Cryptocurrencies have undoubtedly been one of the great themes of this 2021. The year that we are about to conclude has meant the consolidation of this market as an investment alternative to traditional assets, with companies, managers, personalities and even countries buying bitcoins and other ‘cryptos’. But among the most significant milestones is, without any doubt, the historical prices for the creation of Satoshi Nakamoto and many ‘altcoins’ that have seen returns that put long teeth on investors who have not yet dared to take the leap. .
Not only that, the value of this market has catapulted to almost 3 trillion dollars last November, hand in hand with the increase in the capitalization of its main assets, with a bitcoin that caressed the 1.3 trillion and an ethereum that it was around half a billion dollars. However, crypto investors do not hide a point of bitterness since the most bullish of their predictions has not been fulfilled: seeing bitcoin at $ 100,000, a goal that many analysts continue to bet on and are confident that it will arrive in the first quarter of 2022.
But if what is sought is profitability, bitcoin has not been the most brilliant of digital currencies. Next we review the list of the 9 that best figures have left, in addition to the queen of cryptos.
1. Terra (LUNA): performance of more than 14,000%
It has been the great revelation of the last quarter and has left a Christmas rally that has approximated its price to 100 dollars. Experts indicate that there is great expectation about its behavior next year, as its blockchain is one of the strongest alternatives to Ethereum for the construction of DeFi projects. Its market capitalization has risen to more than $ 35 billion.
The meteoric rise of LUNA has also caused the Terra network to surpass Binance Smart Chain (BSC) in terms of total locked value (TVL) to become the second largest DeFi protocol behind Ethereum.
2. Solana (SOL): yield of more than 11,700%
The Solana blockchain is also in the spotlight, as it is considered a superior blockchain platform for its high transaction speed, 2,500 transactions per second , compared to 15 for Ethereum. Most importantly, speed is achieved at lower compute cost and without compromising decentralization. Given Solana’s app-building functionality, the SOL toke has stronger risk-reward dynamics in the short term and despite being far from its November milestone of $ 260, it is among the experts’ favorites.
The SOL is already among the 5 most important cryptocurrencies by its market capitalization (more than 60 billion), which is an indicator of confidence and robustness, so it will be important to monitor its evolution in 2022.
3. Dogecoin (DOGE): yield of more than 3,400%
The queen of ‘memecoins’ has lived on a roller coaster. The prices of the dogecoin are more influenced by comments from the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk , than anything else. After the coin was initially beaten, Musk has emerged as its staunchest defender, recently declaring that Tesla will accept it as a means of payment, pushing the price back 24% to $ 0.21 a few days ago. although it has fallen again since then.
4. Avalanche (AVAX): performance of more than 3,200%
It is the third great promise of alternative blockchains to Ethereum, according to experts at Bitpanda and Bank of America and it is supposed to be much faster and is seeing more traction in terms of its acceptance . While the bitcoin blockchain’s processing speed is seven transactions per second, Avalanche claims that it processes more than 4,500 transactions per second. The cryptocurrency has teamed up with web3 accelerator DeFi Alliance to launch a game acceleration program and has seen a rally recently, though it remains far from its annual milestone at $ 146.
5. Cardano (ADA): 578% yield
Popularly known as an Ethereum killer, Cardano has seen three decreasing highs and roughly two equal lows in its price around $ 1.20 since December 7. Chartists see the currency in a consolidation zone before it rises over the next year, according to ‘Fortune’. The CEO of this blockchain, Charles Hoskinson, is confident that the coin will do well, as it will focus on improving Cardano applications rather than chasing the hype.
6. Ethereum (ETH): yield over 425%
The number two cryptocurrency in the market was in 2021 at the gates of 5,000 dollars, a price that is the first objective of increases for many analysts and experts. During the past months, the Ethereum blockchain has starred in various updates focused on its great reinvention that will take place in 2022.
Ethereum is expected to move from the current proof-of-work (PoW) protocol stage to proof-of-stake (PoS). PoW involves the confirmation of transactions and the addition of new blocks to the blockchain, while PoS involves the random validation of transactions. According to Coin Price Forecast, ether – Ethereum’s native unit – whose all-time high was $ 4,891, will rise to $ 9,000 in the first half of next year.
7. Polkadot (DOT): yield over 159%
After reaching a high of $ 55 in November, this cryptocurrency has shed more than 50% of its value , during the recent correction of cryptocurrencies. Unlike other assets, Polkadot qualifies as a blockchain as it has the ability to seamlessly connect all heterogeneous blockchain networks. With an estimate of 300 projects being built in the Polkadot ecosystem, it is a ‘crypto’ to be reckoned with.
8. Bitcoin (BTC): yield almost 65%
Despite the fact that it has not reached the coveted $ 100,000 , no one dares to say that it has not been a banner year for the most veteran of crypto currencies. In 2021, everything has been increasing for bitcoin: more adoption, more investment vehicles, more capitalization, it has even become the legal tender of a country (El Salvador) and its profitability reached over 90%. With a market bottom from its recent correction at $ 45,500, resistances are at $ 50,000, $ 55,000 and $ 60,000.
According to ‘Bloomberg’, the $ 70,000 mark will be beaten next year and from there, it will be a matter of time for its coveted mark.
9. Shiba Inu (SHIB): yield about 35%
Shiba Inu has grown up in the shadow of dogecoin and is the second largest meme currency for importance and market value. All in all, it is seen more like a speculative investment currency as it lacks a credible application service network compared to its peers. Like dogecoin, its price has been driven by purely speculative inflows and therefore the currency could remain in the top spots amid high volatility.
10. Litecoin (LTC) – 23% yield
Created by former Google employee Charlie Lee in 2011, litecoin was seen as a better and faster alternative to nitcoin. Like bitcoin, the supply of litecoins is limited to 84 million units. According to the latest long-term forecast from the Coin Price Forecast, litecoin will reach $ 200 by the end of 2022 and $ 250 by the end of 2023, ‘Fortune’ collects.