) rose 40.13% in 24 hours, up nearly 115% over seven days
- Ethereum Classic jumped 30.26%, with an 89.48% weekly gain
- Total altcoin market capitalization surges past $148 billion as capital rotates from Bitcoin
Cardano Steals the Spotlight
Cardano’s ADA token has been the standout performer of the current altcoin surge. Priced at just $0.1197 on November 28 according to CoinMarketCap data, the token posted a 138.74% gain in a single day and an eye-watering 319.66% increase over the previous seven days. Cardano’s market capitalization reached approximately $3.1 billion, making it the 11th largest cryptocurrency by market value.
The rally appears driven by growing interest in Cardano’s layered blockchain architecture and its peer-reviewed academic approach to development. Developed by IOHK and led by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson, Cardano has been attracting attention from investors seeking alternatives to the Ethereum ecosystem. The project’s emphasis on formal verification and scientific philosophy has resonated with a market increasingly hungry for fundamentally sound projects.
IOTA and Stellar Join the Party
IOTA, the Internet of Things-focused cryptocurrency, surged 40.65% in 24 hours to reach $1.50 per token, bringing its weekly gains to 66.49%. With a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, IOTA has cemented its position as the 8th largest cryptocurrency. The project’s Tangle technology, which replaces traditional blockchain with a directed acyclic graph, has drawn interest from major corporate partnerships and pilot programs.
Stellar’s XLM token matched IOTA’s pace, climbing 40.13% in 24 hours to $0.08142, with a remarkable 114.96% gain over seven days. Stellar’s market cap reached $1.44 billion as its cross-border payment network continued to attract institutional attention, particularly following its partnership with IBM for developing payment solutions in the South Pacific region.
Ethereum Classic and the Broader Market
Ethereum Classic posted a 30.26% daily gain to reach $33.98, with nearly 90% gains over the week. The original Ethereum chain has benefited from renewed interest in smart contract platforms as decentralized application development continues to accelerate. Monero gained 17.30% to trade at $203.21, while Litecoin added 5.34% to reach $96.03.
Even Bitcoin Cash, despite a modest daily decline of 5.03%, maintained its position as the third-largest cryptocurrency at $1,546 with a market cap of $26 billion. XRP held firm at $0.2992 with a 17.75% daily gain, reflecting the broader strength of the altcoin market.
The Numbers Behind the Surge
The altcoin rally is occurring against a backdrop of an exploding total cryptocurrency market. As of November 28, the combined market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies stood at approximately $316 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. While Bitcoin accounted for roughly 54% of this total, the altcoin share has been growing steadily as investors diversify beyond the flagship cryptocurrency.
Trading volumes tell the story of surging interest. Ethereum saw $1.34 billion in 24-hour trading volume, while Bitcoin Cash recorded $1.27 billion. Even smaller projects like Ethereum Classic posted over $1.6 billion in daily volume, suggesting that liquidity is flowing broadly across the market rather than concentrating solely in Bitcoin.
Why This Matters
The altcoin surge of late November 2017 signals a maturing cryptocurrency market where investors are looking beyond Bitcoin for opportunities. Projects like Cardano, IOTA, and Stellar represent fundamentally different approaches to blockchain technology, from academic rigor to IoT integration to cross-border payments. While the speed and magnitude of these gains raise inevitable questions about sustainability, the breadth of the rally suggests genuine interest in distributed ledger technology’s diverse applications rather than pure speculation on a single asset.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry significant risk. Prices mentioned reflect historical data from November 28, 2017.
ADA at $0.12 with literally zero smart contracts. the 2017 rally was pure IOU trading on a whitepaper. at least it shipped eventually, looking at you EOS
ada at 0.11 with a 319% weekly gain. if only we knew it would take 4 more years to hit a dollar
148 billion altcoin market cap. most of that value vanished within 3 months
$148B altcoin market cap and most of those coins are dead now. stellar, cardano, iota. only a few survived the purge
Diego R. stellar at least found a niche with payments partnerships. IOTA never recovered from the coordinator problem
319% in a week is insane. were you buying before or after the Binance listing? that was the real volume trigger
ADA at $0.11 with a 319% weekly gain and it still wasnt the top. 2017 altseason was pure insanity with zero fundamentals
took 4 years to hit a dollar and then immediately crashed back below it. holding ADA since 2017 has been a masterclass in patience and regret
Jana K. ADA hit 1 dollar in 2021 and immediately crashed back. 4 years of holding for a brief moment of green. the 2017 pump was pure speculation
iota at 1.50 and stellar doubling. the entire top 50 was just green candles for weeks
green candles for weeks and nobody asked why. half these projects had no working product, just whitepapers and hype. 2017 was pure casino
ADA at 12 cents with no smart contracts. Charles Hoskinson was selling a vision and 2017 retail bought it wholesale. at least the chain eventually shipped something
IOTA at 1.50 on a tangle that needed a central coordinator. 2017 was just green candles on broken tech across the board
138% on ADA in 24h and the market cap was only $3.1B. wild how cheap everything was before real fiat started pouring in
altseason_kid $3.1B market cap was the entire ADA valuation during that pump. that is a rounding error on Binance’s daily volume now
iota at $1.50 on a tangle that literally couldnt work without a central coordinator. peak 2017
ADA at 12 cents with zero smart contracts. at least now it has actual usage, even if it took forever. the 2017 pump was pure speculation though
smart contracts that arrived 4 years later and still barely used. the 2017 pump was the golden era of buy first ask questions never
cardano at $0.12 feels like a parallel universe now. the 2017 altseason was basically free money if you had any sort of timing