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Last week the market was sweaty, stagnant and not quite moving the way anyone wanted. Honestly, it’s kind of the same today. There was positive news and the market is mostly green, but the truth is that Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP make up most of the coins out there and they’re really not moving much.

The total market cap raised from $216.91 billion to $221.76 billion at 4pm EST, which isn’t a massive jump by any stretch of the imagination. There were some star performers, though, that have given the cryptocurrency market a much-needed boost. There’s a different feeling today, a sense of optimism that can be as powerful as any economic input.

Maker on the Move

It would be childish to start anywhere else, so we’re going to kick off with Maker. Now this is a coin that has bucked the bearish trend for a while, but today was the day that Maker finally took off. It added $80 million to the market cap in the early hours of the morning after Augur announced that it will add DAI to the platform.

A 22.70% jump in the last 24 hours is a clear signal that the market is into Maker and over the last month, a torrid time for the market, the market cap rose from $225.2 million to $566.71 million at its peak today. Only a few coins have shone like this in recent weeks and the coin is now ranked 22 on CoinMarketCap. This has been a steady accumulation of value, followed by a surge today. There is no guarantee, but Maker is certainly no flash in the pan.

An Ethereum Beater VM on the Way?

CyberMiles is another coin to watch, too, and the 16.87% boost in the last 24 hours is no accident. The company is set to launch a customizable smart contracts system, the CyberMiles blockchain network, which should allow for faster transactions.

It has released details of a smart contract system that is compatible with the Ethereum blockchain. That means Ethereum’s dApps network should simply plug in with no alteration to the code. This could be good for both sides in the long run, even though Ethereum is feeling the heat right now.

CyberMiles has developed its own Virtual Machine that could be up to 18,000 times faster than Ethereum’s VM thanks to the DPoS Consensus system. The CyberMiles network does not impose fees for recurring transactions and can operate using the Scrypt algorithm, which is more economical than the Ethereum blockchain. So it’s cheaper, faster and potentially more secure than Ethereum.

That has attracted the attention of the crypto crowd and CyberMiles is another coin that has added value gradually before today’s growth spurt. If this technology works, this is a moonshot in the making, but of course there is never a guarantee on this market.

Noah Coin: An Oddity That Works

Those coins are making the headlines, but they both got outperformed by Noah Coin today, which added 23.74% in the last 24 hours. Noah Coin is an odd one, because it’s current focus is on aid projects in the Philippines and socio-economic relations between the Philippines and Japan. In the long run it’s looking to create a financial world without borders, but it’s a niche project as it stands.

This does not sound like a nailed-on hit, but the buoyancy and early traction of Noah Coin have helped sell it to the wider world. A boost of 23.74% in the last 24 hours is a massive jump, and Noah Coin is now ranked 81st on CoinMarketCap. In the last month it has risen from a market cap of just $21.50 million to $81.73 million, with most of the growth coming in the last week. When does that party stop? That’s a question for the days, weeks and months ahead.

KuCoin Listing Pushes Decred

Decred added 10.78% as it continued to build on its KuCoin listing and Ontology was another big winner, recording an 8.44% increase in the last 24 hours. The Ontology Network’s new agreement for an ID verification solution has boosted the value and brought Ontology back to the headlines.

The day’s biggest loser was the month’s biggest winner, Electroneum, which recorded a 2.73% loss. That’s within the bounds of normal peaks and troughs and there’s no reason to worry just yet.

What About the Big Guns?

As for Bitcoin, it barely budged the needle. A 1.01% increase in the last 24 hours is basically standing still in the cryptocurrency markets. Ethereum had a better day at the races, scoring a 2.65% boost over the past 24 hours. XRP left them both in the shade with a 4.03% boost.

XRP is in the news for the right reasons again these days and may well have turned the corner after a torrid few months. New products, including xRapid and MoneyTap, have given Ripple and XRP fresh impetus, putting the debate over whether XRP is a security in the shade. Can it build on that or will those night terrors resurface in the coming weeks? Only time, and possibly a Judge, will tell.

It was a better day on the crypto markets, but we’re still waiting for a big blowout. Until then, the pressure continues to build, and we continue to watch and wait.

The author is not invested in any digital currency.