It’s already 2022, historically the first year in this crypto cycle, almost exclusively bullish. I took a closer look at the industry and came up with a list of the ten up-and-coming coins for 2022.
Which projects have the best chance of success? Can the parabolic rise of 2020 continue? Where is the best place to invest intelligently and reduce the probability of failure while increasing your profit potential? Which crypto projects will rise to the top in 2022? Let’s dive in!
The methodology behind the top 10 ranking
In selecting the top ten emerging cryptocurrency projects for 2022, I used three criteria. While such rankings are arbitrary, I give the reader the opportunity to evaluate the list for themselves by disclosing my methodology.
The three criteria are as follows:
CoinMarketCap ranking position.
My set includes established projects from the list of top 30 cryptocurrencies, according to CoinMarketCap, with a good reputation and a transparent trading history.
The purpose of the analysis was not to sift through thousands of cryptocurrencies to identify risky gems that could moon 100x, 1000x or even 10,000x in the next year.
They could also fall to zero. I prefer to identify some of the most reliable projects with the best risk-reward ratio.
Annual ROI chart
This chart includes historical data on selected cryptocurrencies and compares the return on investment (ROI) that investors could have achieved in 2020.
One commentator who frequently references this chart is Benjamin Cowen. In the video below, he shows cryptocurrencies with the highest ROI from March to December 2020. LINK, VET, and ADA were the top three, followed by XLM and ETH.
Opinions from crypto market experts
This is the most arbitrary criteria. There are influencers, commentators and analysts of all kinds in the crypto space, but there is certainly no consensus on who is undoubtedly an authority.
Therefore, we will only refer to a few individuals such as Cowen, Kevin Svenson, and Lark Davis.
The description of each coin includes a brief overview of its specifications and fundamentals, the latest news that points to a strong entry in 2022, and a paragraph on long-term price movements.
- Bitcoin (BTC)
Price: $ 26,800
Market capitalization: $ 500 billion
CoinMarketCap Rank: 1
The top ten emerging cryptocurrencies for 2022 start with the orange king of crypto himself: Bitcoin (BTC).
Created in early 2009 by Satoshi NakamotoThe first cryptocurrency is in fact a distributed, decentralized ledger where users send peer-to-peer funds directly to each other without intermediaries.
It is not necessary to convince someone who has been in the cryptosphere for a long time that investing in Bitcoin is profitable. Especially recently, when BTC broke out from $20,000 on December 16, the all-time high (ATH) of 2017.
So far, Bitcoin is one of the most profitable assets in history, outperforming big names like Amazon, VISA, Microsoft and JP Morgan in terms of ROI by several orders of magnitude
But some people ask if it is still profitable buy bitcoin at such a high level above $20,000? Is anyone still buying? This turns out to be an overwhelming yes! And it’s not random retailers who missed the discount prices during the March crisis (below $4,000), but serious financial institutions.
In the latest Top 5 Institutional InvestorsBeInCrypto list, companies like MicroStrategy, 3iQ, and CoinShares were shown to be investing additional capital in BTC.
The grayscale fund is a leader in mediating between the purchase of the alpha cryptocurrency and the interests of its investors. The secret Bitcoin purchases For some time also made by Guggenheim Partners and MassMutual, have also recently come to light.
We are witnessing the first Bitcoin cycle where institutions are initiating the rally. Something bitcoin hodlers have been anticipating for years, and this could bring unprecedented gains to the crypto market.
The decisions of some investors may lead to an avalanche of followers looking to go FOMO. For example, JP Morgan estimates that 1% of capital in pension funds and insurance companies in Europe, Japan and the U.S. would be enough to pump another $600 billion into the crypto market.
The inclusion of large financial institutions and other macroeconomic factors could lead to a huge BTC price explosion in 2022 and its fulfillment optimistic forecasts.
- Stellar (XLM)
Price: $ 0.13
Market cap: $2.9 billion
CoinMarketCap Rank: 15
stellar (XLM) is a blockchain network for storing and transferring money. It was founded in 2014 to improve financial inclusion in different regions of the world and help businesses exchange value.
The network’s main mission is to provide a platform for low-cost payment services, where the transaction fee is set at just 0.00001 XLM.
