Bloomberg: Altcoins lead the gains, and the number of downloads of crypto trading applications continues to hit new highs

Investors are turning their attention to rivals of the Ethereum blockchain, with some lesser-known tokens once again outperforming the market, according to Bloomberg.

Cardano’s ADA token has doubled this month to become the third-largest digital asset, Binance Coin has also risen, and Avalanche’s AVAX token has tripled in August.

Some analysts believe speculators are moving away from the mainstream and toward newer, more exciting offshoots. Others believe a world awash in cash and ultra-low interest rates are finally pushing investors into more volatile assets.

Yoni Assia, founder of online exchange eToro, said: “There is no doubt that the crypto industry is exciting. We are seeing a very active situation in the market, both in terms of total trading volume and the growth of companies.”

At the same time, inflation has become a reality as economies reopen. Assia said this has led many people to look for various types of investments.

A recent survey by eToro found that about a quarter of 6,000 investors asked about their cryptocurrencies, a number that increases to nearly 50% for younger cohorts. The company also found that average investors will increase their cryptocurrency allocations in the coming months, with “significant” interest in alternatives to Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Meanwhile, downloads of crypto trading apps are climbing. Coinbase is the 11th most downloaded financial app on the iPhone, according to App Annie, a mobile data and analytics provider. Last August, it ranked 23rd on average among its peers. Digital exchanges Kraken, Voyager and Crypto.com are also rising in the rankings.

Assets under management in digital asset investment products have increased by more than 57% since July to about $55 billion, while total daily trading volume increased by more than 46% to $544 million, the biggest month-over-month increase since May, according to data tracker CryptoCompare.

A lot of attention has been focused on altcoins like Cardano, Avalanche and Dogecoin. Meanwhile, the Bloomberg Galaxy Defi Index, which tracks some of the largest decentralized finance protocols and applications, has risen about 45% since the beginning of July.