After weeks of stagnation, the crypto market roared back to life on Monday as coins with smaller market capitalizations outperformed larger ones likeBitcoinBTC/USD andEthereumETH/USD .

What Happened: Among the biggest winners wasFTTFTT/USD , the token of theSam Bankman-Fried-founded crypto exchange whose spectacular collapse in November sent its price tumbling, but saw a monumental 40% increase in the past 24 hours.

At the time of writing, FTT was trading at $1.30, still down 96% over the past year.

SeeMore:Best Crypto Day Trading Strategies

Over $245 million in short positions were liquidated in the last 24 hours, according to Coinglass data. This significant move caught many traders off-guard and means that some betting on a price fall took a big hit.

The sentiment among crypto investors improved on Monday as BTC kept above the key $17,000 level.

SerumSRM/USD , the native token of theSolanaSOL/USD based decentralized exchange rendered defunct following the collapse ofAlameda ResearchandFTX,surged 12%.

Price Action:BTCwas trading at $17,191, down 0.17% in the last 24 hours,according to Benzinga Pro.

Read Next:Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin Rise: Analyst Says This 'ETH Killer' Still Has A Chance If It Can Survive 'Dark Period'