Cryptocurrency Market Cap (Top 100)

When someone says cryptocurrency most people directly associate the term with Bitcoin. Yes, BTC is the first cryptocurrency, but it is one part of the whole.

You’ve probably read about some of the more popular types of alternatives like Lightcoin and Ethereum. While Bitcoin is still defined as the flagship cryptocurrency, many new projects have emerged on the market that aim to change the traditional financial system.

Overall, cryptocurrencies are becoming an increasingly recognizable form of payment, among other features. However, anyone who decides to venture into the space and buy crypto is well advised to take a close look at what cryptocurrencies are, what the risks of using them are and how to protect their investment.

Let’s start by explaining the term “cryptocurrency”.

What is a cryptocurrency?

At its core, it is a digital form of currency that is created using encryption algorithms – in other words, cryptocurrencies function as both a currency and a virtual accounting system.

A defining characteristic of cryptocurrencies is that they are usually not issued by a central authority, making them theoretically impervious to government intervention or manipulation.

It is a peer-to-peer system that allows anyone, anywhere to send and receive payments. Instead of being physical money that is carried and exchanged in the real world, cryptocurrency payments exist solely as digital records in an online database describing specific transactions. When you transfer funds in cryptocurrency, the transactions are recorded in a public ledger. Cryptocurrency is stored in digital wallets.

History of cryptocurrencies

1983: The first electronic money

American cryptographer David Chaum conceives a type of cryptographic electronic money called ecash, which he later implements in 1995 through Digicash, an early form of cryptographic electronic payments.

Digicash required user software to retrieve notes from a bank and specify specific encrypted keys before they could be sent to a recipient. This allowed the digital currency to be untraceable by a third party.

1998: The emergence of “b-money”

Computer engineer Wei Dai describes “b-money,” an anonymous, distributed electronic money system, and shortly thereafter Nick Szabo describes “bit gold.” Like Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies that will follow it, bit gold (not to be confused with the BitGold exchange, which is based on gold) is described as an electronic currency system that requires users to perform a proof-of-work function as decisions are cryptographically compiled and published.

2009: The genesis of Bitcoin

In January 2009, pseudonymous developer Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin. He uses the cryptographic hash function SHA-256, in his consensus proof-of-work mechanism.

2011: The first altcoin

In April 2011, “Namecoin” was created as an attempt to form a decentralized DNS. In October 2011, Lightcoin was released, which used scrypt as a hashing function instead of SHA-256. Peercoin, created in August 2012, uses a hybrid model of proof of work (PoW) and proof of stake (PoS).

2010: The first big “leap”

Bitcoin’s first big jump happened in the summer of 2010. The price rose from fractions of a cent in the spring to $0.09 in July. Very few people, with the exception of many niche tech experts and financial enthusiasts, knew enough about Bitcoin to buy the currency. By October 2010, the price was around $0.10.

2011: Bitcoin breaks above $1

In April 2011, BTC broke the $1 level for the first time, entering its first mini “bull cycle.” Over the next three months, it appreciated by about 3,000% and by June 2011 peaked between $29 and $32 (depending on the source). By November 2011, the price again reached a low of $2.

2013: Bitcoin breaks above $1,000 before falling again

Bitcoin starts 2013 with a price of just over $13. In the first quarter of the year, it rose to the $30 range, then quickly accelerated in the last week of March. By April 1, Bitcoin broke above $100. Reddit’s online forums have become a hub for curious enthusiasts and tech professionals wondering why this new asset class – unrelated to any physical commodity – might actually have value.

In November 2013, a group of people from the world of e-commerce Bitcoin broke $1,000 – and in December its price dropped dramatically to around $530.

2013: The Genesis of Ethereum

In November 2013. Vitalik Buterin published a white paper explaining the concept of Ethereum.

After Buterin’s initial work, other great minds stepped up at various functions to help bring the project to fruition. Vitalik Buterin, Gavin Wood, Charles Hoskinson, Amir Chetrit, Anthony DiLorio, Jeffrey Wilke, Joseph Lubin, and Mihai Alisi are considered co-founders of Ethereum.

Ethereum gained prominence in early 2014 when Buterin took the concept of the blockchain project public at a Bitcoin conference in Miami, Florida.

Later that year, the project raised capital through an initial coin offering (ICO) by selling millions of dollars’ worth of ETH in exchange for funds to use for the project’s development. Between July 22 and September 2, 2014, the asset sale sold over $18 million worth of ETH paid in Bitcoin.

