Cardano’s ADA token surged to new all-time highs on Thursday as an altcoin comeback gripped cryptocurrency markets.

ADA/USD 1-day candle chart (Binance). Source: TradingView

Cardano joins Ether in serious gains

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed ADA/USD clipping $3.06 during trading Thursday.

Having shown strength for multiple weeks, Cardano benefited from a broader altcoin resurgence after attempting to hit the $3 mark throughout the second half of August.

The move coincided with the launch of the Cardano Alonzo testnet ahead of a mainnet debut later this month.

At the time of writing, ADA/USD remained above $3 while taking a break at $3.066 on Binance.

Weekly gains totaled 17.2%, while Ether (ETH) nonetheless outshined within the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization with 20.5% weekly returns.

ETH/USD traded at almost $3,800 Thursday, around $600 short of its historic all-time highs seen in mid-May.

ETH/USD 1-day candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

Stars align for a crypto bull run

ETH had begun the upward moves for altcoins, which originally came about as Bitcoin (BTC) cooled around $47,000. As BTC/USD then began to follow suit, a snowball effect appeared to enter the market, with all but three of the top 50 crypto tokens in the green on the day.

Related: Price analysis 9/1: BTC, ETH, ADA, BNB, XRP, DOGE, SOL, DOT, UNI, LUNA

“We’re entering the second phase of this super bull cycle and I like it. Enjoy it,” Cointelegraph contributing analyst Michaël van de Poppe summarized.

As Cointelegraph reported, the foundations appear to be in place for renewed strength in Bitcoin and altcoins, the former’s on-chain metrics and fundamentals firmly bullish.