Top 10 Cryptocurrency Rankings for 2022 – Which One to Invest In?

Original author: Jimmy Aki

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The crypto market is full of established and promising projects. While many of them have turned out to be nothing more than hypes, a growing number of altcoins are listed on the top 10 crypto to invest in.

We’ve reviewed a list of the top assets to invest in for large returns.

1. Bitcoin (BTC)

Despite a checkered start to the year, Bitcoin remains the number one in the top 10 crypto to invest in. Launched officially in early 2009, Bitcoin is the first recognised digital currency and has continued to lead the crypto market. The decentralised asset controls around 40% of the burgeoning ecosystem.

The premier digital asset’s remarkable success and adoption largely lie in its cryptographic build-up. In the Bitcoin whitepaper of 2008, only 21 million BTC coins will ever be mined. This gives the crypto bellwether a deflationary outlook, with several retail and institutional investors preferring it to cash.

Bitcoin is currently the most adopted crypto asset, with a record number of legacy-facing companies adding the decentralised currency to their books. However, Bitcoin global adoption has been hampered by its energy-guzzling mining process, which reportedly contributes to the global climate crisis.

Efforts are ongoing to make this process more energy-efficient and more environmentally sustainable. One of such efforts is by computer chip manufacturing giant Intel Corporation, which has shared plans to launch a 3,600-watt miner to improve Bitcoin mining efficiency.

Bitcoin is currently facing a stiff bearish battle and has slid below the $40K mark. The digital asset is trading at $39,045.68, up 2.22% in the last 24 hours. The relative strength index (RSI) figure of 41.99 shows that BTC is trading in the underbought region, making now an ideal time to own one of the top 10 crypto to invest in.

2. Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum is the premier protocol in the smart contracts niche and has birthed multiple ecosystems due to its robust network. Launched in July 2015, the Ethereum network enables the development of other decentralised applications (dApps) on top of its protocol.

Given this, Ethereum currently has 58.54% of the DeFi ecosystem in its stronghold, pointing to a flourishing protocol.

Ethereum has broken into the crypto limelight and is currently the second most valuable digital asset behind Bitcoin. The digital asset surged to the north of $5,000 during the November 2021 crypto bull run.

However, the smart contract protocol has since dipped this year and is trading at $2,686.20, up 3.61% in the past day. The DeFi hub has since posted a 51.26% increase in the last six months, making ETH one of the top 10 crypto to invest in for the long term.

Following in the footsteps of its older crypto cousin, ETH has since been added as a form of appreciation for content on Twitter Tips. This was announced on February 16 by Twitter.

3. Binance Coin (BNB)

Binance may not currently be the third most valuable digital asset by market cap, but the discount token is one of the top 10 crypto to invest in. Owned by the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, Binance, BNB serves as an incentivisation tool for traders.

The BEP-20 token is used by traders to cut down on their trading fees from 0.10% to 0.025% depending on the amount of BNB they hold. Binance Coin has continued to feature prominently beyond the crypto exchange and is a principal character in the larger Binance ecosystem. All protocols built atop the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) interact with BNB, increasing its use cases and user appeal.

Binance Coin is set to play a principal role in the rebranded BSC network, following a network restructuring from the BSC to BNB Chain.

The idea is to make the new protocol a multi-chain solution catering to unique needs in the MetaFi ecosystem, consisting of the Metaverse, GameFi, SocialFi, Web3, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). BNB is currently trading at $379.30, down 0.31% in the last 24 hours.

4. Ripple (XRP)

Ripple is another top 10 crypto to invest in and should not be missed. The Ripple blockchain is a scalable and low-cost protocol that is focused on enabling financial institutions to transfer value across borders.

Launched using the Federated Consensus Algorithm (FCA), Ripple is one of the better-known crypto projects in the market and is currently the 6th most valuable digital asset by market valuation. The Ripple blockchain has separated itself from the crypto crowd largely due to its innovative use of its technology.

Ripple has committed to a carbon-free future, with plans to make its protocol environmentally friendly come 2030.

The Digital Euro Association (DEA) has also tapped the blockchain protocol as a principal partner to develop its central bank digital currency (CBDC) program.

Price-wise, Ripple’s XRP token is currently trading at a discount for $0.78, down 1.57% in the past day. However, the digital asset is holding its own and is trading on par with the 50-hour exponential moving average (EMA) indicator.

5. Cardano (ADA)

Cardano is a top 10 crypto to invest in and ranks as one of the most celebrated blockchain protocols in the crypto market. Using a peer-review system, Cardano is a proof-of-stake (PoS) protocol that enables the development of smart contract networks.

Cardano is still under development. However, it’s expected to come with a high throughput of over 3 million transactions per second (TPS) once its Hydra update launches later in the year.

Several dApps have been migrating or building directly on the Cardano network due to its low-fee and energy-efficient structure. One of the newest entrants is Acardex, which doubles as an automated market maker (AMM) and decentralised exchange (DEX). The blockchain protocol will enable the seamless exchange of native and non-native tokens on the Cardano network.

