The crypto market has come a long way following large-scale adoptions in the past year. However, investors are still searching for the top coins to invest for strong returns given the fierce competition in the crypto industry.
We have conducted a thorough analysis and selected 10 most promising coins in 2023.
Bitcoin
Overview
Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency to use a decentralised blockchain to record financial transactions. Despite being launched more than a decade ago in 2009, it remains the top coin for both new and seasoned investors. You can easily purchase BTC on many crypto exchange in Australias such as CoinSpot, BTC Markets and Crypto.com.
By enabling innovative technology and secure payment architecture, Bitcoin aimed to revolutionise traditional financial systems and eliminate the need for government-issued currencies.
Currently, there are 19,061,768.75 bitcoins in circulation. This number fluctuates every 10 minutes as new blocks are mined. At the moment, each new block adds 6.25 bitcoins to the system. The total number of bitcoins that can ever exist is 21 million. The market capitalisation is $579.58 billion.
Number of owners
There are over 106 million Bitcoin owners.
Price history
2009–2015
When Bitcoin was first introduced in 2009, its price was zero. On July 17, 2010, its value increased to $.091. Bitcoin’s price increased once more on April 13, 2011, from $1 to a high of $29.60 by June 7, 2011, a gain of 2,960% in three months. Following a sharp decline in cryptocurrency markets, Bitcoin’s price fell to $2.05 by mid-November. The price increased from $4.85 on May 9 to $13.50 by August 15.
2012 was a generally uneventful year for Bitcoin, but 2013 saw significant price gains. It began the year at $13.28 and reached $230 on April 8; an equally rapid decline followed, with the price dropping to $68.50 a few weeks later on July 4.
Bitcoin was trading at $123.00 in early October; by December, it had risen to $1,237.55 before plummeting to $687.02 three days later.
Bitcoin prices fell throughout 2014, reaching $315.21 at the start of 2015.
2016–2020
Prices gradually increased throughout 2016, reaching over $900 by the end of the year. Bitcoin’s price hovered around $1,000 in 2017 until it broke $2,000 in mid-May when it skyrocketed to $19,345.49 on December 15. As a result, mainstream investors, governments, economists, and scientists began developing cryptocurrencies to compete with Bitcoin.
For the next two years, Bitcoin’s price moved sideways with small bursts of activity. In June 2019, for example, there was a resurgence in price and trading volume, with prices exceeding $10,000. However, by mid-December, it had dropped to $6,635.84.
The economy shut down in 2020 due to the COIVD-19 pandemic—Bitcoin’s price burst into activity once again. The value of the cryptocurrency at the start of the year was $6,965.72. The pandemic shutdown and subsequent government policies exacerbated investors’ concerns about the global economy, accelerating Bitcoin’s rise. At close on Nov. 23, Bitcoin was trading for $19,157.16. Bitcoin’s price reached just under $29,000 in December 2020, having increased 416% since the beginning of the year.
2021–Present
Bitcoin broke its 2020 price record in less than a month in 2021, reaching $40,000 on January 7, 2021. As Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange went public in mid-April, Bitcoin prices reached new all-time highs of more than $60,000. 14 Bitcoin’s price rose further as a result of institutional interest, reaching a high of $63,558 on April 12, 2021.
Prices had dropped by half by the summer of 2021, reaching $29,796 on July 19. In September, Autumn experienced another bull run with prices reaching $52,693, but a large drawdown saw it close at $40,710 about two weeks later.
Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $68,789 on November 10, 2021, closing at $64,995.
Bitcoin fell to $46,164 in mid-December 2021 before fluctuating further as investors were alarmed by the emergence of a new variant of COVID-19, Omicron.
Bitcoin’s price fell gradually between January and May 2022, with closing prices reaching as high as $47,445 by the end of March before falling further. Bitcoin closed at $28,305 on May 11, its lowest price since July 20, 2021.
Potential Risks
The value of bitcoin fluctuates a lot. During any given month, the price can fluctuate by thousands of dollars. This year that has undoubtedly been the case, as bitcoin prices have correlated to the Nasdaq, as CNBC reported, casting doubt on previous assumptions that bitcoin would serve as an inflation hedge.
If these wild fluctuations make you nervous, you should avoid bitcoin. Otherwise, as long as you remember that cryptocurrency could be a good long-term investment, these price fluctuations shouldn’t be too concerning, and the current low price could represent a good buying opportunity.
