2021 was a record year for the crypto market, which briefly hit the $3 trillion mark in November. Both Bitcoin and Ether, the top two cryptocurrencies by market value, hit all-time highs last year, while many other altcoins, such as Dogecoin, gained massive popularity. Let’s take a look at the ten best performing cryptocurrencies of 2021.
Ten Best Performing Cryptocurrencies Of 2021
For our list of the ten best performing cryptocurrencies of 2021, we have used the return data from coinmarketcap.com. Below are the ten best performing cryptocurrencies of 2021, in reverse order:
10. Decentraland (>3,900%)
Launched in 2017, it is a virtual reality platform that enables users to develop, use, as well as monetize content and applications. Decentraland uses two tokens: MANA and LAND.
MANA, which is an ERC-20 token, needs to be burned to get non-fungible ERC-721 LAND tokens. Also, users can utilize MANA tokens to transact on the Decentraland marketplace, such as for buying avatars, wearables, and more. MANA was up over 3% over the past 30 days and at time of writing, was trading around $3.12. It has an all-time high of $5.90 (November 2021) and an all-time low of $0.007883 (October 2017).
9. Harmony (>5,500%)
Harmony is a blockchain platform that supports the development and use of DApps (decentralized applications). It aims to innovate the way DApps work by focusing on random state sharding. ONE has been up over 59% during the last 30 days and at time of writing, was trading around $0.3218. It has an all-time high of $0.3798 (October 2021) and an all-time low of $0.001257 (March 2020).
8. Kadena (>8,900%)
Kadena offers a hybrid blockchain platform that features the only sharded and scalable layer-1 PoW public network. It aims to address the scaling challenges of Bitcoin, as well as the security issues of Ethereum. KDA was up over 4% during the past 30 days and was trading around $9.42. It has an all-time high of $28.25 (November 2021) and an all-time low of $0.1213 (January 2021).
7. Solana (>9,400%)
Launched in March 2020, it utilizes blockchain technology’s permissionless feature to offer DeFi (decentralized finance) solutions. Solana protocol facilitates the creation of DApp (decentralized app) and improves scalability. SOL was down over 8% over the last 30 days and trading around $138.46. It has an all-time high of $260.06 (November 2021) and an all-time low of $0.5052 (May 2020).
6. Fantom (>13,100%)
Launched in 2019, it is a DAG (directed acyclic graph) smart contract platform that offers DeFi (decentralized finance) services to developers. Fantom aims to address the issues related to smart-contract platforms, specifically transaction speed. FTM was currently trading around $2.75. It has an all-time high of $3.48 (October 2021) and an all-time low of $0.001953 (March 2020).
5. Terra (>13,700%)
Launched in April 2019, it uses fiat-pegged stablecoins to power price-stable global payments systems. Terra’s native token helps to stabilize the price of the protocol's stablecoins. LUNA was up almost 1% over the past 30 days and was trading around $70.96. It has an all-time high of $103.33 (December 2021) and an all-time low of $0.1201 (March 2020).
4. Polygon (>14,600%)
Launched in October 2017, it is the first well-structured and easy-to-use platform for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development. Polygon was formerly known as Matic Network. Its native token, MATIC, is used for payment services on Polygon. MATIC has been down more than 12% over the past 30 days and was trading around $2.15. It has an all-time high of $2.92 (December 2021) and an all-time low of $0.003012 (May 2019).
3. Axie Infinity (>16,200%)
Created in 2018, it is a blockchain-based trading and battling game that is partially owned and operated by its players. Similar to games like Pokémon and Tamagotchi, Axie Infinity allows players to breed, raise, battle, as well as trade token-based creatures, called Axies. AXS has been down more than 32% over the past 30 days and was trading around $73.10. It has an all-time high of $165.37 (November 2021) and an all-time low of $0.1234 (November 2020).
2. The Sandbox (>16,300%)
Launched in 2011, it is a blockchain-based virtual world that enables members to create, build, buy and sell digital assets in the form of a game. The SAND utility token helps to facilitate transactions on the platform. SAND was down more than 5% over the past 30 days and at time of writing was trading around $4.86. It has an all-time high of $8.44 (November 2021) and an all-time low of $0.02894 (November 2020).
1. Gala (>45,000%)
Launched in 2019, Gala aims to make “blockchain games you’ll actually want to play.” It wants to utilize blockchain technology to give players control of the games and in-game assets. Members can use NFTs (non-fungible tokens) to influence the governance of games within the Gala Games ecosystem. GALA is down more than 24% in 30 days and is currently trading around $0.3512. It has an all-time high of $0.8367 (November 2021) and an all-time low of $0.000151 (December 2020).