Generally speaking, the market cap is the most important measure of a currency's position in the market. The higher the market cap the better the currency.
Market capitalization or market cap (in short) of a particular currency is described as the total value it occupies in the market. This is calculated by price x circulating supply.
Investors who wish to save their money in cryptocurrencies would rather look for high market cap coins with a market cap (MC) of about 10 billion dollars or above as they are considered safe and less volatile than others.
The entire crypto market has a market cap of about $950 Billion at the time of writing this article, although this figure used to be way higher and has been recorded to reach an all-time high (ATH) of almost $3 Trillion in November 2021, the peak of the bull season.
Ever since there has been an increasing decline in the total cryptocurrency market cap with Bitcoin leading the race.
The Top Ten Cryptocurrencies and their Market Capitalization:
1. Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin was built by an anonymous figure or group who went by the name Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009. It is the first-ever digital currency in existence, opening up the world of Web3, with a total or max supply of 21 million coins. It has a current value of approximately $20,000 and a market cap of $390,000,000,000, which is down over 60% from its all-time high.
Bitcoin was originally built as a mode of exchange or to facilitate online payments and it has now been widely accepted as a store of value.
The price of bitcoin generally affects the rest of the crypto market in the sense that, when bitcoin goes up, most other altcoins follow and so is the reverse, this is because of the high ratio of bitcoin's market cap to the rest of the crypto market and also because it is the most reliable currency, hence investors judge the faith of the market from its behavior.
2. Ethereum (ETH)
The second most valued cryptocurrency after Bitcoin is Ethereum or ETH, Ethereum is a decentralized open-source blockchain system that constitutes its currency Ether, it aimed to build a world computer such that anyone could build applications in a decentralized manner so that all data can be made publicly acceptable.
It was developed by a team of programmers led by the then 20-year-old Vitallik Buterin in 2014. Ethereum has seen a dramatic price decrease lately and is now down over 50% down from its 2021 all-time high.
It has a circulating supply of 121,249,686 coins and is currently valued at $1,145 per token which results in a market cap of $138,806,993,097.
3. Tether USD (USDT)
USDT was created in the year 2014 by Brock Piece, Craig Sellars, and Reeve Collins. It was originally named real coin, then later UST, and finally USDT. Tether was created as a stablecoin pegged with the US dollar on the Ethereum network. Its purpose was to avoid the high volatility of typical cryptocurrencies and also allow easy convertibility from fiat to crypto or even crypto to crypto.
Tether has to maintain the $1 value of the United States dollar more or less. Long-term investors who also hold USDT can lend their stable coin and earn percentages of up to 20% as rewards depending on the lending platform.
USDT has a circulating supply of $67,610,622,658 coins and is currently valued at $0.999 per token, This results in a market cap of approximately $67,429,364,857.
4. USD Coin (USDC)
USDC is yet another Ethereum-based stablecoin pegged to the US dollar in the ratio of 1:1. It was launched in October 2018 by the Center Consortium, co-founded by the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and Circle.
Contrary to what many may think, the US government does not back USDC as the name implies, however, the US dollar fully backs it as a stable asset. Like most stablecoins, USDC was created to avoid the usual volatility of the crypto market, ensuring it remains at $1 at all times, investors who do not want to experience price fluctuation in their assets can simply their assets in USDC.
It has a circulating supply of 55,687,836,478 and a current value of approximately $1 which results in a market cap of $55,687,836,478.
5. Binance Bitcoin (BNB)
BNB is a native token to what is the largest cryptocurrency exchange today, Binance, founded by a Chinese-Canadian developer and business executive. BNB was officially created in 2017 by the Binance exchange and was used to pay fees and approve transactions on the exchange.
BNB had an initial max supply of 200,000,000 tokens with a circulating supply of 163,276,974 BNB. The currency is valued at about $221, down almost 50% from its 2021 all-time high. It has a market capitalization of $36,142,288,222.
Binance conducts a quarterly burning of BNB tokens having the aim of reducing the total supply by half. Analysts have forecasted the price of BNB to soar up to over $1000 shortly.
6. Binance USD (BUSD)
Subject to a regular third-party audit and strictly regulated to maintain the 1:1 ratio with the US dollar, BUSD is considered one of the safest stablecoins in the crypto market. BUSD was created in the September of 2019 by the Binance exchange in partnership with Paxos. It is also regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NY DFS).