The price of bitcoin is another reason to reconsider investing in it. With a single bitcoin costing over $30,000, most people are unable to purchase whole bitcoins. This is a disadvantage for investors who want to avoid purchasing a fraction of a bitcoin.
Ethereum
Overview
Ethereum is, at its core, a decentralised global software platform based on blockchain technology. It is best known for its native cryptocurrency, ether, abbreviated as ETH. Anyone can use Ethereum to create any secure digital technology they can think of. It has a token designed for use in the blockchain network, but participants can also use it to pay for work done on the blockchain.
Ethereum is intended to be highly scalable, programmable, secure, and decentralised. It is the blockchain of choice for developers and enterprises, who are using it to build technology that will change the way many industries operate and how we live our lives. It natively supports smart contracts, a key component of decentralised applications.
As of the time of writing, there are approximately 119.28 million Ethereum in circulation. This will change over time, and you can check the circulating supply on various Ethereum block explorers and websites like CoinMarketCap. Nobody knows how much Ether will be available in the future. Unlike Bitcoin, which has a supply limit of 21 million BTC, Ethereum has no such limit. ETH’s market cap at the time of writing is USD 219.50 billion.
Number of backers
There are 1,297,453 ETH holders.
Number of Dapps built on Ethereum blockchain
There are 2970 Dapps on the Ethereum blockchain.
Price history
2015: Ethereum’s Origin
The Ethereum blockchain was launched in 2015, two years after the open-source Ethereum whitepaper outlined the protocol. Ethereum was valued at less than $1 for the entire year of 2015, but more important than its price was the potential crypto investors saw in it.
The goal of Ethereum has always been to create a blockchain that not only makes cryptocurrency but also allows people to build decentralised applications or DApps. These DApps are similar to apps on your phone, except they are built on top of a blockchain and accessed via a crypto wallet.
The platform enabled what are now known as smart contracts, or programmable contracts that carry out DApp transactions. Smart contracts are most commonly used when people buy or sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on blockchain. Because the royalty instructions are coded within the token itself, smart contracts can help ensure that every time an NFT is bought and sold again, the artist continues to receive a portion of sales.
On the other hand, smart contracts have the potential to go beyond NFTs, and some experts believe they could bring new efficiency and innovation to things like voting records and even supply chain management. As a result, Ethereum captured the attention of crypto enthusiasts and survived its first year.
2016: A Steady Climb — Then Plateau
In the first week of January 2016, ether broke the $1 mark. By February 2016, it had more than doubled to more than $2. This rate continued throughout the year, and by July 2016, Ethereum had risen to more than $12. Things began to level off, and after a few rolling plateaus, ETH finished 2016 at around $8.
2017: The First Big Spike
In 2017, Ethereum’s steady march became more volatile, and we began to see jumps on the chart where the price surpassed — then fell back below — all-time highs. The first significant increase occurred between April and June when ETH rose from the mid $40s to around $362. It had a few more peaks and valleys before reaching its next all-time high in December, this time at $826. ETH ended 2017 at around $772.
2018: A Record-Setting Moment in Time
In January 2018. ETH kicked off with a price 600 times higher than it was just two years prior in January 2016. However, the euphoria would peak and fade shortly after ETH reached a new all-time high of around $1,396 on Jan. 12. After that, things quickly changed. Except for a brief return to $816, the price of ETH fell throughout 2018. It ended the year at around $141.
2019 and 2020: Rolling Hills
For about two years, prices remained stable, with ETH fluctuating between $150 and $730. While this range still demonstrates crypto’s dramatically volatile nature, these rolling peaks and valleys stayed within a $600 margin and were comparatively mild compared to what came next in 2021.
2021: The Year of NFTs (and Therefore ETH)
In 2021, the NFT market exploded and grew into a multibillion-dollar industry. Top NFT collections, such as CryptoPunks and the Bored Ape Yacht Club, have sold for tens of millions of dollars or more.
Ethereum was (and arguably still is) the most popular blockchain protocol for minting, buying, and trading NFTs due to its smart contract capabilities — though competitors are moving in now that Ethereum’s service fees are high and traffic is crowding the website.
ETH skyrocketed from around $730 in late 2020 to $4,000 by May 2021, with another all-time high of about $4,800 in November. Those who want to buy NFTs must first fund their crypto wallet with ETH, which they then use to buy the digital tokens they desire. Some popular places for Australians to buy NFTs are OpenSea and CoinSpot in-platform NFT marketplaces. We highly recommend CoinSpot NFT marketplace because it supports a wide range of NFT, its customer service is 24/7 and CoinSpot fees are transparent and attractive.