Other unique features include anonymity, reduced counter-party risks prompted by one party not going through with the transaction, and low-risk security.

Cardano’s ADA has borne the brunt of the current bear run resiliently and is currently trading below the $1 mark. At press time, ADA is trading at $0.949, up 1.22% in the last 24 hours, despite a broader market downtrend.

6. Solana (SOL)

Solana has enjoyed a breakthrough in 2021 and is now considered one of the hottest prospects in the crypto space. Leveraging the PoS and proof-of-history (PoH) timing mechanism, Solana has a 50,000 TPS and costs way less in transaction fees than principal DeFi rival Ethereum.

These features make the DeFi hotshot one of the top 10 crypto to invest in. It’s even better as the blockchain-driven economy continues to gain momentum.

Solana has continued to gain remarkable adoption and has reportedly suffered multiple network outages due to excessive transactions coming into the network. This points to growing market demand for a scalable and energy-efficient blockchain network — twin concepts the Ethereum network is building towards.

Solana recently launched the on-ramp payment solution in collaboration with stablecoin maker Circle protocol. The Solana Pay will enable USDC to operate in the Solana ecosystem.

Adding to this, Solana has recently been tapped by social donation tool Change for onboarding. Now, anyone can use the Phantom Wallet to sign a social cause, donate, and track their donations. SOL is currently trading below its record high of $260, with a price of $92.70, up 4.96% so far.

7. Terra (LUNA)

Another prominent DeFi protocol, Terra blockchain, is one of the top 10 crypto to invest in for the long term. The team behind the DeFi network aims to create a stable currency for digital assets as the crypto market is plagued by volatility.

This has led them to create multiple stablecoins for several fiat currencies, with the UST being the most prominent stable coins..

The Terra blockchain has continued to gain investor interest and is currently one of the most exciting blockchain protocols in the crypto market.

The Washington Nationals MLB franchise has recently teamed up with the Terra blockchain. It’s expected to be a 5-year partnership, and the total cost is placed at $38.15 million.

The partnership is in a bid to promote the Terra blockchain across all Washington Nationals’ networks and also boost the awareness of the UST and LUNA tokens.

LUNA has continued to ride on the crypto wave in the past year and surged to an all-time high (ATH) of $103.33 in late December 2021. Currently pegged at $51.24, LUNA is up 5.25% in the past day, showing a promising rally in the coming weeks.

8. Avalanche (AVAX)

The Avalanche blockchain is reportedly the fastest blockchain protocol based on time-to-block finality. Also a DeFi-facing smart contract protocol, the Avalanche blockchain is a layer-1 network and aims to engender the broader adoption of DeFi and cryptocurrencies.

Avalanche has remained a principal competitor to the Ethereum network. So far, some DeFi protocols call it home. The most recent is DEX protocol ZeeDEX, which allows DeFi users to swap limitlessly with zero gas obligations, zero fees, and the best rates on its twin multichain DEX aggregator ZeroSwapLabs.

Utility token AVAX has borne the brunt of the bear market and is currently trading at $79.21, down 0.22% in the last 24 hours. This is 45.77% below its ATH of $146.22 in late November 2021. However, the AVAX token has grown more than 15,000% from its all-time low (ATL) of $2.79.

9. Polkadot (DOT)

Polkadot is a heterogeneous blockchain solution founded by former Ethereum co-founder and CTO Dr Gavin Wood. The protocol enables the development of DeFi services on its protocol while connected to its Relay Chain. Each DeFi protocol is called a parachain and leverages Polkadot’s security infrastructure to build and launch blockchain services.

Polkadot has taken the quiet and less travelled path to building a sharded blockchain solution whereby all asset types can be seamlessly sent and received.

The protocol is currently working on its parachain auctions, which see DeFi protocols raise crowdfunds to bid for a spot on the network. HydraDX has recently won the 9th parachain auction and will join others in tapping into the Polkadot ecosystem.

The DOT token has seen its growth stalled by the broader market downtrend. At press time, DOT is trading at $16.82, up 0.32% in the past day. DOT is trading on par on the moving average convergence and divergence (MACD) indicator.

10. Polygon (MATIC)

Polygon may not be one of the top layer-1 protocols, but the scaling solution is still one of the top 10 crypto to invest in for the long term. Based on the Ethereum network, Polygon helps the parent network to validate transactions off-chain before adding them back to the Ethereum network.

Polygon has been able to establish itself as the premier layer-2 protocol. The modular framework comes with a reputed 65,000 TPS, low carbon footprint, and most importantly, low fees. Despite a market downturn, these features have seen Polygon continue to enjoy investor attention.

The scaling solution recently raised $450 million from venture capital (VC) heavyweights, including Sequoia Capital, SoftBank, Galaxy Digital, and a host of others.

At press time, the utility token is going for a discount at $1.52, down 0.44% in the past day.

Read more: 

• How to Buy Polkadot Coin (DOT)
• Where to Buy Solana (SOL)