10 December 2021: At last we have arrived at the final month of the year. With 2022 just around the corner, this will be special version of the RekTimes monthly rankings. While our top coins from last month have remained the same, the Year to Date Edition includes gains made from last December up until today.
December 2021 - Top 10 Cryptocurrencies List
Year to Date Edition
As we move into December, we are continuing to see the breakdown in global economic strength that is not only affecting fiat-based services but also cryptocurrencies as institutions have largely moved into an adoption phase over the past year. The crytptocurrency market is looking increasingly bearish with each passing week (although there are no guarantees).
While January may mark the beginning of a new trend in the cryptocurrency market, for our rankings here in December we are mostly going to review the performance of various assets.
The cryptocurrencies chosen for the top 10 rankings this month are those we felt best fit our criteria. This is by no means the only cryptocurrencies worthy of your investment (see honorable mentions at the end).
The criteria we have chosen to create our rankings includes:
- Future longevity
- Real world utility
- Investment Support
- Community
Below is our updated top 10 list for the month of November 2021:
10. Cardano (ADA) (-1)
The development on the Cardano network has been largely disappointing this year comparatively to other chains like Ethereum, Solana, Polkadot, and Algorand. The Cardano community is still a formidable one, but its going to take more than inked partnerships and research papers for Cardano to remain competitve with other blockchains in 2022.
Cardano should be expected to continue to decline - especially if the market continues in the current direction. Peaking at #3 in total market cap, Cardano has fallen to #7 with XRP right on its heels.
Cardano has declined 44% since November. Overall, Cardano minted an impressive all time high of $3.09 and enjoyed a peak YTD gain of 2,279%. Cardano currently sits over 866% up on the year.
Monthly Market Price:
YTD Gains:
Cardano Whitepaper
9. The Graph (GRT) (-2)
The Graph had an early run following its initial release onto major exchanges - particularly Coinbase. Ultimately, The Graph never came close to reaching that initial all time high set at the beginning of the year. Despite that, The Graph is a leading candidate for a coin to be accumulated during an extended bear market (though that will be covered in a later article).
The Graph should be a vital piece of the cryptocurrency economy for years to come. Don't foget about GRT as we finish up 2021.
The Graph has fallen 45% since November. It hit an all time high following its release on COINBASE that is still set at $2.84. The Graph quickly hit a peak gain of 2,500% at the beginning of the year before settling at its current gain of nearly 500% YTD.
Monthly Market Price:
YTD Gains:
The Graph Whitepaper
8. Solana (SOL) (-3)
Solana has experienced a handful of issues over the past few weeks that have capped off by another Denial of Service (DoS) attack. Although it didn't take it offline, there is obviously some shortcomings in overall net security on the network in part due to the small number of on-chain validators.
That said, Solana has built an immensely impressive ecosystem over the past year seeing a massive gain in both popularity and market cap. Although a decline in Solana might be steeper than others during a bear market, SOL is still an asset to keep on your radar in 2022.
Solana is down approximately 33% since November. Solana saw a peak gain from February to November of 1,900% on the year at an all time high of $259.96. Overall, Solana is still up just under 1,250%.
Monthly Market Price:
YTD Gains: +1,243%
Solana Whitepaper
7. Polkadot (DOT) (+1)
The late developments surrounding the introduction of parachains and the successful launch of the side network Kusama have allowed Polkadot to flourish later in the year compared to other projects. While Polkadot has more than likely seen its all time high for the short to medium term future, it cannot be emphasized enough how detrimental cross-chain operability is going to be in the very near future.
Polkadot is down nearly 52% since November's all time high of $54.98 per DOT. Polkadot saw a peak yearly gain this year of 1,064% and still sits up over 460% YTD.
Monthly Market Price:
YTD Gains:
Polkadot Whitepaper
6. Ripple (XRP) (+4)
Surprised by the significant move up Ripple has made in our December rankings? Well, here is the thing - XRP has multiple, very exciting developments building that have been a long time coming.
- The fight with the SEC appears to be ongoing but the sentiment has shifted heavily in favor of Ripple
- Despite regulatory fights and setbacks, XRP remains a top cryptocurrency by market cap
- XRP has (finally) broken through a mulit-year bearish trendline with Bitcoin
Should you FOMO into XRP immediately? Hell no. However, it will be a very interesting coin to watch over the next several weeks to months. A confirmed bear market on Bitcoin and ANY positive news surrounding Ripple could see the price of XRP explode significantly. Keep updates about XRP at the top of your crypto notifications because, well, you never know.
Ripple is down 39% over the past month. While only up 58% YTD due to the SEC filings, Ripple saw a yearly gains peak of 279% at an all time high of $3.40.