However, since the beginning of 2022, the price of Ethereum has dropped below $3,000. Bearish sentiments in the cryptocurrency market have begun to circulate, and some speculate that they may seize control of the narrative for the time being.
Potential risks
There is currently only one “lane” for conducting transactions. When the network is overloaded, this can cause transactions to take longer to process. Transaction fees are also exorbitant. According to CoinDesk, the blockchain’s “gas” price — the amount of ether required to conduct a transaction on the Ethereum blockchain — increased 13% in March due to the high demand for block space.
Security has also been a concern. In 2016, for example, a hack that exploited a security flaw resulted in the loss of more than $50 million in ether. In May, the network experienced a security breach as a result of the launch of a new blockchain that operates alongside Ethereum’s mainnet. However, users were not impacted because that blockchain is on a test network. The final Merge upgrade is expected to strengthen the blockchain.
Binance Coin
Overview
After years of relatively stable prices, at least by cryptocurrency standards, Binance coin took off in early 2021, skyrocketing from around $38 on January 1 to an all-time high of $683 in May.
Binance coin has proven to be one of the more stable investment options — relatively speaking — due to its performance over time. It’s the native token on Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, according to CoinMarketCap, as well as on Binance.US, the version required for US residents. Despite its extensive functionality and success in Binance sub-projects, Binance coin remains a highly volatile investment.
Investors who trade frequently should be aware that Binance recently temporarily halted deposits and withdrawals for some networks, including Polygon and Solana while performing upgrades. The most recent one, on April 8, had no effect on airdrops, which are rewards based on a percentage of users’ deposits.
This digital asset currently has a market capitalisation of nearly $69 billion. BNB’s current circulating supply is 165,116,761.89 BNB, and its total supply is 165,116,761.89 BNB. Binance, FTX, Huobi Global, Mandala Exchange, Gate.io, Kucoin, and CoinTiger are currently the top crypto trading platforms for BNB.
Number of backers
There are 1,530,132 BNB holders.
Number of Dapps built on Binance Smart Chain
There are 1,464 Dapps on Binance Smart Chain.
Price history
The first market cycle for BNB began on November 17, 2017, with a low of $0.50. BNB then increased by a whopping 4,936% in just 67 days. This culminated in a high of $25.18 reached on January 12, 2017. This was BNB’s all-time high until April 2019.
BNB fell by 84% over 329 days after the high was reached. This was a significant correction, but it was more gradual than the previous upward trend. BNB fell until it reached a low of $4.12 on December 7, 2018. After this, BNB began its second cycle.
Over the course of 197 days, BNB increased by 861%, reaching an all-time high of $39.59 on June 22, 2019. This all-time high was maintained until December 2020.
It’s worth noting that after BNB broke its previous all-time high, it dropped significantly before regaining its losses. Unlike the upward move, the ensuing correction was much more similar to the first. This correction reduced BNB by 84% over 265 days.
BNB began its third and current market cycle after reaching a low of $6.30 on March 13, 2020, which was very close to the previous low of $4.12. BNB then increased by 693% in the days since, reaching an all-time high of $691.80 on May 10, 2021. It reached a low of $669 in November 2021 before resuming its downward trend. It is currently worth $290.69.
Potential risks
Binance coin differs from its competitors in that a company developed it instead of a group of tech developers, and it is the native coin on the world’s largest exchange. Despite Binance coin’s commitment to maintaining a strong blockchain, some investors remain wary of this cryptocurrency and its potential security issues.
Cardano
Overview
Cardano is a third-generation, decentralised proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain platform that aims to be a more efficient alternative to proof-of-work (PoW) networks. The infrastructure burden of rising costs, energy consumption, energy consumption, and slow transaction times limit scalability, interoperability, and sustainability on PoW networks like Ethereum.
The implications of these challenges to blockchain networks were recognised by Charles Hoskinson, the co-founder of the proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain Ethereum, who began developing Cardano and its primary cryptocurrency, ADA, in 2015, launching the platform and the ADA token in 2017.
