Ethereum's (CRYPTO: ETH) handsome rally on Wednesday infused life in its cheaper alternatives, causing them to outperform the marquee asset.

What happened: Ethereum Name Service soared over 45% to become the cryptocurrency market's biggest gainer in the last 24 hours. 

The rally catapulted the token to price levels last seen in Jan. 2022, while its market capitalization hit $1 billion after nearly five months. 

ENS saw a 520% jump in trading volumes, implying a sharp jump in buying pressure.

Ethereum Classic also racked up double-digit gains to hit a six-month high. Its trading volume more than doubled to $1.18 billion in the last 24 hours. 

The gains in these lesser-known coins follow Ethereum's sharp upswing, which caused the second-largest cryptocurrency to spike nearly 8%.

See Also: Crypto Analyst: Bitcoin Poised To Skyrocket To $180K and ‘Eventually’ Top $1M

ENS and ETC are fundamentally different from Ethereum, but many retail investors see them as cheaper alternatives. 

In the past too, positive news around Ethereum, such as the approval of spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), resulted in steeper hikes for these cheaper plays.

Ethereum Classic was created as a hard fork of the original Ethereum chain back in 2016 over disagreements within the community following a hack. The new chain inherited the name Ethereum as we know it, while the original one functions as Ethereum Classic.

ENS, on the other hand, is a token associated with Ethereum Name Service, a decentralized naming system that converts complex, machine-readable names to ones easily understandable by humans.

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