On March 11, Groestlecoin surged by 206 percent against the U.S. dollar within several hours, easily outperforming Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market.
Groestlecoin has retracted by a small margin since its initial spike but it still remains up by more than 172 percent against Bitcoin.
Meanwhile, the Bitcoin price remained stable at $3,880, unable to break out of key resistance levels above the $4,000 mark.
What Caused Groestlecoin to Surge and Will Tokens Continue to Outperform Bitcoin?
On Monday, the Groestlecoin team officially released its cryptocurrency-supported MasterCard debit card.
The card enables any card user to transact at Mastercard-accepting point of sale (PoS) machines, which is supported by almost all retailers globally.
“You can use your PolisPay Card for online shopping and at any brick and mortar retailer that accepts MasterCard debit cards. You can also withdraw cash at any MasterCard-compatible ATM,” the team said.
Source: Groestlecoin.com
In recent years, the cryptocurrency sector has seen a relatively high number of cryptocurrency debit card projects fail due to the rejection of credit card companies including Visa.
In January 2018, Xapo, a major cryptocurrency vault service provider, was forced to shut down its crypto debit card system as per the request of Visa.
“As of January 4th, 2018, Wave Crest Holdings, Ltd. issuer of the Xapo Card Program, was instructed by Visa to cancel all its Visa Programs effective immediately. As a result, all the cards of the Xapo Cards Program were deactivated,” the Xapo team said at the time.
Coins.ph, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the Philippines that allows users to pay utility bills, send and receive money, and convert cryptocurrencies, also operated a cryptocurrency debit card through Wave Crest Holdings, and the company also had to shut down its service.
According to the Groestlecoin team, its cryptocurrency debit card project is backed by Mastercard.
“First Debit Card for Groestlcoin is here, and is backed by MasterCard, said the Groestlecoin team, adding, “use it in any retail/online shop that accepts MasterCard debit cards. Withdraw cash at any MasterCard-compatible ATM.”
Progress. Slowly but surely.
What can’t be stopped will spread! https://t.co/3Z0YZDDF0b
— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) March 12, 2019
Off of the release of its crypto debit card, which is reportedly supported by MasterCard based on the statement released by the Groestlecoin team, the price of GRS, the native cryptocurrency of the Groestlecoin blockchain network, rose from $0.238 to $0.73, by a staggering 206 percent.
Several other cryptocurrencies in the likes of Ardor, Civic, and Storj have recorded gains in the range of 25 percent to 65 percent against Bitcoin on the day.
Alternative Cryptocurrencies May Plummet
A cryptocurrency trader and technical analyst DonAlt said that once alternative cryptocurrencies and tokens begin to lose steam, it will fuel the price trend of Bitcoin.
Historically, investors in the cryptocurrency market have tended to hedge their holdings in high-risk assets like low market cap digital assets to Bitcoin.
As investors reallocate their profits from high-risk trades, the analyst said that BTC could see a large short-term movement.
“The only reason why I think BTC is important right now is that I expect a big altcoin dump the moment BTC starts making bigger moves. Altcoins are safe as long as BTC stays lethargic. I don’t expect that to last though,” the analyst said.
The sentiment of traders in the cryptocurrency market remains cautious, with more traders leaning towards a bearish movement if Bitcoin is unable to initiate a strong upside movement in the near-term.
Bitcoin has not been able to cleanly break out of the $4,000 level for over a month and the extended period of stability has led investors to become concerned.