Stellar has managed to integrate with several fintech companies. A few years ago, it launched World Wire together with IBM. The platform enables transactions between bridge assets like stablecoins.
In addition, it incorporates the idea of decentralization. Through the Stellar network, users can vote in the decision-making process when adding companies to the ecosystem.
XLM is gaining additional global acceptance after Grayscale Investments a dedicated trust.
As BeInCrypto recently explored, Germany’s oldest bank, Bankhaus von der Heydt, announced the creation of a euro stablecoin (EURB) on the Stellar blockchain. It is the first token of its kind issued by a banking institution.
The price performance of XLM since the March crisis has been impressive. The cryptocurrency is among the top five coins that have given investors the highest ROI. From the low of $0.026 in March to the high of $0.23 in November, XLM made a gain of almost 800%.
Currently, Stellar is undergoing a deeper but healthy correction that recently reached the 0.5-fib level of the entire long-term uptrend. The all-time high (ATH) of January 2018 at USD 0.94 is still quite far away, offering great growth potential for 2022.
- Tezos (XTZ)
Price: $ 2.09
Market cap: $1.6 billion
CoinMarketCap: 19
Tezos (XTZ) has created its own blockchain network for smart contracts to evolve. One of its missions is to avoid Ethereum and Bitcoin flaws that allow hard forks. Adaptability, an open structure and the influence of validators (bakers) on the network are the main advantages.
A recent upgrade to the Tezos network was called Delphi planned to lower smart contract gas fee by 75% to attract DeFi developers to the ecosystem. However, Tezos’ applications go much further, implementing the latest trends in the crypto market such as NFTs, video games and the film industry.
Tezos recently partnered with Logical Pictures, a European film producer, with a $121 million project. This is one of the first initiatives towards tokenization of movies and series, so using crypto to invest in the film industry.
This is likely to set a new trend for investing in Hollywood films and provide higher ROI, fluidity and transparency in the film industry.
Since the launch of the Tezos main network in 2018, the value of XTZ has increased. The token’s price steadily increased until it reached an ATH of USD 4.48 August this year.
However, later there was a deep correction that reached the 0.786 Fib of the whole uptrend from March 2020. Today, XTZ needs to double its price to return to the ATH.
However, both the sensational results of the first half of this year and the structural strength of the uptrend make Tezos an excellent investment option at the beginning of 2022.
- Binance Coin (BNB)
Price: $38.13
Market cap: $5.5 billion
CoinMarketCap Rank: 9
If 2022 is to be the year of cryptocurrencies, trading platforms will be in the spotlight and see great benefits. Cryptocurrency exchanges could be one of the biggest winners in the coming crypto craze.
Even as cryptocurrency trading moves toward decentralized exchangestheir well-run centralized older sisters still dominate. And the biggest one is Binance.
Binance launched in China in July 2017 and has the unmatched largest trading volume. It offers access to hundreds of crypto assets. It was founded by the charismatic Changpeng Zhao (CZ), who has held cryptocurrency celebrity status for years and is one of the most well-known characters in the industry.
CZ was included in “The Bloomberg 50, “Published in December. The list includes 50 people who shaped the world’s financial, political, technological and scientific landscapes in 2020.
Binance has had a huge impact on the crypto market for years. According to a statement by CZIn 2020, Binance would generate profits between $800 billion and $1 billion.
In 2019, profits reached $570 million. In 2020, this record figure is expected to double. In addition, the exchange is entering the DeFi market with the recent launch of its Binance Smart Chain. It claims that transactions of different asset classes can be processed quickly and cheaply.
Binance’s upside prospects are not without implications for its native token, the Binance Coin (BNB), which is likely an excellent investment choice. BNB went online a few days after the exchange opened in 2017.
In June 2019, the token reached a historic ATH of $39.57. During the March crisis, it hit a low of 6.41 USD, but has since risen in price, recording a new ATH of 29 USD on December 40.17.
An added benefit of holding BNB is lower or zero commissions for trading with Binance and the ability to use it to buy other tokens in regular sales campaigns.
