The crypto market enjoyed a bull run this week, rising by several points and propelling strong growth for both our usual suspects and the next tier of popular coins. As the market continues to chop and change, it unlikely that this will be a long-term trend “ so enjoy it while it lasts!

The Usual Suspects: Ukraine Propels Bitcoin

It was another green week for Bitcoin and Ethereum, this time the situation in Ukraine propelled both coins to modest growth this week as the Ukrainian Government legalised Bitcoin and digital assets more broadly. As both coins enjoyed rising the tide, Ukraine late-week announcement allowed both coins to outperform the broader market.

Bitcoin started the week at $53,200 and is up by 4% to $55,500 after a bull run. The Ukraine opening the flood gates momentarily increased the price to a high of $57,400 (an increase of 8%) as investors saw strong buy signals. But in true crypto form, this came crashing back down as longer term investors and traders cashed out. The markets will continue to remain volatile for the foreseeable months so expect to see Bitcoin continue to oscillate week-on-week.

Ethereum was also up this week with a strong 9% gain, starting the week at $3,500 and finishing the week at $3,800. Ethereum enjoyed a peak similar to Bitcoin as a result of the Ukrainian Government legalisation, rising to 10% above its starting week price before a small decline as investor behaviour drove down the price. There is potential for Ethereum to grow at a much faster pace than Bitcoin over the coming weeks as they continue to shift to Ethereum 2.0, continue to watch this coin closely.

Rare for both coins to enjoy a bull run given the last six months but it unlikely to continue given the current market conditions and inflationary environment but if countries follow suit, this could quickly change.

The Best of the Rest: Solana Leads the Pack

Strong market performance this week led to our next tier of popular coins; Cardano, Ripple (XRP), Solana, Avalanche and Polygon all experienced modest gains alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Leading the pack this week was Solana, up by 10% to finish the week. Solana has stumbled this year and might not return to its 12 month high in the foreseeable future. Avalanche and Cardano followed closely, up by 9% and 6% respectively. Much like Solana, it is unlikely that Avalanche will return to its 12 month high in the foreseeable future, particularly in this market environment .

And Polygon and XRP had minor gains - up 4% and 1% respectively. While Polygon is being heralded as a potential scaling solution to Ethereum, this hasn't yet been reflected indicating that investors aren't bullish on its potential.

The Weekly Loser: Terra Slips Through the Cracks

In a week where almost all tokens had a bull run, Terra (LUNA) declined by over 8% this week. And while this is a minor decline, Terra was one of the only coins to decline over the week, while the rest had minor growth or held steady.

Terra is one of the largest coins by market cap and has enjoyed a very strong run from $7 to over $100 in the second half of last year. Since then, the coin has oscillated and this week it went against the grain.

Terra is a blockchain that uses fiat stable-coins to facilitate global payments. This allows it to have the best of both worlds' through global and instant payments and currency stability. However, as inflation increased, this impacted Terra, leading it to decline while all other coins increased.

Terra might be a strong bet moving forward and could be one that is picked up cheaply by investors if you believe its future growth potential.

The Weekly Winner: Australian Start-up STEPS Up for Investors

STEPN (GMT) rose by over 65% this week and providing investors with a strong return this week if they were lucky enough to invest in this niche coin. The coin is still cheap' compared to other tokens (it trading at less than $1) so it could have significant upside in the future.

STEPN is a Web3 app that where users can earn tokens through walking or running. Players earn GST tokens by meeting a daily step count, which then can then exchange for NFTs or the GMT token.

The coin was created by an Australian start-up and FinTech studio - Find Satoshi Labs and could be a strong Web3 investment, particularly as more users onboard onto the platform.

Sources: BTC Markets, CoinMarketCapThis post was written by Fresh Capital Media.