With the altcoin era mostly behind us, x00% gains are no longer exciting, volume has all but disappeared and most altcoins and ‘Bitcoin 2.0’ currencies have faded from memory.

However, in what is perhaps the next stage in Bitcoin 2.0’s evolution, new blockchain systems have been increasingly finding favor in the mainstream. In addition to the infrastructures being developed by banks and consortiums, protocols including Ripple, Ethereum and Factom are being explored.

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Recently, Ethereum capabilities were introduced to Microsoft’s Azure cloud service, followed by Ripple, Factom and others.

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The addition of Factom was a huge boost to its cryptocurrency, which was added to crypto exchanges for trade in October. It spiked by over 600% to roughly 0.002 BTC ($0.90) following the news, and has thus far preserved most of its gains.

Over $1 million worth of the currency was reportedly traded over the past 24 hours, the third highest after bitcoin and litecoin. Factom’s market cap ($5.5 million) now ranks 12th.

We got a similar taste of this 14 months ago. Counterparty was tried for Overstock’s ‘cryptosecurity’ project and its XCP currency rallied, but fell hard after participation in the project was discontinued.

It remains to be seen if the Factom rally will last, or fizzle out like most other coins. While two years ago, such spikes would have been nothing to get excited about, today they may carry a new meaning, serving as a reminder of where the blockchain is headed.