Monthly Market Price:
YTD Gains:
Ripple Whitepaper
5. Ethereum (ETH) (+1)
While we have routinely put out our criticisms of the Ethereum blockchain over the past several months, the importance of ETH to the broader cryptourrency market right now is undeniable. Ethereum had a monster year and will more than likely see that trend repeat post-market decline heading into ETH2.0. Although the entire cryptocurrency market is declining currently, look for Ethereum to possibly find a floor against Bitcoin and find a late year rally before the eventual bear market hits officially.
Ethereum is only down 16% over the past month with support still underneath it. Yearly gains peaked at 797% following an all time high just shy of $5k of $4,878. YTD gains show Ethereum up by over 600%.
Monthly Market Price:
YTD Gains:
Ethereum Whitepaper
4. Ampleforth (AMPL) (-)
Over the past year, despite some major surges and declines, the Ampleforth market cap has been largely stable. December of 2020 Ampleforth was approximately $284 million and currently sits close to $220 million. Again, it is always important to mention that Ampleforth cannot be properly tracked by its price (as it automatically rebases to a target price of one 2019 inflation-adjusted US dollar). It is a supply-volatile asset.
With major DeFi-esq developments continuing on for Ampleforth, the chances of the next massive supply expansion continue to increase. Ampleforth is now cross-chain compatible over multiple different chains, has maximum lending on Aave, integrated with AVAX, and recently introduced Wrapped AMPL (WAMPL) that will be utilized in various background operations.
Keep stacking those AMPLs here on Publish0x.
Monthly Market Price:
YTD Gains:
Ampleforth Whitepaper
3. Algorand (ALGO) (-)
If you would like to read up on any of the most recent developments involving Algorand, check out our latest post on the chain here. The key takeaways for Algorand?
- Operational on-chain governance
- Multiple new Miami-based partnerships
- Increasing real world utility
It was an overall quiet year for Algorand, mostly because it is a newer blockchain in a very diverse space. That won't last forever based on the growth of utility and adoption of Algorand.
Algorand is down 22% over the past month. It saw a peak yearly gain of 878% at an all time high of $3.56. Currently, YTD ALGO is up 396% and is still technically in an uptrend.
Monthly Market Price:
YTD Gains:
Algorand Whitepaper
2. Chainlink (LINK) (-)
Chainlink hasn't had a massively impressive year based on price. What has been impressive is how fundamentally integrated Chainlink is with the other major projects and developers in the crytpocurrency & blockchain space. As the leading oracle in Web3, Chainlink is still one of the best long term holds.
Historically, Chainlink has generally held up well during bear market trends. At its current price point, there may only be so much downside to LINK.
Chainlink is down 49% since November. Chainlink peaked over the past year up 323% minted at an all time high of $52.70. LINK is up 57% YTD.
Monthly Market Price:
YTD Gains:
Chainlink Whitepaper
1. Bitcoin (BTC) (-)
Based on the current set up of Bitcoin, the bear market does appear highly probable. At an all time high of $69k it would mark a largely underwhelming year as many had Bitcoin well over $100k before 2022.
With that in mind, two things come into play here.
1. Bitcoin never had a parabolic blow off top
2. Because there was no blow off top, there shouldn't be a massive parabolic crash either
Of course, this could not hold up. Bitcoin could still rally immensely into the end of the year or crash and burn. No matter, Bitcoin had a crazy year of volatile action and became well-known all around the world in the process.
Bitcoin is down 28% over the past month. Bitcoin set an all time high of $69,044 - peaking at a yearly gain of 263%. YTD Bitcoin remains up 154%.
Monthly Market Price:
YTD Gains:
Bitcoin Whitepaper
Dropped from Rankings:
Honorable Mentions & Notable Other Projects:
(ATOM), (LUNA), (AAVE), Sushiswap (SUSHI), Pancakeswap (CAKE), (MKR), (LTC), Basic Attention Token (BAT), (DASH), (STORJ), (NXS), (UNI), (FARM), and more.
Yes, it does appear the bear is creeping its ugly head into the cryptocurrency market once again. After a fantastic year of gains, a market decline is not a bad deal. Remember, bull markets make you the gains but playing the bear markets right makes you rich. Continue to monitor your favorite assets as we finish up the month of December and head into the new year.
With crypto / Web3 / blockchain adoption only expected to increase, there is no telling what 2022 may have in store for this market. Thank you for following our top 10 list since August! We greatly appreciate all of you and will be back in January 2022!
As Always -
The cryptocurrencies chosen for our rankings this month are those we felt best fit our criteria. This is by no means the only cryptocurrencies worthy of your investment (see honorable mentions above for other examples).
New projects are created all the time that may have a substantial, disruptive impact on the entire market in the years to come.
As always, be sure to conduct your own due diligence before choosing which projects you should add to your portfolio. What coins do you feel should or should not be included in this list above? Do you agree with the rankings? Hate them? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!
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