The Cardano platform runs on the Ouroboros consensus protocol. Ouroboros, developed by Cardano during its early stages, was the first PoS protocol that was not only proven to be secure but also the first to be informed by scholarly academic research. Each development phase, or era, in the Cardano roadmap, is anchored by the research-based framework, which combines peer-reviewed insights with evidence-based methods to progress towards and achieve milestones related to the future directions of the use applications of both the blockchain network and the ADA token.
Cardano’s maximum supply is 45,000,000,000 ADA, with a market cap of USD 21.84 billion.
Number of backers
There are 408,000 ADA holders.
Number of Dapps built on Cardano
There are over 1,000 Dapps on Cardano network.
Price history
2017
Cardano’s team raised more than $63 million during its initial coin offering (ICO) the first week after its launch. After a period of rapid growth, ADA’s market capitalisation surpassed $600 million on October 1st, 2017. ADA is now available on several major cryptocurrency exchanges, including CoinSpot, Binance, Coinbase, and Crypto.com. The coin’s value increased by more than 142.4% on November 29th, 2017, bringing its market capitalisation to $3.5 billion.
2018
The ADA reached an all-time high of $1.162 early in January 2018. As a result, its market capitalisation peaked at nearly $33 billion. Unfortunately, the rally was brief, and the price quickly fell into a bear market. At the end of 2018, the price had dropped dramatically below $0.04.
2019
Cardano had a remarkable first half of 2019. After reaching $0.05 on January 9th, the price fell until it found support at $0.035 on February 6th. On April 3rd, the price of ADA reached $0.10. The increase in purchasing demand pushed the price of ADA to $0.10 on April 3rd.
Cardano attempted to break through the $0.10 barrier five times after a minor drop to $0.057. The ADA price reached $0.11 on June 26th, 2019, but selling pressure caused another drop. Cardano’s performance for the rest of the year was negative; only in December did ADA find support at the $0.03 price level.
2020
At the beginning of January, ADA continued to trade at $0.03 on a pessimistic note. The price increased to $0.06, with some variations in the middle of February. Following that, the altcoin’s price fell further. Because of the crypto market meltdown caused by the Covid-19 epidemic, the price dropped to $0.02 in March. At the end of July, the ADA price reached $0.15 due to a sustained ascent.
At the end of September, the price had dropped to $0.07. The price managed to follow bitcoin, reaching $0.17 at the end of November. The trade of 2020 came to an end with variations, with a price tag of $0.17.
2021
It hit a new high of $2.4 after the Cardano Foundation released an infographic indicating that their ADA tokens would be ideal for Tesla. However, as the market crashed on May 19th, the price of ADA plummeted from $2 to $1.48.
After the upheaval, August started on an optimistic note. As the digital asset recovered its position on the market charts, it made a comeback. The new ADA price reached $3.08 as the debut of smart contracts approached.
The fourth quarter of 2021 was primarily unfavourable to the price of ADA. With successive generations of lower highs, the ADA price has lost half its value.
Potential risks
Even with a better network and the increased functionality smart contracts provide, Cardano may not be able to compete with larger cryptocurrencies. Fewer users equal fewer developers. Most investors who want to see a high adoption rate will find this unappealing.
The platform has big plans, such as launching an incubator to help Africa reach its full potential as a major economy, but it remains to be seen whether it can deliver on those promises.
SOLANA
Overview
Solana is a blockchain platform for hosting decentralised, scalable applications. Solana was founded in 2017 as an open-source project run by the Solana Foundation in Geneva, with the blockchain built by Solana Labs in San Francisco. Solana is much faster in transaction processing capacity and has significantly lower transaction fees than rival blockchains such as Ethereum.
The cryptocurrency that runs on the Solana blockchain, also known as Solana (SOLUSD) and trading under the ticker symbol SOL, has risen nearly 12,000% in 2021,2 and has a market capitalisation of more than $13 billion, and a total supply of 508,180,963 coins.
Number of backers
Number of Dapps built on Solana network
There are over 350 Dapps built on Solana.
Price history
In 2021, Solana (SOL) token became the fastest-growing cryptocurrency, and it has surpassed the once-popular Dogecoin, DAI, DASH, Polkadot, VeChain, Eos, and other cryptocurrencies. Its main rivals are Binance Coin (BNB) and Tether (USDT) (USDT).
Solana (SOL) prices increased by more than 43% in October of 2021 and is selling for $217.19, up from $25.72 on January 1, 2021. Solana crypto reached an all-time high of $260.06 on November 6, 2021.