2014: Market crash after the Mt. Gox hack

The long crypto winter of 2014 was associated with the hack of the Mt. Gox crypto exchange, which halted all BTC withdrawals in early February 2014. The platform then suspended all trading and eventually filed for bankruptcy in Tokyo and in the United States.

The general sentiment around Bitcoin was mostly negative until August 2015, when a long-term trend reversal began. Amid a strong bull market, Bitcoin eventually returned to the $1,000 price mark in January 2017.

2015: Ethereum begings trading as a currency

Although ETH coins could be purchased in 2014, the Ethereum blockchain did not actually go live until July 30, 2015, meaning ETH buyers had to wait for the blockchain to launch before they could move or use their ETH.

In January 2015. Bitcoin reached a low of about $170.

2017: The first “real” bull market

After recovering to $1,000 in January 2017, Bitcoin continued its ascent to $20,000 by the end of that year.

However, similar to Bitcoin’s previous all-time high of $1,000, the asset failed to stay at that value for long, losing more than 60% of its value in a matter of months.

2018: The first serious crypto winter

2018 took on the name “crypto winter” as the Bitcoin market continued to contract with BTC reaching a low of around $3,200 in December 2018.

Bearish sentiment dominated the crypto market until 2020,

2021: A record year for Bitcoin

In 2021, Bitcoin not only returned to the $20,000 level, but also reached a new high of over $63,000 in April 2021.

Although 2021 has become one of the biggest years for Bitcoin, after the cryptocurrency crossed a market capitalization of $1 trillion, Bitcoin has gone through many difficulties.

Shortly after reaching new all-time highs in mid-April, Bitcoin pulled back slightly, eventually dropping in price to just $29,000 in three months.

The “mini” bear market of 2021 came amid a media-promoted scenario that suggested Bitcoin mining has an environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) problem.

The bear market didn’t last long, although China launched a major crackdown on local mining farms. The bullish trend returned towards the end of July, with Bitcoin eventually rising to its all-time high of $68,000 – reached in November 2021.

Bitcoin failed to break $70,000 and began to decline in late 2021. From November 2021, the cryptocurrency entered a bear market, registering one of its biggest historical crashes in 2022.

In June, the cryptocurrency crashed below $20,000 for the first time since 2020, fueling extreme fear in the market.

2021: Bitcoin becomes legal tender in El Salvador

El Salvador becomes the first country to accept Bitcoin as legal tender after the Legislative Assembly votes overwhelmingly to pass a bill introduced by President Nayib Bouquelle classifying the cryptocurrency as such.

In August 2021, Cuba followed suit with Resolution 215 to recognize and regulate cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

In September 2021, the government of China outlawed all cryptocurrency transactions. This ended the crackdown on cryptocurrencies that had previously banned the work of middlemen and miners in China.

On September 15, 2022, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency at the time, Ethereum, changed its consensus mechanism from proof of work (PoW) to proof of stake (PoS) in an upgrade process also known as “The Merger.” The idea of this migration is that Ethereum’s grid energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions will drop by 99.9%.

Bitcoin and the beginning of the new financial status quo

Bitcoin (BTC) is a type of digital money that can be stored, exchanged and used for payments.

The cryptocurrency was invented in 2008 by an anonymous person or group of people going by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. The currency was launched in 2009 as open source software.

What makes Bitcoin different from national currencies such as the euro, the US dollar or the Japanese yen lies in its decentralized structure and the model on which it operates.

With centralised ‘fiat money’, the currency is issued by central banks and citizens have to use their country’s money. With the exception of cash, transactions are carried out through intermediaries such as banks and payment processors.

Currency transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a distributed public ledger called a blockchain.

A blockchain is a linked array of data made up of units called blocks. They contain information about each transaction, including details such as buyer and seller, time and date, total value and a unique identifier for each transfer.

The records are linked in chronological sequence, forming a numerical chain of blocks. When a block is uploaded to the blockchain, it becomes available for anyone to view, thus acting as a public record of Bitcoin transactions.

What is an altcoin and what is its function?

Altcoins are all cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin.

The majority of altcoins are forks (or forks) of Bitcoin in most cases with minimal changes.

Many people prefer the term “shitcoin” to clearly distinguish all these altcoins from Bitcoin. This term was even used in the US Congress in 2019.

Altcoins attempt to improve on the perceived limitations of the cryptocurrency and blockchain from which they have branched or with which they compete.