The aim is to bypass volatility and maintain stability with the dollar creating a safe environment for investors who do not wish to trade. It also plays a huge role in accepting transactions, completing payments, securing profits, or exiting trades without completely exiting the crypto market.
It is currently valued at $1 and has a circulating supply of 17,187,011,877 coins with a market cap of $17,206,047,502.
7. Ripple (XRP)
XRP is the native currency of the XRP Ledger, which was founded in 2012, when three developers, David Schwartz, Jed McCaleb, and Arthur Britto set out to initiate something more sustainable than the fascinating Bitcoin.
The XRP Ledger is an open-source permissionless decentralized technology and unlike bitcoin, whose transactions rely on and are processed by the proof of work mining system, XRP relies on a consensus algorithm, which is known as Ripple Consensus Algorithm.
The current market value of the XRP token is $0.3 and with a circulating supply of 48 billion coins, it has a market cap of $14,911,202,262.
8. Cardano (ADA)
ADA is the native coin of the Cardano blockchain, founded in 2015 by one of the co-founders of Ethereum, Charles Hoskinson. Transactions on this blockchain are validated using the proof of stake mechanism which is more energy effective than the proof of work, originally started by bitcoin.
ADA is currently valued at $0.44. Its current circulating supply is recorded to be around 33,820,262,543 Cardano coins resulting in a market cap of $14,892,326,526, about 80% down from its 2021 all-time high.
9. Solana (SOL)
Known for its great speed and efficiency, Solana is a blockchain that works on both proofs of history and proof of work consensus, designed to provide decentralized solutions. Solana was created by a team of developers led by Anatoly Yakovenko in 2017.
The Solana blockchain was created to host decentralized, scalable applications in order to support builders all over the world in creating crypto apps that would scale.
There are 342,899,40 Solana coins in circulation, each valued around $31 with a market cap of about $10,826,736,638.
10. Dogecoin (DOGE)
Dogecoin was founded by Jackson Palmer and Marcus in 2013. It is open-source crypto that started out as a joke featuring a Shiba Inu dog breed. Dogecoin is primarily a tipping currency where users on Reddit and Twitter tip each other for sharing valuable content.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk also believes that dogecoin will become a big thing in the crypto space. We don't know if it's for real or just one of his long-standing jokes!
Dogecoin currently has a circulating supply of 132,670,764,299 coins each valued at $0.06. It also has a market capitalization of $8,365,628,431.
--
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the best crypto to invest in 2022?
As the crypto market is still very young and volatile, it is difficult to be completely sure what the next big thing will be, however, smart investors are still stacking up more Bitcoin, ETH, BNB, Shiba Inu, etc.
2. Can I get rich with crypto?
It is possible to get very rich investing in cryptocurrencies and it is even more possible to get rekt (lose all your money). The best thing to do is invest only money that you can afford to lose into the market and avoid uncalculated high risks too.
3. How many cryptocurrencies are in existence altogether?
There are currently over 18,000 cryptocurrencies that have been launched so far. However, not all of them are active, but over 10,000 are tradable.
--
NFA: Not Financial Advice. IYOPS or the author(s)/editor(s) are not registered investment advisors or brokers/dealers. All investment opinions expressed are from the personal research and experience of the author/editor and are intended as educational material. Despite our best efforts to make the information available as accurate as possible, occasionally, we err, as humans do.
DYOR: Do Your Own Research before making any investment decisions based on your personal circumstances. We recommend taking professional advice before making any investment decision.
----------
Help us fight for equal access to information, along with all other pressing issues of our world by contributing however you can. You can write for us, share our articles, advise, volunteer, intern, donate, etc.
We use this help to provide awareness, training, and education to youth from underserved communities (though our material is available for all) to help them become better leaders of tomorrow.
Share with us your thoughts on this issue in the comments section below. Reach out to us at iyops.executives@gmail.com for collaborations.
Thank you and take care!
--------
References: (click the arrow to expand)
Abdulhafeez Yusuf is a content writer at the International Youths Organization for Peace and Sustainability. He is currently an Agricultural student at Bayero University in Kano, Nigeria. His passions include web design, digital marketing, real estate, and Web3.
Inputs and Edits by Aswin Raghav R.
Comments