Which Cryptocurrencies Yielded The Most Value This Year?

Cryptocurrency is a decentralised form of currency, meaning it is not issued by governments or financial institutions. It is a string of encrypted data that can be used to represent units of money and is managed by blockchain technology.

With thousands of different cryptocurrencies to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to start when investing. Here is a list of the top 10 cryptocurrencies with the highest returns in the past year:

1. Polkadot

2. Cardano

3. Solana

4. Tether

5. Binance Coin

6. XRP

7. Dogecoin

8. Toncoin

9. Cardano

10. USDC

Cardano

As of June 2024, ADA is trading at $0.43, about 50% higher than in October 2023. While Cardano has seen an upward trend in 2024, it has faced challenges in gaining traction against competitors like Ethereum, Solana, and TON, and has slipped out of the top 10 cryptocurrencies.

Looking ahead, Cardano's future performance is uncertain. On the one hand, Cardano has a robust background, infrastructure, and substantial growth in staking activity. On the other hand, it faces obstacles in gaining widespread adoption and competing with other blockchain projects.

As of August 2024, the live price of the Cardano token is $0.33727184, with a 24-hour trading volume of $301.006 million. Cardano's price predictions for the upcoming years vary, with some analysts predicting a decline, while others forecast ADA to reach $2.02 by the end of 2024 and $10.32 by the end of 2030.

Solana

However, the volatile nature of cryptocurrency markets soon impacted SOL. The 2022 bear market caused the value of SOL to decline over 90% from its 2021 highs. In particular, the collapse of FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange closely associated with Solana, triggered a sharp decline in SOL’s value. This event led to Solana’s price dipping below $US10 in late 2022, casting doubt on its future.

Despite these setbacks, Solana demonstrated an impressive ability to rebound. The last quarter of 2023 marked a significant turnaround, with SOL's price rising above $US120 for the first time in years. As of June 6, 2024, SOL is trading above $US170, reflecting the underlying strength and improvements within the Solana network.

This resurgence can be attributed to several factors, including a near full-year of network uptime and increased platform stability. The bullish outlook for 2024 is further supported by Solana's increasing dominance in the decentralised finance (DeFi) and non-fungible token (NFT) sectors, with volumes in decentralised exchanges (DEX), NFT trading, and stablecoins on Solana rivalling or even surpassing those on Ethereum.

As of August 10, 2024, the current price of Solana is $155.16 USD, with a market cap of over $26 billion, making it the 6th largest crypto asset by market cap. Over the last 30 days, Solana has had 17/30 (57%) green days and 10.48% price volatility.

While Solana has shown strong potential, it is always recommended to conduct thorough research and consult a financial advisor before making any investment decisions.

Tether

Despite these controversies, Tether has continued to grow and, in the first quarter of 2024, reported a profit of $4.52 billion. As of March 2024, Tether had over $100 billion in circulation, leading to concerns about its potential to threaten the stability of wider financial markets.

Binance Coin

The price of BNB grew by 50% in late 2021 but was much lower in 2022. On August 13, 2024, a single BNB coin was worth over 524.13 US dollars, a significant difference from its all-time high of 600 dollars in November 2021. As of May 2022, BNB's all-time highest price was recorded at $686.31 on May 10, 2021.

The success of the BNB Chain contributes to the price of BNB. The token is needed to pay transaction fees on the chain, and with the growing interest in Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and NFTs, the Binance Smart Chain has become a valid alternative to Ethereum. The total value locked (TVL) of BNB's blockchain within DeFi ranked only behind Terra and Ethereum in early 2022.

The process of removing tokens from circulation, known as "burning," tends to support the price of a token. BNB tokens are burned in real time, and a certain portion of transaction fees is burned whenever a block is validated. Additionally, most BNB burning is done on a regular quarterly basis, with the amount calculated based on the BNB price and the total number of blocks validated in the chain.

As an investment, buying BNB can be seen as a bet on the success of the Binance exchange. Holders of BNB with Binance accounts can access discounted fees on the exchange, so the demand for the token is linked to the demand for the exchange's services.

Dogecoin

Despite its satirical nature, some consider Dogecoin a legitimate investment prospect. However, it is important to note that Dogecoin is among the riskiest of cryptocurrencies, and its value is extremely volatile. Unlike many other cryptocurrencies, Dogecoin has an unlimited supply, which means there is no limit to the number of coins that can be mined.

As of August 2024, the live Dogecoin price is around $0.10, with a 24-hour trading volume of $491.49 million to $544.86 million. Its market cap is around $14.45 billion to $15.19 billion, and it is ranked as the 9th largest cryptocurrency.

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