- Uniswap (UNI)
Price: $3.63
Market capitalization: $972 million
Rank in CoinMarketCap Rank: 30
The Binance example shows how funds are flowing into cryptocurrency exchanges. And if we combine the growing potential of trading platforms with the biggest crypto hits of 2020, which undoubtedly became Decentralized Finance (DeFi), we get Decentralized Exchanges (DeX).
The leader in this niche is Uniswap exchange with its UNI token. Although the spectacular boom in the DeFi market collapsed along with the drastic declines in early September, there are many signs that the popularity of this industry will continue in 2022.
According to Available DataThe number of users in the DeFi space has increased more than tenfold in the past year: from less than 100,000 to more than 1 million.
Uniswap is a leader in the decentralized exchange space in many ways. The total amount of total blocked value (TVL) is $1.47 billion. Users have already created 600,000 addresses related to DeFi.
In September, the exchange created and released its own UNI governance token. As in the case of Binance, this move offers Uniswap users new profit potential and the possibility of real influence on the future.
- Ethereum (ETH)
Price: $730
Market cap: $83 billion
CoinMarketCap Rank: 2
There are many indications that 2022 will be a breakthrough year for Ethereum, the second largest crypto project, and its cryptocurrency Ether (ETH).
Unlike Bitcoin, the Ethereum blockchain is a decentralized system that serves as a platform for many other cryptocurrencies and the development of smart contracts.
Ethereum’s goal is to build a global network for decentralized applications (dApps) that enables the writing and execution of software that is immune to fraud, delay, and censorship.
Ethereum’s prospects are great, as are the problems its developers have faced over the years. Only this year, after many months of preparations, we finally saw the long-delayed launch of Ethereum 2.0, which initiates the transition to PoS (proof of stake) from PoW (proof of work).
On December 1, network validators began stacking ETH, and the price of the cryptocurrency broke $620.
Ethereum has a huge range of potential applications. Suffice it to say, virtually the entire DeFi world is built on the Ethereum blockchain. And that world is opening up to additional investors.
Many institutional firms are already involved in Ethereum through the Grayscale Fund (ETHE). As BeInCrypto recently stated, this was followed by Canada’s 3iQ, which is preparing to launch an ETH fund for its clients.
In addition, recent report shows that CME Group, the world’s largest financial derivatives exchange, is preparing to launch futures contracts for ETH.
Therefore, it seems that the interest of institutional investors in 2022 will not be limited to Bitcoin, but will also be diverted to Ethereum.
This may be because Ether, unlike Bitcoin, is still far from breaking its January 2018 ATH at $1.432. ETH still needs around 100% growth to do so, so the profit potential here seems much higher.
4th Polkadot (DOT).
Price: $6.59
Market cap: $5.9 billion
CoinMarketCap Rank: 8
Polkadot (DOT) is an open-source sharding protocol that enables the transfer of data and tokens between different blockchains. It features interoperability that aims to create a fully decentralized and private network for application and service development.
The native DOT token serves three purposes: Network governance, operations, and creation of parachutes (parallel chains) through bonding.
A recent listing on most major cryptocurrency exchanges took the DOT price to an ATH of $6.84 in early September. Despite the correction, the cryptocurrency price has stabilized and is growing faster, setting the stage for positive price action in 2022.
Polkadot is on the right track to permanently join a group of the most important cryptocurrency projects. One of the crypto influencers of YouTube, Lark Davis compares the impact that Polkadot has in the current cycle possibly on the cryptocurrency market to that of Ethereum in 2017.
According to him, the growing ecosystem of this young project is already crushing the list of partners that its competitors can boast.
Recently, the founder of the project, Gavin Wood, who is also one of the creators of Ethereum, stated that Polkadot should not be considered an “Ethereum killer” but a maximalist blockchain killer.
The idea behind Polkadot is not to favor a chosen blockchain, but to build a “network for the networks” where bridges and connectivity are the most important aspect. Speaking with Laura Shin on the Unchained Podcast, Holz added:
“If Ethereum is a chain that is somehow bridgeable […] I think there is a very good chance that Polkadot and Ethereum will live happily together.”
- Cardano (ADA)
Price: $ 0.19
Market cap: $6 billion
CoinMarketCap Rank: 7
The vision of the creators of Cardano (ADA) is breathtaking. The goal of the team, led by eccentric visionary Charles Hoskinson, is to provide developers, innovators, and visionaries with a tool to bring about positive, global change.
