Top 5 Coins That Might Again Take the Spotlight Off Bitcoin In 2022 Explained
Did you know that Bitcoin, the old guard of cryptos, lost ground to altcoins (other digital assets that aren’t Bitcoin) with high returns in 2021?
For most of last year, digital assets reached an all-time high. For example, finance experts consider Bitcoin the greatest store of value in the crypto space due to its market capitalization. And the digital asset’s name cachet price climbed as high a $63,000 by mid-April, according to Yahoo Finance.
But this bull run was over when the digital asset ended below $30,000 in mid-July 2021. Compared to other digital currencies, it becomes clear that other altcoins performed much better than bitcoin.
On 1 January 2021, Bitcoin rose in price by 70%, and by December, the world’s largest crypto market cap shed a proportion of its value by almost 40%.
A prime example of a digital coin that performed better than Bitcoin is Ethereum, which rose to a record high from under $740 and rallied as high as 3,710 by the end of 2021.
CoinPriceForecast predicts that Ethereum could rally as high as 9,396 by the end of 2024.
However, if you’re a crypto investor with high sky expectations, it is essential to ensure you take these predictions with a grain of salt.
When it comes to the crypto sphere, one should take stock that the industry is speculative and fast-moving, meaning those predictions are nowhere near guaranteed.
As the crypto market continues to experience its upward trend for more stable growth runaway ahead, it is essential to remember that these digital coins will surely exceed market predictions.
With the backdrop set, let’s dive into the outlook for the top altcoins that might steal the show within the crypto niche in 2022.
Cardano (ADA)
Launched in 2017, Cardano is considered the third-largest crypto when measured by market capitalization after Bitcoin and Ethereum at 47,751B as of 16 January 2022, according to CoinGecko.
Billed as a more sustainable asset class, Cardano builds on the technology used by Bitcoin and Ethereum to process transactions faster and which is less energy-intensive.
One feature of Cardano that has captured the interest of investors is the digital currency use of an eco-friendlier proof-of-stake (PoS) system rather than proof-of-work (PoW), as do both Bitcoin and Ethereum at the moment. Such a measured approach has helped Cardano to gain ground over its competitors.
Nasdaq considers Cardano one of the hottest altcoins in the crypto market thanks to the platform’s capacity to build smart contracts that began in the fall of 2021.
Solana
Few cyrtos have had the dream run last year than Solana. Despite only launching in 2020, the altcoin’s prices started at $0.77. At the time of writing this report, the altcoin’s price was approximately $137.18, a gain of more than 17,715%.
Such a meteoric rise has helped generate Solana’s sol token visibility. As a result, this has transformed the little-known digital coin into one of the largest cryptos measured by a market cap of about $71.69B.
Like Cardano, Solana provides decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions, such as smart contracts technology, among the best-performing asset class of 2021.
Another thing going for Solana is promising technology that provides high transaction capacity.
Terra (LUNA)
Another altcoin to watch in 2022 includes Terra. Luna, the Terra-based token started 2021, priced below $1. A competitor to other crypto projects, Terra was launched in 2018 and is backed by the start-up Terraform Labs.
As a digital currency project, Terra is focused on blockchain permissionless nature to provide DeFi solutions, such as stablecoins pegged to the US dollar or euro, according to The Motley Fool.
An important feature that distinguishes Terra blockchain from others like Ethereum is that its ecosystems work better than other stablecoin projects so far, meaning Terra enjoys a competitive edge over its rivals.
Polkadot
Polkadot was among the head turners in the crypto sphere in 2021, meaning the crypto asset is one of the explosive tokens of 2021. Some reports show that this blockchain ecosystem price had rallied over 240% since January 2021.
First launched in 2020, the protocol focuses on providing opportunities for cross-chain transfer of data between different blockchains, such as Ethereum, Cardano, and Binance Smart Chain. As a result, these cross-chain transfers solve the problem of interoperability.
Despite the project being launched in 2020 for active trading and transferability, the token has caught the eye of many investors. With the current market of approximately $24,570B, the DOT is the tenth-largest asset, according to the CoinMarketCap.
At the time of writing this report, the Polkadot native token DOT currently trades for $25.31. And its primary goal for Web 3.0 is to make the best use of blockchain technology to create a more private and decentralized internet.
Shiba Inu
According to The Motley Fool, Shiba Inu was also off to a strong start in 2021, with approximately 50,000,000% gain in both value and popularity. Investors may consider this bull run represents the biggest single-year gain in the crypto sphere, making the token the best crypto to invest in 2021.
The digital asset was launched in 2020 as a decentralized meme coin. At the time of writing this report, Shiba Inu native token SHIB has a market cap of about $15.131B and trades for $0.00002786., according to CoinMarketCap.
The upward trend in October last year might continue into the new year due to the impressive development happening at the Shiba project. This means that the meme coin might be ready again for a bull run in 2022.
For example, its developers are giving the token utility for a more stable growth from here on out.
While the value of Shibu Inu started to decline in November 2020, the altcoin will continue to capture the attention of global investors due to its stronger use case compared to other meme coins in the market.
This is due to the ShibaSwap protocol, which allows users holding their SHIB in their wallet to earn interest by staking their tokens on the ecosystem.
It is also one of the key features that will make Shibu Inu one of the best asset classes in the market, enabling the altcoin to make a notable gain in the niche.
Conclusion
Looking back to the year 2021, there’s no doubt altcoins made an impressive bull run and recorded staggering gains toward new all-time highs than the largest crypto asset, Bitcoin.
This upward trend is expected to continue as investors now consider altcoins a valuable part of their portfolios that will give them formidable return multiples.
