Beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum: The 10 Trending Cryptocurrencies in 2021

The cryptocurrency market in 2021 was hotter than ever. Bitcoin and Ethereum, respectively number 1 and 2 in the rankings, continued their dynasties, but with Ethereum closing the gap to the almighty Bitcoin, and 10 other cryptocurrencies standing out with fabulous valuations and turning trend.

2021 pumped and closed with a market capitalization of $2.2 trillion – and nearly tripling since 2020 had closed with just under $800 billion, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Among the 10 highlights that gave exorbitant profits were 5 of the so-called “Ethereum-Killers”, 3 of those associated with the Metaverse and 2 considered Meme Coins. To make it clearer and better to understand, we separated them into 3 categories, we put the position of those who valued the most (#) and how much in percentage (%).

Ethereum-Killers )

#3 Polygon, $MATIC +14.496%

#4 Earth, $LUNA +13.808%

#5 Fantom, $FTM +13.007%

#6 Solana, $SOL +9.374%

#9 Avalanche, $AVAX +2.787%

Complaining about Ethereum’s high transaction costs – known as gas fees – was a common scenario in 2021. Management in the largest smart contract-enabled blockchain has driven users in search of more scalable blockchains, spurring the growth of layer 1 blockchains and alternative scaling tools.

The year brought astronomical gains for companies like Avalance, Fantom, Polygon and Terra, which consumed half of the slots in the top 10. These rising “blockchains” are commonly known as “Killers”. -Ethereum”, because they represent possible competitors that run behind Ethereum.

Polygon, an Ethereum sidechain, took third place, with gains of around 14,500%. The Polygon ecosystem had a stellar year as it bet on various scaling Ethereum projects and, consequently, decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized applications (dapps).

Terra’s LUNA token also hit new records as the layer 1 blockchain overtook Binance Smart Chain to become the second largest DeFi ecosystem. The price of LUNA has increased by almost 1400%, spurred by the demand for the TerraUSD stablecoin, which has reached a market capitalization of $10 billion.

Fantom, Solana and Avalanche – other layer1 blockchains – also entered the top 10 of the most profitable . The race for a more scalable alternative to Ethereum saw Fantom’s FTM token up 13,808%, SOL up 9,374% and AVAX up 2,787%. That’s not to say that Ethereum hasn’t had a good year either. Its native cryptocurrency, ether (ETH), has gained a respectable 418% – six times more than bitcoin’s return in 2021.

Metaverse

#1 The Sandbox, $SAND +16.265%

#2 Axie Infinity, $AXS +16.160%

#7 Decentraland

, $MANA +3.943%

The metaverse became the hottest segment of the cryptocurrency market in 2021 driven by change from Facebook brand to Meta. In addition to the segment breaking historical records in 2021, tokens related to the metaverse and e-games also occupied the first two places in the Top 10 of 2021 in appreciation.

)The project “The Sandbox” narrowly surpassed giant Axie Infinity topped this year’s number one spot after its SAND token saw a surprising increase of over 1600%. Investors are betting on a vision in which people will increasingly spend their leisure hours in virtual worlds – although it is still too early to say what virtual world this could be after all.

Decentraland took the position seven after its MANA token soared and appreciated by almost 4000%. The entry of “institutional actors” was a big contributor to the earnings of both SAND and MANA – retail giants Adidas and Under Armor announced partnerships with The Sandbox and Decentraland, respectively.

Completing the winners of the metaverse is Axie Infinity’s Sky Mavis crypto adventure game. The AXS token occupied position two in 2021, up 16.160%. Axie Infinity swept countries like the Philippines and Venezuela as the covid-19 pandemic left many citizens of these two countries out of work – and jumping on the Axie “wave” to make money. Axie’s growth has fueled the emergence of more “play to win” projects. Some industry experts say that these types of games or “games” can accelerate the adoption of cryptocurrencies and the metaveros world by the masses.

Cryptocurrencies Meme

#8 Dogecoin, $DOGE + 2.943%

#10 Shiba Inu, $SHIB +1.608%

Speculation has also flooded the cryptocurrency markets, spurring an entirely new category. new and now called “meme coins”, including Dogecoin and the Meme Coin that ran behind, Shiba Inu (SHIB).

Dogecoin started in the first half of 2021, hitting its all-time high of $0.74 (with a little help coming from tweets from self-proclaimed DogeFather, Tesla billionaire Elon Musk). The DOGE mania waned in the second half of the year, and that’s when the SHIB token rose to prominence, dragging thousands of followers, gaining 1,608%, and occupying a position in the top 10.

In the early days of 2022, when we produced this article, we can see an endorsement, shall we say, unexpected to cryptocurrencies, and in particular to Bitcoin (which has officially become a teenager – 13 years have passed its release), as Melania Trump, the former first lady of the US, congratulated Satoshi Nakamoto on his invention. Finally, we remind you that just like buying shares (investing in the stock market), investing in cryptocurrencies requires research and a good knowledge of the cryptocurrency market.

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