The Key Points
- Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency that was launched in January 2009
- More than 25,000 cryptos are traded on the market today.
- The majority of cryptocurrencies have small capitalizations.
Crypto assets are much more diverse than they were a decade back. There were a few other crypto currencies in 2013. You may recognize some of these names if you are a crypto enthusiast: Bitcoin Litecoin, and Ripple (now rebranded to XRP).
Today, there is a variety of tokens and coins that have uses beyond Bitcoin as an alternative currency. CoinMarketCap reports that more than 25,000 cryptocurrency projects are currently trading on the market.
Although there are thousands of cryptos, Bitcoin and Ethereum still dominate the market. The market capitalization of Ethereum and Bitcoin accounts for nearly 70% (or $1.2 trillion) of the crypto market.
Most of the crypto currencies that are traded today have a low market cap. Only 14 cryptos have a market capitalization of more than $5 billion. The top 10 cryptos by capitalization are listed below, stablecoins excluded. Stablecoins were excluded because they are intended to maintain a constant price, and not be speculative like some other crypto projects.
1. Bitcoin (BTC),
Market capitalization: 601 billion dollars
30-day performance: 14.2%
Bitcoin is the leading cryptocurrency. 1 spot.
In 2008 on Halloween, while most were dressed up as Heath Ledger’s Joker in “The Dark Knight”, an anonymous author called Satoshi published a paper entitled ” A peer-to-peer electronic cash system” which laid the foundations for Bitcoin.
Bitcoin, launched in January 2009 as the electronic cash system bypassing financial institutions was the very first of its type. Bitcoin’s premise is that it exists outside of the control of any centralized authority such as banks or governments. Decentralized finance, also known as DeFi comes into play.
Most people would not have anticipated what happened next. Bitcoin, which is now a legal tender in El Salvador, is also held by public companies such as Square, MicroStrategy, and others. With its market capitalization of $601 billion, it has created an entire industry.
2. Ethereum (ETH).
Market capitalization: $229 Billion
30-day performance: 1.9%
The term “flippening”, which refers to Ethereum supporters who predict that Ethereum will overtake Bitcoin as the largest cryptocurrency by market capital, is often mentioned.
The project hasn’t been realized. Ethereum is still the market leader. The market capitalization of Ethereum is ranked at No. It can be viewed by developers as a playground with dApps and other cryptocurrencies built onto it.
DeFi, also known as non-fungible (NFT) tokens are among the most common activities in Ethereum. Digital assets that represent real world items such as art, video, music, and in-game features are called NFTs.
In July 2015, the Ethereum network was launched, six years following Bitcoin’s debut, by Vitalik buterin, a Russian-Canadian programmer.
3. BNB (BNB)
Market Cap: $38 Billion
30-day performance: -21.3%
BNB is the product of Binance – one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in world. A report by CryptoCompare shows that the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, held almost 70% of the exchange market in December 2022.
BNB is a currency that can be used to perform functions in the Binance eco-system, including paying for trading fees. Like its parent company, Binance’s growth is meteoric. It was founded only in 2017 but it is reported that the exchange will handle more than $5 trillion in trading volume by 2022.
Binance also has its own blockchain on which to launch other crypto currencies. The blockchain is a technological ledger that facilitates transactions, and tracks assets in a network. BNB, the native token of this ecosystem is used to pay for transaction fees.
4. XRP
Market Cap: $25 Billion
30-day performance: -5.8%
XRP, a cryptocurrency that is unique to Ripple Labs’ private firm, was developed in 2013. Ripple is aiming to develop an alternative payment system which emphasizes money transfers in a way similar to SWIFT, but with a modernized twist. Ripple is a settlement payment system which can handle international payments, and facilitate transactions between fiat currency and cryptocurrency.
The native token of this platform is called XRP. Tokens can be used for network fees. XRP, however, is “less cryptocurrency” than most of the other coins on this list. This is because XRP’s ties with fiat currency make it more centralized.
5. Cardano (ADA)
Market Cap: $10 Billion
30-day performance: -23.0%
Charles Hoskinson was one of the original founding members of Ethereum. After a disagreement about Ethereum’s direction, he co-founded Cardano.
Hoskinson found a solution by leaving the Ethereum project to create his own cryptocurrency, Cardano.
ADA used a Proof-of-Stake Validation Mechanism, which was one of the biggest differences between it and Ethereum.
The proof-of-stake method is an energy-efficient way to verify blockchain transactions. Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work mechanism, on the other hand, requires an enormous amount of computing power and is a major energy guzzler. Ethereum, however, switched to the proof-of stake model as part of a system upgrade that took place in September 2022.
6. Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency that was launched in 2010.
Market capitalization: $9 Billion
30-day performance: -9.9%
What is the best way to get started with Dogecoins? The cryptocurrency was created in two hours by Billy Markus, a founder of Dogecoin. It started as an Internet meme featuring a Shiba Inu.
The majority of meme coins have no intrinsic value. They are built on the existing crypto technology, with little or no innovation, according to Alex McCurry. He is CEO of Solidity.
DOGE, which was a crypto market laggard during the Pandemic pandemic and exploded to almost $90 billion at its maximum in May 2021, caught the interest of the crypto world in an inexplicable way. What goes up, must also come down. Even though the founders of this crypto agree that it has no value at all, its market cap is still many billions even after 2022’s crypto bear market.
7. Solana (SOL)
Market Cap: $7.7 Billion
30-day performance: -12.5%
Solana, once dubbed “Ethereum Killer,” has ambitious plans to overthrow Ethereum from the decentralized financial and smart contracts blockchains.
Solana offers faster speeds, lower transaction fees and the ability to handle more transactions than Ethereum.
Even by the standards of cryptocurrency, Solana has fallen dramatically. It was at an all-time low of $8 in just a little over a month after it reached astronomical heights.
Investors in Solana have been hurt by repeated outages, the flight of some major projects to rival blockchains as well as ties to disgraced ex-FTX CEO Sam Bankman Fried.
8. Litecoin is a cryptocurrency.
Market Cap: $7.4 Billion
30-day performance: 6.2%
Litecoin, a fork from the source code of Bitcoin, was first created in 2011. It was created to be an efficient version of Bitcoin, and it is one of the first alternative currencies.
Litecoin is still one of the largest cryptocurrencies in the world, but its position has declined. Litecoin was the second largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, but it is not used as much anymore.
9. Tron (TRX)
Market Cap: $6.9 Billion
30-day return: -0.4%
Tron began as a Ethereum token before moving to its own platform in 2018. The cryptocurrency started out in Asia, but it has now gone worldwide and is one of the largest cryptocurrencies.
Justin Sun is a Chinese billionaire who was also CEO of BitTorrent – a program for file sharing. Tron, which is currently second in value behind Ethereum’s DeFi market share with 12.7% locked up, comes in at number two.
10. Polkadot (DOT)
Market capitalization: $6.65 billion
30-day performance: -6.9%
Polkadot is the creation of Gavin Wood. It’s a protocol for connecting blockchains. It is often called the “blockchain for blockchains.”
Polkadot is a project that aims to bring together the many different protocols in a world of blockchains.
In general, if Polygon and Ethereum are Layers 1 and 2, Polkadot would be Layer 0. This is the layer that lies beneath Layer 1 Blockchains.
The native token of Polkadot, the DOT, has two main uses: stake and governance. Staking is used to validate transactions.
