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

• While bitcoin and ethereum dominate the headlines, there are nearly 17,000 other 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.
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Bitcoin's bear market has sucked the life out of many popular cryptocurrencies, with the total crypto market capitalization falling from $3 trillion last November to about $2 trillion today. But other cryptocurrencies are performing well despite the shift to a mostly risk-off environment.

With more than 17,000 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 43% decline in bitcoin from its November high is challenging the space, especially in smaller coins that saw extraordinary gains last year like solana, cardano, and polkadot.

With less liquidity and more volatility, these alternative cryptocurrencies can deliver investors huge losses or gains in a short period of time. Shiba inu is down 63% from its recent high, but is still up big over the past year. Meanwhile, squid game token fell 99% in a single day after delivering swift gains of 75,000%.

Keeping an eye on the weekly winners can help investors identify which coins are beginning to see increased 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. Axie Infinity

Symbol: AXS
Market Value: $3.8 billion
7-Day Performance: 31.9%

4. XRP

Symbol: XRP
Market Value: $39.1 billion
7-Day Performance: 34.3%

3. Theta Network

Symbol: THETA
Market Value: $4.0 billion
7-Day Performance: 40.0%

2. Elonrd

Symbol: EGLD
Market Value: $4.3 billion
7-Day Performance: 46.4%

1. Shiba Inu

Symbol: SHIB
Market Value: $17.4 billion
7-Day Performance: 51.5%