The first altcoin, as previously mentioned, was LightCoin (LTC), which branched from the Bitcoin blockchain in 2011.

Ethereum is another altcoin that has not, however, branched from the Bitcoin network. It was developed to support the world’s largest scalable blockchain-based virtual machine.

Types of altcoins

Since altcoins fall into different categories, here’s a quick summary of some of the types and what their purpose is.

Payment token

As the name suggests, payment tokens are intended to be used as a currency to exchange value between countries. Bitcoin is the primary example of a payment token.

Stablecoins

The trading and use of cryptocurrencies have been marked by volatility since their launch. Stable coins aim to reduce this general volatility by pegging their value to a basket of commodities, such as fiat currencies, precious metals or other cryptocurrencies. The basket is meant to act as a reserve if the cryptocurrency fails or runs into problems. Price fluctuations for stablecoins should not exceed a very narrow range.

Among the known stablecoins are Tether (USDT), MakerDAO (DAI), Binance USD (BUSD) and USD Coin (USDC).

Security tokens

Security tokens are tokenized assets offered on stock markets. Tokenisation is the transfer of value from an asset into a token, which is then made available to investors. Any asset can be tokenised, for example real estate or shares. Tokens that are treated and function as securities are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In 2021, Exodus successfully completed an SEC-qualified token offering that allowed 75 million shares of common stock to be converted into tokens on the Algorand blockchain.

This was a historic event, as it represented the first digital asset-based security to offer shares of an issuer based in the United States.

Functional (utility) tokens

Utility tokens are used to provide services within a network. For example, they can be used to purchase services, pay network fees, or redeem rewards. Filecoin (FIL), which is used to purchase network storage space and to protect information, is an example of such a token.

Ethereum (ETH) also falls into this category. It is intended to be used in the blockchain and the Ethereum virtual machine to pay for transactions.

Utility tokens can be bought on exchanges and held, but they are intended to be used on the blockchain network to keep it running.

Meme tokens

As their name implies, meme tokens were originally created as a spoof of classic cryptocurrencies. Typically, they gain popularity over a short period of time with the help of known influencers or investors trying to cash in on short-term gains.

Many are calling the sharp rise in these types of altcoins in April and May 2021 “meme token season” as hundreds of these cryptocurrencies have seen huge percentage gains based on pure speculation.

Examples of meme tokens are Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB).

Governance tokens

Governance tokens allow their holders certain rights within the blockchain, such as being able to vote on changes to protocols or having a voice in the decision-making of a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Because they are typically inherent to a private blockchain and used for network purposes, they are utility tokens, but because of their intended use they have been adopted as a separate type.

How is the price of a cryptocurrency determined?

Cryptocurrencies are a tradable asset, similar to stocks, commodities, securities, etc. Their price is determined by how much interest there is in the market to buy them – this is called demand – and what quantity is available to buy – this is supply. The relationship between these determines the price.

If there is significant demand for a coin, but the supply currently available is limited, then the price increases. Demand for coins sometimes increases regardless of the true value of the currency – this is called overbuying. Alternatively, if a significant quantity of a coin is sold without good reason, it is described as oversold.

BASIC ELEMENTS OF THE PRICE OF CRYPTOCURRENCIES

• Price is determined by the relationship between supply and demand.
• The total quantity of most cryptocurrencies is limited by the maximum supply.
• Overbought coins are in high demand and are usually expensive.
• Oversold coins have a high supply and are usually underpriced.

Supply and demand for cryptocurrencies

The law of supply and demand is an economic theory that determines the relationship between the supply of a good or service and its demand to see what effect this has on its price. The theory describes fluctuations in the price of anything that can be exchanged in the market.

If a coin is in short supply or if demand for it is high, the situation leads to an increase in price. Those willing to buy it are ready to compete by offering higher and higher prices. Conversely, if a cryptocurrency is abundant and if demand is low, prices fall.

In general, the law of supply and demand predicts that if demand for something rises, suppliers will produce more of it. Producers are willing to expand production to sell larger quantities, with the intention of profiting from more sales. But this is impossible when it comes to most cryptocurrencies, for two simple reasons: they are constrained by maximum supply and they are rationed.

The maximum supply determines the total amount of any particular cryptocurrency that will ever exist. When it comes to Bitcoin (BTC), the asset is limited to 21 million coins. But couldn’t someone just change the protocol to put more coins into circulation? The answer is no. In a distributed network, someone who wanted to abuse the system by spending twice as many coins simply couldn’t do it unless they were willing to spend a lot more money than they would make.

