These were the 5 best performing cryptos over the past week despite bitcoin bear market

• While bitcoin and ethereum dominate the headlines, there are more than 19,000 crypto coins.
• With less liquidity and more volatility, these alternative cryptocurrencies can deliver investors massive losses or gains in a short period of time.
• These were the five best performing cryptocurrencies over the past week, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Bitcoin's bear market has sucked the life out of many popular cryptocurrencies, with the total crypto market capitalization falling from $3 trillion to around $1.2 trillion today.

With more than 19,000 cryptocurrencies in existence and counting, there are more than triple the number of crypto coins than there are US exchange-listed stocks. That massive amount of supply makes it nearly impossible to keep track of all the big movers in the crypto sector outside of well known coins like bitcoin, ether, and dogecoin.

The surge in new crypto coins came amid a massive bull market for the sector in 2021, but a more than 50% decline in bitcoin from its November high has dragged the broader crypto market, especially smaller coins that saw extraordinary gains last year like solana, cardano, and polkadot.

The implosion of Luna and its related stablecoin, TerraUSD, has also dented confidence in the crypto space and has some investors questioning the stability of other dollar-pegged coins.

With less liquidity and more volatility, these alternative cryptocurrencies can deliver investors massive losses or gains in a short period of time. For example, squid game token fell 99% in a single day last year after delivering swift gains of 75,000%.

Keeping an eye on the weekly winners and losers can help investors identify which coins are beginning to gain and lose traction in the crypto community.

These were the five best performing cryptocurrencies with a market value of more than $1 billion over the past week, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

5. KuCoin

Symbol: KCS
Market Value: $1.7 billion
7-Day Performance: 9.8%

4. Elrond

Symbol: EGLD
Market Value: $1.7 billion
7-Day Performance: 9.9%

3. Internet Computer

Symbol: ICP
Market Value: $2.0 billion
7-Day Performance: 12.7%

2. Stellar

Symbol: XLM
Market Value: $3.6 billion
7-Day Performance: 15.9%

1. Cardano

Symbol: ADA
Market Value: $18.6 billion
7-Day Performance: 16.2%