They are to rely on the redistribution of power from centralized, unaccountable structures into the hands of individuals that create a safe, transparent and just society. A truly impressive prospect!
Cardano has a very elegant but complex development roadmap. It breaks down the entire history of testing, launching and deploying networks into five development periods: Byron (foundation), Shelley (decentralization), Goguen (smart contracts), Basho (scaling), and Voltaire (governance).
We are currently in the second era, but intensive work is already underway to implement the Goguen era through the EU at the end of February 2022.
The native token ADA has a three-year history, starting with the parabolic growth at the end of the 2017 bubble, which ended with an ATH of 1.33 USD.
The drastic declines that followed stabilized the ADA price below 0.10 USD, where it had been trading for more than two years. The coin has recently regained its support at 0.10 USD and has moved towards safer new highs for the year.
The results of the 2020 ADA price action give it a solid third place after LINK and VET in the high-profile projects that gave investors the highest ROI.
For example, blockchain enthusiast @CardanoDan highlighted in a recent tweet that ADA could soon surpass LINK in this regard. This is an excellent prediction for 2022.
Cardano could be the project that delivers exceptional results in the coming year, not only in terms of technology, but also in terms of investment.
- VeChain (VET)
Price: $ 0.019
Market cap: $1.2 billion
CoinMarketCap Rank: 23
Supply chain management is a niche of blockchain technology for VeChain (VET). It aims to leverage decentralized management and the Internet of Things (IoT) to create an ecosystem that monitors various supply chains.
The idea behind VeChain is to increase the efficiency and transparency of shipping operations, reduce costs, and give better control to individual users.
VeChain brings real innovation to an industry that has remained fairly stable over the years. Companies looking to increase transparency, control and efficiency are looking to introduce blockchain technology into their business.
For example, VeChain recently announced a partnership with KnowSeaFood – a U.S. $100 billion seafood catering company.
Farmers can communicate directly with consumers, who can determine the exact origin of the seafood they buy.
The price performance for VET from the low in March to the ATH in August at USD 0.023 is impressive. The cryptocurrency made a gain of 1.478%, followed by a correction of about 63%. The professional formation is already offsetting most of the losses and creating solid support before moving further up.
Benjamin Cowen points out that an investment in VET from March to December 2020 set a record ROI that only gave the LINK token space.
If this price momentum is maintained, there is a good chance that VET will break its ATH in 2022 and experience parabolic increases again.
1st Chain link (LINK)
Price: $ 11.9
Market cap: $4.7 billion
CoinMarketCap Rank: 10
2020 was a breakthrough year for Chainlink (LINK). The cryptocurrency has firmly established itself in the first place in the oracle provider segment, reaching the top 10 cryptocurrencies.
The robust development of the ecosystem (already over 350 partnerships) and the increasing adoption in various sectors of the global economy are just some of them fundamental reasons makes Chainlink an increasingly fast growing company.
The explosion of the LINK price from the resistance at USD 5 in early July brought it to an ATH in the USD 20 range within a few weeks. The subsequent correction reached -65%, but did not scare any of the LINK Marines, and the project is systematically regaining value.
There is a growing number of LINK hodlers who increased their ranks by 59% between August and December 2020, currently around 285,361.
The co-founder and main character of the project, Sergey Nazarov, occupied in the recent “DeFi Person of the YearAward. Nazarov is a mysterious influencer in the crypto world.
Only Andre Cronje of Yearn Finance defeated him. This underlines that Chainlink is becoming a standard solution for oracle data processing.
In the list of cryptocurrencies with the highest ROI From March to December 2020, prepared by Benjamin Cowen, Chainlink ranked first.
This is also confirmed by Kevin Svenson, who points out that the price of LINK for 2020 has increased from 1.50 USD to 20 USD, which makes it one of the most profitable projects in the top 20 cryptocurrencies.
If this trend continues, we can expect LINK to be one of the dominant cryptocurrencies in 2022.
Chainlink
Went from $1.50 -> $20.00 in 2020 … absolute face-melter. High performing asset in the top 20 cryptocurrencies.
This will likely continue $ LINK will likely see faces melt again in this next bull cycle when prices $ in the hundreds.