How do you know if a cryptocurrency is a good investment?

With over 20,000 cryptocurrencies listed on the market, one would wonder which of the projects in question is legitimate and which might be a scam? After all, the space is not regulated to the extent that investors’ funds are protected – unlike the stock market.

The only certainty an investor gets is that of due diligence on the project in which they are interested.

Invariably, the person who has in-depth knowledge of a cryptocurrency has a better chance of profiting from its trading. First and foremost, everyone should ask themselves the following questions before committing to an investment:

• How does the project plan to solve the given problem?
• Who is behind the project? Does he or she have the necessary knowledge and experience to solve the problem effectively?
• Is the technology behind the project secure?

These questions can provide initial guidance for anyone unfamiliar with the space and help guide their investment choices. What determines whether a project is worth the attention is:

Team

The experience and confidence instilled by the team behind a project can play a significant role in its success or failure.

If the team is not open with the processes at work, this is a serious cause for concern (Bitcoin is an exception). You’ll also want to consider the team’s previous experience in the crypto space and other projects they’ve worked on. For example, you’ll want to know if this is their first project or if they have a solid history of developing successful crypto projects. Additionally, take a look at the team leaders. Projects with reputable executives or partnerships with established companies are also a positive sign.

White paper and roadmap

A critical component to assessing the long-term value of a coin or token for any investor is the project’s white paper and roadmap. A solid crypto project will have a strong and well-defined white paper and roadmap. The white paper is a document prepared and published by a crypto project that gives you technical information about its concept to help you determine if it has any merit, while the roadmap helps set expectations for how the crypto project plans to grow and evolve in hopes of success and adoption.

In the roadmap, you want to see a general timeline providing details on the development of the project. If the project doesn’t have a clear vision with a white paper and roadmap, you should question its future success and value.

Big investors

Determine if the project already has investors and if so, who they are. It is a good sign if well-known investment companies or large investors have already invested in the project. This means they have done their due diligence and believe in the long-term viability of the project.

Developer activity

A growing user base is not the only thing that increases the value of a network: developer activity is also important. And since crypto projects are open source, the level of developer activity can be seen by the number of new “commits” (or commits) of code to a project on GitHub.

Social engagement

Check the crypto project’s website and social media channels to get an idea of how socially active the project is, the team behind it, and of course its community. The project’s website should be easy to navigate, functional, and openly share details about the project, the team behind it, and its white paper and roadmap.

An established and active community

Typically, the community that supports a project can make sure that the potential of a cryptocurrency is spoiled. The enthusiasm and size of the community plays a large role in the initial and ongoing success, although you should be careful with this factor when evaluating a coin.

Sometimes the hype can overwhelm and even mask the actual utility or value of the project, which is why you shouldn’t invest in a coin or token based solely on hype – on the contrary, you should take the time to familiarize yourself with all of the above factors before betting too much on its community.

While subjective, your goal is to reach an opinion on whether the asset is overvalued or undervalued. Keeping these things in mind will guide your choice of potential coins to invest in. Once you have a grasp of the basics, you can use more technical indicators and metrics as a supplement to make informed investment decisions.

Cryptocurrency prices and charts

One of the basic skills that every cryptocurrency trader should acquire is to decipher crypto token charts.

There are many methods you can use to research an asset you are interested in trading. But two of the main strategies that investors use are called technical analysis (TA) and fundamental analysis (FA).

For starters, technical analysis focuses on the historical market performance of an asset by examining price over time and trading volume. In this way you can get an idea of how the market views the asset. Is it rising or falling? Are people putting money into it or withdrawing it? Is it trading in large quantities? These are questions that technical analysis can answer.

Fundamental analysis, on the other hand, involves looking at the ‘fundamentals’ of an asset – it’s more of a broader perspective approach. It includes information such as the finances of the cryptocurrency, the user community, and potential real-world applications.

Although technical analysis may seem like a complicated subject at first reading, don’t be intimidated by the term. As previously mentioned, TA uses information that is determined by the market, as well as other market technical indicators, to inform a trader of the best trading opportunities available for a given asset.

In the “Cryptocurrencies” section, you can see a price chart for all major cryptocurrencies as well as detailed information about the asset.

Here you can see a constantly updated price chart for each specific trading pair. Most often, the trading pair is set by default as the USD/cryptocurrency you are viewing.