On December 27, 2021, the price continued a moderately optimistic pattern, rising from $197 to $204 before plummeting to $177 the next day. On December 29, 2021, the price dropped even further to $170 before gradually increasing to $176.
Potential risks
Because Solana has a smaller user base and a shorter track record than Ethereum, investors may be less confident in the network’s stability. In September, Solana’s reputation suffered a setback when the Solana Foundation tweeted that the Solana blockchain was experiencing “intermittent instability.” Anatoly Yakovenko, CEO of Solana Labs, stated that the network had experienced similar stability issues the previous week. The company blamed the problems on “resource exhaustion” and said its engineers were working to resolve them. For cryptocurrency investors, reliability is critical, and many were dissatisfied with the relatively vague explanation.
Polygon
Overview
Polygon was developed by a development team that made significant contributions to the Ethereum blockchain platform. According to CoinMarketCap, Polygon is designed for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development. As a “layer two” solution, it expands Ethereum into a multi-chain system, increasing transaction and verification speed.
Polygon has received funding from the cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Coinbase. MATIC, its native token, is used for payment services, transaction fees, and settlement currency.
AMB Crypto reported on April 9 that Zo World, a decentralised travel project, had launched its non-fungible token and other digital assets on Polygon, which could benefit MATIC prices. Individuals who buy those assets also gain ownership of Zo Metaverse real estate. According to CoinTelegraph, an Indian state government is using Polygon to issue caste certificates to help deliver government benefits to over 1 million low-income citizens.
Polygon has a market cap of $5.16B and total supply of 10,000,000,000 MATIC.
Number of backers
There are over 416,000 MATIC holders.
Number of Dapps on Polygon
The Polygon network is home to over 19,000 Dapps.
Price history
According to Polygon’s plan, all Matic coins will be released by December 2022, which is excellent news for long-term investors because it ensures substantial future gains.
Matic tokens have had an incredible run since their inception in 2017, withstanding the test of unforgiving crypto market turmoil that usually ends up wiping out invalid tokens.
Despite the current bearish trend in the crypto market, experts are convinced by Matic’s crypto price forecast data, which indicates an overall bullish trend for the long-term investment horizon.
According to Coingecko data, Polygon has made impressive gains since its inception in 2017. The crypto token has risen by up to 44157.6%, and the rally is expected to continue in the coming years.
Cryptocurrencies are volatile – it’s impossible to predict which will be popular in the future and which will fall out of favour. However, we believe that Matic has a lot of potential and that its value will hold up well.
Polygon’s price has risen 3.69% in the last 24 hours as trading volume and market cap have increased.
Polygon is struggling to gain traction with other cryptocurrencies. The MATIC has dropped to around -3.03% in the last seven days. The currency has been demonstrating risky framing segments over the previous several days; while the coin has excellent fundamentals, we do not believe it will be a successful asset in the short run.
MATIC’s price fell by -61.536% in the previous month, subtracting a whopping $1.05 from its current value. This sharp drop indicates that the currency is currently in a slump, implying that it could be an excellent purchase opportunity for a quick investment.
The price fluctuated between a minimum average price of $1.83 and a maximum average price of $2.23 in the previous 90 days, resulting in a -69.31 percent price change.
Polygon is down -61.26% in the last four months, with the maximum average price of the coin around $1.77 and the minimum average price around $1.69, but the price is bullish today.
Potential risks
Polygon disclosed late last year that it had patched a vulnerability that put about $20 million worth of its coins at risk, according to CoinDesk. A hacker discovered the exploit and alerted Polygon, which implemented a fix within two days. However, black-hat hackers had already stolen over 800,000 tokens, leaving Polygon liable for approximately $1.4 million.
Avalanche
Overview
Avalanche is a relatively new “layer one” blockchain — a blockchain that improves the base protocol to make the system more scalable, as Binance described it.According to CoinMarketCap, it was founded as an Ethereum competitor by Ava Labs and computer scientists at Cornell University, one of whom, former professor Emin Gün Sirer, is a cryptographic research veteran.
Unlike Ethereum, which requires all nodes to validate every transaction, Avalanche’s three individual blockchains can validate transactions independently. This makes Avalanche more scalable and capable of handling high transaction volumes — up to 6,500 per second. As a result, it’s becoming increasingly popular among Ethereum projects.
