Last week witnessed significant gains in Ethereum, Dogecoin, and Shiba Inu amid a 16% surge in the global crypto market cap. ETH breaches $3,400, DOGE records a 55% surge, and SHIB makes it to the top gainers’ list.

The cryptocurrency market experienced a significant boom last week, witnessing a notable 16% surge in the global crypto market cap to $2.32 trillion. Throughout this positive trajectory, alternative cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Shiba Inu (SHIB) have emerged as top contenders to monitor as we approach the beginning of the week.

ETH surges past $3,400

Ethereum has seen a 9.6% increase in value over the past week.

While Bitcoin (BTC) garnered significant attention from investors, Ethereum capitalized on the market momentum, achieving substantial gains beyond key psychological barriers that had previously posed challenges during its rallies.

Starting the week on a positive note, Ethereum secured an impressive three-day winning streak spanning from Feb. 26 to Feb. 28. During this period, the cryptocurrency surpassed psychological resistance levels at $3,200 and $3,300.

Feb. 28 marked Ethereum's most bullish day, with the asset surging 4.40% amid Bitcoin's rally beyond $63,000. However, ETH experienced a pullback on Feb. 29 after reaching a peak of $3,521. The last time ETH saw the $3,500 level was in April 2022, before the price slump influenced by Terra.

Following a retest of $3,500 on Feb. 29 due to increased exchange outflows, Ethereum faced significant bearish pressure, resulting in a 1.33% decline — marking Ethereum’s first intraday loss for the week. Nevertheless, a recovery effort on March 1 saw ETH surpass and maintain $3,400.

Despite encountering selling pressure attributed to rising exchange inflows and a potentially overbought RSI, Ethereum has managed to stay above $3,400, currently trading at $3,411 at the time of reporting.

DOGE experiences a 55% surge

While Ethereum enjoyed a bullish week, its gains were overshadowed by Dogecoin's performance. Notably, DOGE emerged as one of the most significant beneficiaries of the market uptrend despite starting the week at a modest price of $0.08611.

Prior to the recent rally, Dogecoin had been consolidating, fluctuating between $0.094 and $0.076 since the beginning of the year, with $0.09438 acting as a notable resistance level. On Feb. 27, DOGE successfully surpassed this threshold, rallying to a peak of $0.10058.

After correcting at the $0.10 resistance, Dogecoin maintained its position above the $0.094 level, concluding Feb. 27 at $0.00766 with an impressive 9.45% intraday gain. The meme coin continued to build momentum, achieving a substantial 18.69% gain on Feb. 28, surpassing the $0.11 and $0.12 levels.

DOGE sustained its uptrend until it reached a 16-month high of $0.15074 on March 2. This price represented a 75% increase from Dogecoin’s weekly opening price of $0.08611. While facing strong resistance at $0.15, DOGE held up well above $0.14, closing the day at $0.14206.

In a significant retracement from the March 2 highs, Dogecoin experienced a 6.07% drop today as the market corrects from the week-long uptrend. Despite these bearish developments, DOGE maintains a substantial 55% gain for the week, currently trading at $0.13335.

SHIB climbs the ranks of top gainers

The cryptocurrency market saw a resurgence of meme coins during the uptrend, with Shiba Inu emerging as one of the biggest gainers. SHIB began the week at the $0.000009 level, a threshold it had continued to trade at amid the previous market consolidation phase.

Shiba Inu held above $0.000009, aiming to leverage this threshold for more significant gains when a market uptrend occurred. This strategy paid off as the asset capitalized on the Bitcoin rally to secure one of the most substantial weekly gains in the market.

SHIB recorded several significant intraday gains, with the lowest being 4.18% on Feb. 26.

March proved to be a fruitful month for the token, recording its largest intraday gains on March 1 and March 2, soaring 34.33% and 33.93%, respectively. SHIB eventually surpassed MATIC, DOT, and TRX to become the 12th largest asset by market cap.

Amid these price surges, SHIB breached the $0.00001 and $0.00002 zones, reaching a 22-month high of $0.00002390 on March 2 before experiencing a retracement. Despite the pullback, Shiba Inu retained its position among the top 5 gainers for the week, trading at $0.00002176 amid a remarkable 125% weekly gain.