Bitcoin Rush Spills Over to Alternative Digital CurrenciesEric Blair That was a week ago when the price of one Bitcoin was a mere $650. Today it flirts with $1000 and its market cap blew through the $10 billion mark yesterday. But the surge of government-issued money flowing into digital currencies doesnt stop with Bitcoin. Almost all of the lesser known alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) experienced massive gains in the last few days, too. Look at the market caps the top cryptocurrencies below. Pay attention to the % Change and the graphs: Once you have some Bitcoin, Cryptsy makes it super easy to trade for other altcoins. I even managed to turn 2 bitcoins into 7 bitcoins there in a very short period. The Bitcoin gains of late feel different from Aprils bubble. It feels more like Bitcoin is starting to reach critical mass, globally. And it seems its popularity spawned an entirely new asset class called cryptocurrencies to invest in. Its tough to say what the future holds for Bitcoin or these other altcoins. They may be purely speculative at the moment, However, strangely, I feel more secure holding them than I do with Federal Reserve Notes. Check out Cryptsy to trade Bitcoins and altcoins. 