It has been an extraordinary 2021 for cryptocurrencies in general. Several tokens have seen strong price increases, but not to the same degree. While lead cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTC), and Ethereum (ETH) have seen gains of 170% and 631% respectively in the year, some coins have posted gains of well over 5,000%.
For instance, Solana (SOL) is up with 10,935% growth since the start of 2021, according to CoinGecko data. Its relatively fast transaction speeds and cheaper fees attracted a host of new projects that resulted in growth, thus pushing it into the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. SOL traded at $171 as of press time.
According to CoinGecko data, Terra (LUNA) is up at an incredible 13,194% in the year at a present price of $62. The Terra ecosystem’s growth potential comes amid the latest Columbus-5 upgrade as investor confidence in Terra keeps soaring. The ongoing token burn continues to impact LUNA price, the Terra protocol has burned more than 104 million LUNA tokens ever since the Columbus-5 upgrade went live at the end of September, according to TerraAnalytics.
Shiba Inu’s price surge this year represents not only the rising popularity of dog-themed tokens but also an evolution of this category of assets. According to CoinGecko data, SHIB is up a whopping 59,988,510% in the year at a present price of $0.000034.
Recently, the spotlight shifted to gaming and metaverse tokens after Facebook announced its rebrand to Meta. Gala, a blockchain gaming platform remains a top beneficiary, up an incredible 194,794% since 1 year, according to CoinGecko data. Gala (GALA) traded at $0.54 at press time.
The year 2021 marked significant advancements on all sides. These trends captured investors’ attention in the year and may as well continue into 2022.
The Rise of Gaming and Metaverse Tokens
Gaming coins such as GALA, a relatively new type, have been growing. Gaming coins constitute crypto and video games. Many are online games that utilize a digital asset as the in-game currency. Players can use the game’s crypto to buy characters and weapons. These games also often use a play-to-earn model, where players can earn crypto as they complete tasks.
Since this is a new industry, metaverse and gaming coins could pose enormous growth potential. The outlook continues to be bullish as strategists at Bank of America believe that the metaverse will create new opportunities in blockchain technology. However, since It is a nascent space that it might be hard to predict how big it will be, what shape it will take, and which games will prove successful.
Significant Awareness of Alternative Cryptocurrencies “Altcoins”
Alternative cryptocurrencies otherwise referred to as ”altcoins” continue to eat out of Bitcoin’s market share, with a plethora of tokens entering into the market consistently. According to a recent grayscale report, Bitcoin remains the most popular, with 99% of investors saying they are aware of the original cryptocurrency, while 68% of investors said they had enough knowledge to be “familiar” with it.
However, there is a growing awareness for other cryptocurrencies especially those whose profiles are on the rise. Most investors who own Bitcoin (87%) also have exposure to one or more altcoins, the report stated.
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