The crypto market has seen huge bulls this year despite the pandemic and regulatory restrictions.
With 2021 drawing to an end, Bankless Times looks at the top coins and how they got there.
Top Coins in 2021
Bitcoin tops the list once again with the launch of the first Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (EFTs).
Ether retains its runners-up position as the Ethereum blockchain network― home to most non-fungible tokens (NFTs)― continues to grow and develop. The coin still trails Bitcoin by value and market cap but grew at a faster rate this year as retail and institutional investors flocked to it.
Binance Coin joins the major leagues on the back of Binance’s status as the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange; facilitating 1.4 million transactions per second. Once a token for making discounted trades, it can now be used to make transaction fee payments on Binance and to pay for other services.
Solana soared more than 12,000% in value this year. As a network that is able to process more transactions per second with lower transaction fees than Ethereum, it was quick to gain investor interest despite its newbie status as a crypto coin.
Cardano’s success this year lends to the scalability of its proof-of-stake network, which is also considered more interoperable and sustainable than its Proof of Work predecessor. But with Ethereum poised for its own Proof-of-Stake launch, 2022 is set to be interesting.
Meme Coins- A Joke No More
Meme coins have had a moment this year as they continue to enjoy community support.
Dogecoin and Shiba Inu grew to be the 11th and 13th biggest cryptocurrencies by market cap.
Other rising stars include Dogelon Mars, Samoyed Coin, and MonaCoin. Analysts have pointed to Algorand, Stellar, Dogs of Elon, BitShiba Token, Dogemoon as some of the meme coins to watch in 2022.
“2021 was the year meme coins officially hit the mainstream thanks to numerous tweets from the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, as well as a feature on Saturday Night Live – one of America’s most popular TV shows watched by millions of people,” explains Khashayar Abbasi, Bankless Times contributor and founder of analysis newsletter Crypto With Kash.
“It remains to be seen what use cases may arise from these projects – perhaps they stay as meme coins forever, with little or no utility, as that is what got them to where they are today. This niche sector will develop over time, and the next big thing may not have even come out yet.”
“As for the other major coins, the cryptocurrency market has gone through numerous bull and bear cycles and many argue that we are in the tail end of a bull market right now. It may take a few months before we see new highs again in 2022,” Abbasi adds.
