These 2 Ethereum Rivals Struck Big Gains Last Week Even As Major Coins Slumped

Even as Bitcoin BTC/USD and Ethereum ETH/USD tumbled 10.7% and 16.9% respectively for the week, two Ethereum rivals have surged heading into the second week of 2022.

Internet Computer ICP/USD: The token of a cloud-computing project initially built by DFINITY, which aims to displace ‘Big Tech’ companies — has soared 32.4% in the last seven days. ICP touched an all-time high of $750.73 in May last year.

The project claims to be a general-purpose blockchain for Web 3.0 decentralized apps and describes itself as the third major blockchain innovation after Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The project took to Twitter on Sunday to provide an update on the token’s direct integration with Bitcoin.

1/ #BTC #ICP direct integration ()@dfinity cryptographers & engineers hackin' over holidays and weekends... phase 1 to unlock smart contracts on BTC

Phase 1: Threshold ECDSA signatures (see demo)
Phase 2: BTC<>ICP testnet
Phase 3: BTC<>ICP full integration pic.twitter.com/KEfJpx0c8q

— DFINITY Foundation (@dfinity) January 9, 2022

The token also announced that in addition to direct integrations with the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks, proposals to the Network Nervous System (NNS) this year will include turnkey Service Nervous Systems (DAOs) for hosted dapps and services that wish to completely decentralize.

See Also: How To Buy Internet Computer (ICP)

Chainlink LINK/USD: The token of a project that allows blockchains to interact with external data feeds through a decentralized oracle network has shot up 31.0% in the past seven days. LINK touched an all-time high of $52.88 in May last year.

The project behind the token recently noted that 2021 was a year of "massive growth" as it surpassed $75 billion in total value secured (TVS) and its ecosystem grew to over 1,000 projects.