As for the coin itself, Bloomberg reported on April 7 that Avalanche had beaten Ether to become Terra’s reserve currency for its own UST stablecoin. As part of that initiative, the Luna Foundation Guard, a non-profit organisation that supports Terra, planned to acquire $100 million in Avalanche.
Avalanche has a total supply of 404,229,626 and a market cap of nearly $7B
Number of backers
There are over 80,000 AVAX holders.
Number of Dapps built on Avalanche
There are over 360 projects on this smart contracts platform.
Price history
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Potential Risks
In 2018, Sirer published a white paper introducing the cryptocurrency. Its launch took place in 2020Avalanche lacks a track record for comparison due to its short history, making it a riskier investment for potential buyers.
Chainlink
Overview
Chainlink uses a decentralised oracle network to facilitate secure interactions between blockchains and external data feeds, events and payment methods, which the developers hope will allow smart contracts to become the dominant form of digital payment.
Chainlink is parterning with Truflation, a decentralised finance company, which is developing a new inflation index to replace the consumer price index. The CPI measures inflation using survey data, whereas Truflation’s index will use price data with the CPI’s calculation model, according to CoinDesk. The Truflation index is expected to be more precise, transparent, and resistant to censorship than the CPI.
Chainlink has a market cap of 3.34B and total supply of 1,000,000,000 LINK.
Number of backers
There are 111,004 LINK holders.
Number of Dapps on Chainlink
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Price history
2018 began with a strong bullish rally, and most digital assets had reached their peak. The Chainlink token was no exception. However, a sharp freefall in the altcoins market followed, wiping out billions of dollars from the market.
Few altcoin projects survived the infamous crypto winter season. Some altcoins, such as Ethereum and Chainlink, were able to weather the storm and began to rise in value.
2019 was a watershed moment for Chainlink. Its token, LINK, was performing extremely well in the market. The performance is heavily linked to the pioneering DApps on the Chainlink network and the previous year’s listing by a few crypto exchanges such as Bitbox.
This increased the price of LINK from $0.3 at the start of the year to a record $1.13 by May 2019. The oracle coin broke its ATH twice more that year, and on June 24, 2019, the price of LINK hit a new high of $4.540. The bullish rally was fueled in large part by the launch of the Chainlink network on the Ethereum main network.
For the second year in a row, the Chainlink project was the top performer among all cryptocurrencies in 2020, outperforming significant cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. The massive rally was closely associated with the 2020 DeFi craze.
LINK began trading around $1.70 and increased to $4.570 in February. LINK remained quiet until mid-July, when it surged to a new all-time high of $8.40. The rally continued, and Chainlink’s digital asset price nearly reached $20 before being rejected and falling back to under $12.
Chainlink’s price experienced a strong bull run in 2021, rising from $12.00 to recent highs of $36.00 due to wave-like bullish activity.
Chainlink’s price encountered strong resistance at the $36 level, which it was unable to overcome and was thus rejected from the level. The rejection caused the price to fall to $23.50 before rebounding to the $30 support level.
Following that, in May, the coin reached an all-time high of $52.88, after which it began to fall. Chainlink suffered as the price of Bitcoin fell below $30.
Meanwhile, the coin’s price has been shifting towards a surge since the beginning of 2022.
Potential risks
Despite its demonstrated utility and widespread support, Chainlink has experienced the same level of volatility as other cryptocurrencies. Its price dropped from around $20 on January 1 to slightly more than $7.10 on June 1.
Polkadot
Overview
Polkadot is a next-generation blockchain protocol that aims to connect multiple blockchains into a single network. The protocol is built on the foundations of previous blockchain networks such as Ethereum and Cardano. The Polkadot blockchain aims to provide a framework for individuals to easily build their own blockchains, as well as transparent and seamless data exchange among blockchains.
Polkadot was launched as an open-source project by Parity Technologies in collaboration with the Web3 Foundation in 2017. Dr. Gavin Wood, co-founder of Ethereum and author of the Solidity smart contract programming language, is the brains behind the Polkadot cryptocurrency. Robert Habermeier, the co-founder of Polkadot, is a well-known member of the Rust programming language community.
Polkadot has a market cap of 9.70B and a total supply of 1,103,303,471 DOT.
Number of backers
There are 175,789 DOT holders.
Price history
Polkadot’s initial coin offering (ICO) in October 2017 was a smashing success, raising more than $140 million and selling over 10,000,000 DOT supply. While DOT/USD was pegged at $0.30 during the ICO, user purchases drove it to a resistance level of $6 by the end of August 2020.
