Although it has been said multiple times now, 2017 is definitely the year of crypto in many ways. We have seen many existing coins rise to astronomical heights, and it is evident all other tokens and currencies are thriving as well. In fact, we now have 21 different currencies and tokens with market capitalizations of over US$1 billion. Not too long ago, there were less than ten coins which could claim that. Now is a good time to reflect on how things have evolved this year.
The Elite Cryptocurrency Club
A lot of things have changed in the world of cryptocurrency over the past few months. While Bitcoin is still the clear market leader, it is evident cryptocurrency isn’t just about Bitcoin anymore. That being said, the market cap of Bitcoin alone has grown well beyond the total valuation of all cryptocurrencies in January. It is interesting how quickly things have moved in this regard.
Ethereum is the second-most valuable cryptocurrency, which is something that hasn’t changed either. Everything beyond those top two, though, has changed quite a bit. Bitcoin Cash is still in third place, although it was temporarily overtaken by Ripple not long ago. We now see a minuscule gap between these two currencies in terms of valuation, although the two have far different supplies. Since XRP isn’t even an actual cryptocurrency, it is quite interesting to see how far the company has come in the past few months.
Beyond them, we see Litecoin sitting in the fifth spot. According to some, it is still somewhat undervalued, even though LTC has had a very strong run this year. Cardano is, right now, the 6th largest cryptocurrency by market cap. For a currency mainly traded on just two exchanges, that is rather remarkable. IOTA is still in the 7th position, although it has lost a fair bit of value in recent days. Dash, NEM, and Monero complete the top 10. These rankings will look very different in a year from now; that much is almost guaranteed.
Many other currencies and tokens have attained market caps of over US$1 billion as well. Bitcoin Gold, despite being a less-popular hard fork, still has a market cap of over US$5 billion. Stellar, the Ripple competitor, is in the 12th spot, with a US$1 billion lead over NEO. Ethereum Classic is still in the top 15, and BitConnect somehow made it to 15th place. The latter currency has a very shady reputation right now, but many people are apparently more than willing to invest in it.
Other surprising names among the top 21 cryptocurrencies include Qtum, Zcash, Lisk, Waves, Stratis, and BitShares. Although some of those were to be expected, it is remarkable how far all of these projects have come this year. With so much money pouring into cryptocurrency right now, it is not unlikely we will add a few more coins to the US$1 billion club before the year is over.
Considering that all cryptocurrencies and ICO tokens combined are worth just over US$600 billion, we can only hope to see more of the same in 2018. A lot of people expect big things from privacy-centric currencies next year, as they may become the new go-to form of money moving forward. Rest assured there are many more exciting years ahead for crypto users all over the world.