The information provided in the chart in question shows the key data points that serve as the basis for the numerous indicators you can use to trade cryptocurrencies.

The indicators to pay attention to are:

• Trade Pair: This shows the base currency and the quote currency that are being used in that particular market.
• Current Price: This shows the prevailing price of the base currency that is being bought or sold in exchange for the quote currency. There are also indicators that show how much the price has increased compared to 24 hours ago. These indicators change quickly depending on how active a market is.
• High/Low: These figures show the highest and lowest price of an asset over a 24-hour period.
• 24-Hour Volume: This indicator shows how much of a particular asset has been traded in the last 24 hours. This volume is expressed in the form of the quote currency.
• Unit Time: You can select the time intervals you want to reflect in the trading market. The increments can range from one minute to one month.
• Price chart: this chart visualizes the rise and fall of the currency price over a certain period of time. In the cryptocurrency markets, the price movement for a single unit of time is usually displayed by a candlestick. The assortment of candles in the chart would show the overall recent price trend for an asset. You can set a time frame from 24 hours to months and years.
• Trading Volume: Below the main chart, where price movement is shown, there is a smaller chart of trading volume, with individual bars showing the trading volume of an asset corresponding to the candle shown. Longer “bars” show larger trading volumes compared to other time periods. Typically, a green bar indicates a price increase and a red candle a price decrease, although you can edit this color to your preference.

But perhaps the most important part of this chart is the candles that make up the price chart.

The candle is the primary price indicator in most cryptocurrency charts. Each candle represents the price activity within one unit in time (e.g. 30 minutes).

A candle consists of two main bars: a body (the thicker part), which shows the opening and closing prices of an asset, and a wick (the thinner part), which shows the highest and lowest price points.

On most cryptocurrency charts, the green candle indicates a price increase, while the red candle indicates a price decrease.

Risks of cryptocurrency trading

Of course, cryptocurrency trading carries its risks due to the highly volatile nature of the market. Before an investor ventures into the space, they should be fully aware of the risks, both of the project they are targeting and of the space as a whole.

Volatility: unexpected changes in market sentiment can lead to sudden and abrupt price movements. It is not uncommon for the value of cryptocurrencies to quickly drop by hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.

Lack of regulation: currently, cryptocurrencies are not regulated by either governments or central banks. Recently, however, they have begun to attract more attention. For example, there are questions about whether they should be classified as a commodity or as a virtual currency.

Loss of keys: Cryptocurrencies may not have the risks associated with using central intermediaries, but that doesn’t mean they are completely free of security issues. As a cryptocurrency owner, you may lose the private key that allows you to access your coins, and with it, all of your funds. You also have hacking attacks, phishing scams and any other attempts to gain control through malicious means. This is something that experienced investors look out for, but newer investors are more likely to be vulnerable to this kind of trap.

Cryptocurrency trading fees

There are three important factors that traders should consider when thinking about buying or selling cryptocurrencies from an exchange:

• Fee schedules: You may face transfer fees (for transferring funds to and from your bank account), mining fees, account maintenance fees, spot fees, and multi-tier transaction fees
• Location: many exchanges are unregulated and some are only available to those living in certain geographic areas
• Availability: Not all cryptocurrencies are available on every exchange

The most popular charging scheme used by cryptocurrency exchanges uses a tiered model of “market makers” and “market takers.” It uses trade volume to create tiers and charges “maker” and “taker” fees based on your trade volume.

A market maker is a party that creates a market on the exchange by selling cryptocurrency, and a market taker is a party that takes it off the market by buying it. Each party pays transaction fees, but the market makers usually pay less.

The fee schedules of cryptocurrency exchanges are designed to encourage frequent trading of large sums in transactions worth thousands of dollars. Fees often decrease as a trader’s 30-day cumulative transaction volume increases.

Conclusion

Cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly popular, and in order for a person to keep up with the trends, they need to monitor the space on a daily basis. Whether it’s basic news or cryptocurrency prices – everything can be found on the CryptoDnes website.

Here you can find all the information you need before you start trading cryptocurrencies. Every investor can benefit from cryptocurrency price data, trading volumes, detailed token information, trading volume, total market supply and price charts. All of this is available to absolutely anyone, completely free of charge.

We offer access to real-time information that is easy to digest, as well as the most convenient user experience possible. Immerse yourself in the digital space with the CryptoDnes platform and begin your journey into the world of cryptocurrencies.