Cointelegraph reviews the best and worst performing cryptocurrencies of 2022 among the top 100 assets by market capitalization. We have used the highest and lowest year-to-date (YTD) yields through the close of December 25, 2022.
Overall, the Cryptoindex.com 100 (CIX100), an index that tracks the 100 best-performing cryptocurrencies, fell nearly 68% over the year, suggesting that most major coins underperformed in 2022. .
Naturally, stablecoins are not listed. Similarly, currencies that track the value of gold and other similar conventional assets have also been omitted.
Instead, the coins mentioned below include decentralized currencies, smart contract tokens, exchange tokens, among others.
Best cryptocurrencies of 2022
1.GMX (GMX)
- Performance to date 111%.
- Sector: Decentralized exchange.
- Capitalization: USD 379.4 million.
GMX acts as a utility and governance token within the GMX decentralized exchange (DEX) ecosystem and is the best performing digital asset among the top 100 coins (excluding stablecoins).
The uptrend of the GMX price was mainly due to the collapse of FTX, a centralized exchange, and its listing on popular trading platforms – including Binance and Huobi Global – throughout 2022. Furthermore, the token appreciated impressively over the course of 2022. late November after its platform briefly outperformed its main rival DEX, Uniwap, in daily trading fees.
2.Trust Wallet Token (TWT)
- Yield to date 92%.
- Industry: Payments
- Capitalization: USD 570 million.
Trust Wallet Token (TWT) serves as a utility and governance token within the Trust Wallet ecosystem. The token fell along with the rest of the cryptocurrency market, but, like GMX, its bullish momentum increased with the FTX crash in November.
As Cointelegraph reported, the FTX crash increased mistrust in centralized exchanges, which may have prompted investors to move their funds to personal wallets like Trust Wallet. Speculation could have played a part in driving TWT’s valuation up.
3. Unus Sed Leo (LEO)
- YTD -3.5%.
- Sector: Centralized exchange.
- Capitalization: USD 3,440 million.
Unus Sed Leo (LEO) is native to the iFinex ecosystem. The token suffered losses in 2022, but at -3.5%, they were meager compared to most major coins, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), which lost more than 65% in the same period.
One of the reasons why LEO outperformed most of the top-ranked assets could be the promise of iFinex. Notably, the company stated at the time of LEO’s private sale in 2018 that it would use 27% of its proceeds to buy back the tokens until the entire offering of 985.24 million units was withdrawn from circulation.
IFinex also said that it would use the funds it lost during the August 2016 Bitfinex hack to buy LEO tokens. This explains why LEO was up more than 100% at the beginning of the year, given that the uptrend came after the US Department of Justice recovered 94,000 BTC from hackers who stole Bitfinex.
The rally brought the LEO price to a yearly high of $8.15 in February. However, the token has fallen 55% since then, although it remains one of the best performers in 2022.
4.OKB (OKB)
- Year-to-date performance: -19%.
- Sector: Centralized exchange.
- Capitalization: USD 1,380 million.
OKB is the native token of the cryptocurrency exchange, OKX. It offers users discounts on trading fees, access to OKX’s initial exchange offering (IOE) platform, and voting rights for the tokens that will be listed on the platform.
OKB’s trend paralleled that of the broader cryptocurrency market in 2022, including its 150% recovery after bottoming out around $9.50 in June. The token’s move higher occurred despite the absence of a major market-moving event, suggesting that it had been primarily speculative.
Overall, OKB’s volatile recovery helped it limit its year-on-year losses compared with most blue chip assets.
5. The Open Network (TON)
- Year-to-date performance: -33.5%.
- Industry: Smart contracts
- Capitalization: USD 3,520 million.
Open Network is a Layer 1 blockchain ecosystem developed by Telegram founders Nikolai Durov and Pavel Durov. Its native token, TON, trended lower in line with other major crypto assets for most of 2022, but rallied impressively before the end of the year.
TON’s recovery period coincided with back-to-back upbeat news. For example, in October, Telegram announced that it would use the Open Network to auction off usernames. Similarly, the Open Network created a bot the following month that allows Telegram users to trade crypto within the app.
However, TON has not recovered all of its losses and is still at -33.5% yoy, trading at $2.36.
Worst cryptocurrencies of 2022
1. Earth (MOON)
- Yield to date: -99.99%.
- Industry: Smart contracts.
- Capitalization: USD 604 million.
Terra (LUNA) became a historic debacle for the cryptocurrency sector after its market valuation plunged 99.99% in May. The meltdown began with the implosion of Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD (UST), marking one of the biggest fiascos in the history of the cryptocurrency industry.
Terra’s implosion led its founder, Do Kwon, to suggest a hard fork to revive the project. Ultimately, Terra split into two chains: the old, Terra Classic, and the new, Terra 2.0.
Luna Classic (LUNC) skyrocketed almost 100% upon launch at the end of May 2022, while LUNA (LUNA2) fell around 40% in the same period.
2. FTX Token (FTT)
- Yield to date: -98%.
- Sector: Centralized exchanges.
- Capitalization: USD 307 million.
FTX Token (FTT) served as the native token for FTX, which collapsed after facing a liquidity crisis in November.
The token is still listed on several exchanges, but its liquidity and volume are low. It’s technically “dead”, given the demise status of FTX.
3. Solana (SUN)
- Performance to date: -93.5%.
- Industry: Smart contracts.
- Market capitalization: USD 3.100 million.
Solana (SOL), a layer 1 blockchain protocol, has plunged 93.35% year to date due to a string of bad news over the course of 12 months. This includes six network outages, a $200 million attack on a Solana-based wallet, and Solana’s partnership with FTX.
More negative coverage appeared in the form of accusations that Solana is not as decentralized as it claims to be, resulting in SOL being one of the worst performing tokens of 2022.
4. Axie Infinity (AXS)
- Performance to date: -93%.
- Industry: Games/metaverse.
- Market capitalization: USD 775 million.
Axie Infinity Shard (AXS) primarily serves as a governance token for Axie Infinity, a play-to-earn (P2E) gaming ecosystem. It also acts as legal tender on the Axie Infinity marketplace, where in-game non-fungible tokens (NFTs) can be purchased.
The AXS market has been trending steadily lower in 2022 due to low player participation (reducing demand for tokens), a $650 million hack on Axie Infinity’s Ronin blockchain in late March, and fears. around the unlocking of 8% of the offer in October.
AXS is down roughly 93% year to date, becoming one of the worst performing assets in the current bear market.
5. The Sandbox (SAND)
- Performance to date: -92.5%.
- Industry: Games/metaverse.
- Market capitalization: USD 690 million.
Like Axie Infinity, The Sandbox is a virtual platform where users can create, own, and monetize their gaming skills using NFTs and The Sandbox (SAND), the platform’s utility token. But despite the initial success, the platform now has fewer than 500 unique users, according to data from DappRadar.
The lower participation has affected the demand for SAND in the spot markets, which, in turn, has caused a 93.50% drop in its price year to date, as shown below. Other factors explaining the lower interest rate are the general lack of demand for riskier assets in a higher interest rate environment.
Other tokens that are down more than 90% to date are Fantom (FTM), Avalanche (AVAX), Algorand (ALGO), Decentraland (MANA), BitTorrent (BTT), and others.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. All investments and trades carry risks, so readers should do their own research when making a decision.