Bitcoin gets all the headlines when people talk about cryptos, but thousands of other options exist for these digital currencies. Cryptos that aren’t Bitcoin are usually considered an “also-ran” – called “altcoins,” or alternatives to Bitcoin.
While Bitcoin may have been the first major crypto to hit the market – it debuted in 2009 – many others have become highly popular, even if not quite as large as the original.
Here are the largest cryptos by the total dollar value of the coins: the market capitalization or market cap.
How does it work?
Crypto is virtual money in the form of tokens or coins. As digital coins, cryptos usually operate within a digital ledger named blockchain. Blockchain retains the information about every transaction taking place within the ledger. The transaction data is transparent and easily accessible for each user within the chain. Each user has a wallet bearing a public address.
At the same time, the private codes of individual wallets are hidden from the public view and can only be accessed through the owner’s consent. The main idea of cryptos is their freedom from governmental manipulation and control.
Top three things to know before starting:
- The crypto market has skyrocketed over 500% to $1.7 trillion in the past two years.
- BTC and ETH stand out as leaders now and in years to come.
- A handful of digital assets stand out from the 17,600 cryptos in circulation.
Best valuable crypto to buy in 2022
Let’s take a look at the best five cryptos to invest in.
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum is the predecessor of Cardano, but it still exists. It was designed specifically for smart contracts and purposes to facilitate the transfer of ownership titles and trade stocks. It also bares utility similarities with Eosio; platform developers can build on top of it.
This currency helps platform users to operate freely and exchange properties. Its basic currency unit is called Ether. It doesn’t have a limit on how many Ethers can be mined.
Price history
Ethereum price today is $2,054.77 with a 24-hour trading volume of $15,724,821,770. ETH price is up 4.9% in the last 24 hours. It has a circulating supply of 120 Million ETH coins.
- ETH hit an all-time high of $4,878.26 on Nov 10, 2021.
- ETH had an all-time low of $0.432979 on Oct 20, 2015.
Where to buy it?
It is traded on 287 exchanges, with the top exchanges being Uniswap V2, Binance, and FTX.
What are the perspectives of the ETH?
As for Ethereum price predictions for the rest of 2022, there are divergent opinions. Some expect an upturn towards $2503.94. Other experts are more pessimistic about Ethereum’s future price, citing numbers downwards of $1994.043 in December.
Zcash (ZEC)
It is an open-source digital coin, designed in 2016 and showing promise ever since. The digital coin is distinguished with high privacy and transparency of transactions. Thus, while all the transactions’ details are recorded and saved on the blockchain, personal data such as the sender, recipient, and crypto are hidden.
Price history
Zcash’s price is $107.46 with a 24-hour trading volume of $137,958,955. It has a circulating supply of 12 Million ZEC coins and a total supply of 21 Million. It is up 5.8% in the last 24 hours.
- ZEC hit an all-time high of $3,191.93 on Oct 29, 2016.
- ZEC had an all-time low of $19.75 on Mar 13, 2020.
Where to buy it?
It is traded on 83 exchanges, with the top exchanges being FinexBox, Binance, and YoBi.
What are the perspectives of ZEC?
As for Zcash price predictions for the rest of 2022, some expect a downturn towards $100.158. Other experts are more enthusiastic about Zcash’s future price, citing upwards of $313.017 in December.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
BCH and BTC share several technical and technological similarities despite their philosophical differences. Bitcoin Cash is a split-off of BTC used to solve some of Bitcoin’s issues as it grew more popular. Developed in 2017, BCH is a version of Bitcoin that increased the transaction capacity. Recently, the BCH upgrade was applied successfully to the blockchain, bringing a slew of features directed toward improving users’ overall experience.
Price history
Today, Bitcoin Cash’s price is $198.51 with a 24-hour trading volume of $877,791,645. It has a circulating supply of 19 Million BCH coins and a total supply of 21 Million. BCH’s price has been up 4.1% in the last 24 hours.
- BCH hit an all-time high of $3,785.82 on Dec 20, 2017.
- BCH had an all-time low of $76.93 on Dec 16, 2018.
Where to buy it?
It is traded on 138 exchanges, with the top exchanges being KuCoin, TradeOgre, and Gate.io.
What are the perspectives of the BCH?
As of 2022, BCH price predictions are mostly pessimistic, predicting a decline to $189.946 and even lower, down to $0.000511 by the end of 2022.
Tether (USDT)
Tether is a stablecoin that aims to keep the crypto valuation stable. The Tether project was started as Realcoin, founded in 2014 by entrepreneurs Brock Pierce, Craig Sellars, and Reeve Collins.
It is highly preferred by digital currency investors who want to keep away from volatility while maintaining gradual growth.
Unfortunately, Tether is also facing law enforcement trouble over its legitimacy. Recently, the crypto has announced that it will make available its stablecoin token as a native asset in Avalanche, a smart contract platform that has picked steam in the last year.
Price history
Tether price today is $1.00 with a 24-hour trading volume of $49,439,662,993. USDT price is up 0.1% in the last 24 hours. It has a circulating supply of 74 Billion USDT coins and a total supply of 74.2 Billion.
- USDT hit an all-time high of $1.32 on Jul 24, 2018.
- USDT had an all-time low of $0.572521 on Mar 02, 2015.
Where to buy it?
It is traded on 267 exchanges, with the top exchanges being Gate.io, Lbank, and Raydium.
What are the perspectives of the USDT?
As of Tether price predictions for the rest of 2022, there are divergent opinions. Some expect an upturn towards $1.007. Other experts are more pessimistic about Tether’s future price, citing numbers downwards of $0.87912 in December.
EOS (EOS)
EOS was created as the official currency for a decentralized operating system popular among developer networks: Eosio. Even though this is the newest kid on the block, it is in the top five spots. It was created in 2018 by several crypto celebrities, including Dan Larimer and Brendan Bloomer. The initial coin offering for EOS racked up an astounding $4 billion because of its utility value.
Price history
EOS price today is $1.33 with a 24-hour trading volume of $279,903,314. It has a circulating supply of 990 Million EOS coins. Its price has been up 3.5% in the last 24 hours.
- EOS hit an all-time high of $22.71 on Apr 29, 2018.
- EOS had an all-time low of $0.502400 on Oct 23, 2017.
Where to buy it?
It is traded on 100 exchanges, with the top exchanges being Digifinex, OKX, and CryptoMarket.
What are the perspectives of the EOS?
As for EOS price predictions for the rest of 2022, there are divergent opinions. Some expect a downturn towards $1.21547. Other experts are more enthusiastic about this future crypto price, citing upwards of $1.7 in December.
Pros and cons
| Worth to buy | Worth to getaway |
| The main idea of cryptcurrencies is their freedom from governmental manipulation and control. | Like a regular fiat currency, they have value only because their users agree upon the value. |
| Some believe that the blockchain associated with cryptos is safer to deal with compared with the traditional one. | Crypto has serious scalability issues. |
| Even though the volatility and instability have come under fire, people still choose cryptos in 2022 as a profitable investment mode. | Understanding crypto takes time and effort. |
Final thoughts
The crypto market is a Wild West, so those speculating on these digital assets should not put in more money than they can afford to lose. Volatility has been intense, with crypto assets fluctuating significantly in 2022. And individual investors can be trading against highly sophisticated players, making it a fraught experience for novices.