Rebound Day On Crypto Street

Crypto markets joined other asset classes in recouping a portion of the losses. Stocks, crude oil, etc. recovered. Gold too rallied and Dollar Index retreated. Omicron related anxieties subsided amidst reports that Moderna’s vaccine booster dose offered some protection against the newly identified variant.

Cryptocurrency market cap has surged to $2.28 trillion versus $2.13 trillion a day ago. Bitcoin’s dominance increased to 40.9 percent from 40.6 percent, Ethereum’s dominance increased to 21.2 percent from 21.1 percent, and the remaining altcoins dipped to 37.9 percent of the market capitalization from 38.3 percent on Monday.

2021 is drawing to a close. The year has been undoubtedly a historic year for cryptos not just for the whipsawing prices, but also for the extent of mainstream acceptance that happened over the course of the year. Institutional interest as well as crypto linked investment products too debuted during the course of the year.

In the past year, many cryptocurrencies have gained in rankings, retained their rankings, or have slipped down the hierarchy. A contrast of the current rankings with the cryptocurrency charts a year ago, i.e., on 20th December 2020 reveals many interesting facts.

Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Tether (USDT) are the only three cryptocurrencies that occupy the top-15 ranks in market capitalization on both the dates i.e., 20th December 2020, and 20th December 2021.

BTC retained the top spot and gained almost 100 percent from the level of $23,477 on 20th December, 2020. The circulating supply of Bitcoin has increased to 18.9 million from 18.6 million a year ago.

Bitcoin is currently trading at $48,915.91, after gaining 7 percent overnight. 73 percent holders are making profits at current prices versus 57 percent a day ago.

Ethereum too has retained the second spot but surged by 516 percent between December of 2020 and 2021. ETH circulating supply increased from 113.9 million to 118.8 million during the course of the year.

Ethereum is trading at $4,024.43, after gaining 6.5 percent overnight. 88 percent holders are making profits at current prices versus 78 percent a day ago.

Third-ranked Binance Coin (BNB) has jumped from 9th rank in December 2020 on the strength of a 1431 percent surge in prices in a year. BNB is currently trading at $530.83, after surging 3.9 percent overnight.

Top-ranked stablecoin Tether (USDT) retained the fourth spot among all cryptocurrencies. Its market cap surged from $20.2 billion to $76.2 billion in a year’s time. Tether’s dominance or share of market capitalization is currently at 3.34 percent, up from 3.02 percent, on 20th December of 2020.

Solana (SOL), Terra (LUNA), Avalanche (AVAX), Dogecoin (DOGE), SHIBA INU (SHIB), Polygon (MATIC) and Binance USD (BUSD) are the cryptocurrencies that have stormed into the coveted top-15 league since last December.

Solana (SOL) has jumped to rank 5 from rank 133 a year ago on the strength of its 11033 percent surge in prices. SOL is currently trading at $180.59, after gaining around 6 percent overnight.

9th ranked Terra (LUNA) was ranked 80th a year ago with a price of $0.4889. Its price of $82.07 on 20th December 2021 reflects an annual gain of 16687 percent. LUNA is currently trading at $84.5, after surging around 13 percent overnight.

Avalanche has spiked 3326 percent in the past year and improved from rank 65 to rank 10. AVAX is currently trading at $117.70, after rallying more than 13 percent overnight.

Meme-crypto DOGE gained 3517 percent and moved up from rank 43 to rank 12 in the past year. With an overnight price increase of 4 percent, the coin is trading now at $0.1702.

SHIB that debuted in January 2021 gained a whopping 311900 percent in a short span of 11 months. The meme token has gained 8 percent overnight and is currently ranked 13 among all cryptocurrencies in terms of market capitalization.

Polygon’s surge in the past year is 10982 percent, taking it from 114th rank to 14th rank in a matter of 12 months. MATIC is currently trading at $2.31, after gaining around 11 percent overnight.

BUSD has seen an increase in its market capitalization from $828 million to $14 billion during the period. The stablecoin has moved up in rankings to 15, from 34, a year ago.

Cardano (ADA) moved to 6th rank from 8th rank a year ago after rallying 665 percent over the course of the year. ADA’s current price is $1.26 after a 3.8 percent overnight rally.

Stablecoin USDC jumped to 8th rank, from 13th rank a year ago as the market capitalization surged to $42.3 billion, from $3.4 billion a year ago.

XRP(XRP) has slipped from the 3rd position to 7th position whereas, Polkadot (DOT) has slipped from 10th position to 9th position. XRP is currently trading at $0.8895, having risen 6 percent in the past 24 hours. DOT’s current price of $25.08 reflects an addition of 5.91 percent overnight.

Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Chainlink (LINK), Stellar (XLM), Bitcoin SV(BSV), EOS (EOS) and Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) are no longer part of the coveted top 15 league that these were part of, a year ago.

LTC has slipped to rank 18. BCH has fallen to rank 25 whereas LINK is now at 22. XLM is at rank 26. BSV has dropped as far as rank 59. EOS is currently at 49. Wrapped Bitcoin is at rank 17.

The rebound in prices of cryptocurrencies seen today as well as the rapid churning in positions and relative rankings over the course of the year demonstrate that to reach the top league and to remain there consistently is no mean achievement.

Except for the meme cryptos, almost all the top-ranking cryptocurrencies have scaled up the hierarchy based on definite use cases, technological superiority, scalability, energy efficiency and a host of finite parameters. The valuation gains would be nothing but the reward for remaining attractive and meaningful in an innovation-loving crypto world.

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