Bitcoin has officially crossed above the $118,000, setting a new all-time-high at $118,616 before leveling off at $117,449. As a result, there is much more excitement in the overall cryptocurrency market with many altcoins seeing massive gains. Stellar ($XLM) and Polygon ($POL) are hot performers at the moment. Most importantly, they are seizing the stage with their alluring value propositions and compelling market traction. Between the two, Story Protocol is making a lot of noise in the creator economy.

Stellar (XLM) Sees Significant Gains

Stellar’s cryptocurrency, $XLM, is currently priced at $0.2306. Indeed, over the last week $XLM is up huge with a 7 day increase of +27.83%.

Stellar’s market cap is currently $2.4 billion. This lofty number does indeed further affirm its status as one of the most dominant players in the cryptocurrency space. With Stellar, the priority is on fast and inexpensive cross-border payments.

For these reasons $XLM is quickly being seen as a strong Ethereum and Solana competitor especially amongst niche payment ecosystems. Rather, it has an underlying assumption of fast and cheap transactions. This is what makes it such a tempting platform for users seeking to escape from larger, more established platforms.

Polygon's New Token ($POL) Drives Optimism

Polygon is the midst of its own scaling transformation, accentuated by the launch of its new token, $POL (formerly called $MATIC). This transition will dramatically improve public perception about the network’s readiness and resulting ability to attract more development.

Now ranked as the 289th biggest asset, now priced at $4.19, $POL has seen a 7-day increase of +44.19%. Currently $POL has a market capitalization of $1.2 billion.

The creation of $POL has Polygon natives buzzing with excitement. With this new token, we are taking a big leap to improve scalability and potentially more functionality. That said, this development will likely only further cement Polygon’s presence in the world of decentralized applications.

Story Protocol Gains Traction

Although its cryptocurrency isn’t formally released yet, Story Protocol has been generating quite the chatter in the creator economy. The project’s creative spirit and inclusive vision is attracting the interest of creators and investors, preliminarily leading to a production environment.

The massive interest in Story Protocol further emphasizes the need for new experimentation within the rapidly evolving digital content ecosystem. The creator economy has changed so much, so quickly. Deployments such as Story Protocol are on track to have a major impact on its direction going forward.