It began to fall around the first half of October 2020, trading at $4.42, and dropped to $3.86 by the middle of October. It was around $4.15 by the end of October. However, the fading Pandemic brought out the best in the coin, and the Polkadot (DOT) price began its upward journey with $5.88 in November 2020 and has never looked back since.
Polkadot has seen tremendous growth over the last year, as the DOT price has skyrocketed, reaching $47 in mid-May. Polkadot’s price was then rejected, and it fell to around $11 in a month. However, the DOT coin regained its lost momentum and reached an all-time high of $55 in November of this year. Polkadot later faced significant selling pressure and has remained bearish to this day.
Potential risks
Polkadot, like any other investment – crypto or otherwise – is not without risk. Most are barely scathing, but some have the potent of sinking your DOT investment. The most imminent threats Polkadot is currently facing are:
Ethereum 2.0 upgrade: When Ethereum 2.0 is released, it will increase transaction processing speeds and reduce GAS fees on the blockchain. It will have addressed some of the issues that Polkadot aims to address. As a result, experts warn that demand for Polkadot services may fall, resulting in lower DOT token prices.
Competition: A fierce and silent battle is raging in the crypto universe as various blockchains compete with Polkadot to be crowned the ultimate ‘Ethereum Killer.’ When the market decides on the best Eth Killer, the rest are likely to take a back seat, potentially lowering their token value. Cardano, Binance Chain, Stellar, EOS, and Solana are the current top contenders and Polkadot’s main competitors.
Near
Overview
Near Protocol (NEAR) is a layer-one blockchain designed to address the issues of slow transaction rates, limited throughput, and poor compatibility. The Near Protocol (NEAR) is a decentralised application platform that has the potential to revolutionise systems, develop applications, and alter how users interact with the internet in general.
The NEAR token is the ecosystem’s primary native asset, and all accounts have access to it. Each token, which is identical to Ether, is a unique digital asset that can be used to:
- Complete transactions and keep data.
- Participate in the staking procedure to run a validating node as part of the network.
- Participate in governance procedures.
The NEAR token facilitates the economical synchronization of all network members, as well as novel behaviors among the apps created on top of the network.
Participating in development bounties, operating a community that enables people to build on NEAR, winning a NEAR hackathon, or being an active member of the community are all ways to earn the NEAR token.
NEAR has a market cap of $3,654,865,549 and a total supply of 1,000,000,000 NEAR.
Number of backers
NEAR has over 24,000 active users.
Number of Dapps on NEAR
There are 628 projects building on NEAR Protocol and Aurora ecosystem.
Price history
2020
Near Protocol’s first phase of Near’s multi-stage mainnet, which hosted PoA was launched on April 22. It was in September of the year when phase-1 marked the on-boarding of 3rd party validators. The first known trade value of NEAR was $1.072, which was seen on the 14th of October. On the same day, the wick had brushed levels of $1.884.
The spike was short-lived as the asset took a downswing. Which led to the price finding support at $0.538, by the 5th of November. Followed by a leg-up the altcoin finished the year at $1.459.
2021
The year 2021 began with an upward trend at a starting price of $1.305. A single-day spike of 43.69% helped the price reach a high of $5.419 the next day. A pullback brought the price down to $2.586 on February 23rd. However, by the 13th of March, the digital asset had risen to its new ATH of $7.572.
After falling to $4.52 on March 25th, the price had risen to $7.381 by April 12th. The Rainbow bridge connecting the Ethereum and NEAR blockchains was launched in April. By the 24th of April, the price of NEAR had plummeted to $4.057. By the 15th of May, the price had risen to $7.29.
A prolonged downturn brought the price down to $1.537 on July 19th. By September 9th, the price had risen steadily to $11.776. After a drop to $6.495 on September 30th, an uptrend pushed the price to $13.168 on October 26th. However, bearish trends dragged the price down to $10.192 by October 31st.
November 15th marked the launch of “Nightshade” sharding when the price was seen at $12.046. After a turbulent few weeks, the NEAR token increased by 82.50% from December 22nd to $16.64. The annual trade was closed at $15.793.
Potential risks
Governance centralisation is a source of concern. NEAR’s governance is shaky, and at the moment, only validators can vote on proposals.
Insiders control 35% of the token supply, which, combined with partial on-chain governance, makes centralised decision-making difficult.
