2021 IN REVIEW: Terra Luna, ETH edge Bitcoin on list of top five most capitalised cryptocurrencies

Within twelve months of 2021, the total value of the cryptocurrency market jumped 64.57 percent, as trade among investors deepened despite government sanctions in Nigeria and China.

In the first week of January 2021, the cryptocurrency market capitalisation was estimated around $773.63 billion, but by the end of December 31 of same year, the asset value closed at $2.18 trillion.

This means adoption and volume increased against government sanctions and fiat defence through Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), as crypto trading added $1.41 trillion to the asset value during the period under review.

The growth of cryptocurrency investment was powered by the following five most capitalised crypto assets, from the best performer to the least, according to data sourced from Coinmarketcap and Coindesk – and bitcoin is not in the top three.

Terra Luna

Ripples Nigeria did a cover on Terra Luna last year, as one of the crypto to have on your asset watch list, and it proves this publication right with a 13,061.37% increase in value within twelve years.

Terra Luna posed the highest growth among the top five most capitalised cryptocurrencies, as its market price surge to $85.47 at the end of last year December, rising from January’s opener of $0.6494.

This significantly boosted investors investment in Terra Luna, which also recorded it’s All Time High of $103.61 in 2021 – the asset’s current worth is put at $93.27.

Terra Luna’s stunning lift in twelve months saw the crypto asset’s market capitalisation settling around $74.40 billion at the end of 2021.

Solana

Analysis of Solana’s performance showed that the decentralised coin appreciated by 7,820.93% between January to December last year, solidifying its position among the top five crypto assets to hold.

SOL’s value was estimated to be around $2.15 per coin in the early week of the first month of 2021, but commitment among its holders and increased interest from prospective investors saw the worth jump to $170.3 – picking up $168.15 along the way.

It currently sells for $175.13 per coin in the crypto market, as Solana was unable to close last year above its All Time High of $260.12, even though it hit the landmark same period.

Solana occupies the third spot in the most valuable cryptocurrencies of 2021, the crypto’s market cap was about $89.9 billion in the early week of January 2022 by crypto price aggregator, Coindesk.

Ethereum

ETH enjoyed a boom in the cryptocurrency market last year, after the asking price of Ethereum appreciated to $3,682.63 at the end of 2021 – recording about 404.21% surge between January to December.

Read also: 2021 IN REVIEW: Bank stocks push NGX investors’ gain to N1.24tn

Ethereum coin was floating around $730.37 at the start of last year, but trading volume pumped $2,952.26 into the asset’s worth, on the back of the 404.21% appreciation.

This supported the market capitalisation growth of the crypto asset, nudging it to about $448.19 billion. Ethereum currently trades at $3,827.57, below its 2021 All Time High of $4,865.57.

XRP

XRP is a make it and hush it crypto in the decentralised asset market, as it’s not widely known outside the cryptocurrency community compared to the likes of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin and even Sheba Inu (two of which didn’t make it to this list).

At the end of 2021, analysis of XRP performance showed that the crypto’s value grew by 250.12%, as the asset ran riot before calming down at $0.8312 by December 31, 2021.

Note that XRP had began 2021 at $0.2374, and at some point of the year, the crypto’s worth climbed to $3.40, which represented it’s All Time High – it however, nosedived, and currently trades at $0.8429 per coin.

The 250.12% appreciation fueled XRP’s market capitalisation, closing the year in review at $85.20 billion.

Bitcoin

Compared to its contemporaries in the top five, bitcoin’s market growth within the twelve months under review was slow, having experienced a bearish run in Q2 2021 and Q4 of the same year.

BTC’s coin value appreciated by 57.64% in twelve months, with its price capping at $46,306.45 as December drew to a close, against the $29,374.15 bitcoin opened January 2021 with.

The most popular cryptocurrency mopped up $16,932.3 during the period, although it hit a All Time High of $68,990.90 in the fourth quarter of last year – it was trading at $47,255.27 as at the time of filing this report.

Despite its low growth, bitcoin ended 2021 as the cryptocurrency with the highest market capitalisation as it had always done in the past years, settling around $889,99 billion by end of December.

Note: As the cryptocurrency market begins another trading year, sailing through increased government clampdown, short and long position hodlers, don’t forget to trade with caution, as fraudsters increase their effort against unsuspecting investors.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now