While examining cryptocurrency prices, something caught my attention. Most cryptocurrencies that performed well this year are linked to the Ethereum ecosystem. The bear market hasn't been good for "Ethereum killers" like Cardano, Avalanche, and Polkadot. Ethereum, on the other hand, has strengthened its position within the crypto ecosystem.
Conflux showed the best performance among the coins in the top 100. The price of Conflux, a layer one public blockchain, has increased by 468% since the beginning of the year. The Conflux platform combines Proof-of-Work (PoW) and Proof-of-Stake (PoS) algorithms to achieve consensus. The Conflux protocol uses smart contracts written in Solidity, similar to Ethereum, and is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Conflux is an independent blockchain. Still, the fact that it is written in Solidity and EVM compatibility helps expand the Ethereum ecosystem.
Injective, an ERC-20 token, comes in second place with an increase of 458%. Injective is a blockchain built for finance and specially designed to support DEFI applications. The increasing transaction volume in the spring made the platform talked about on social media. This situation was also positively reflected in the price.
In third place is Render, another ERC-20 token. The price of Render has increased by 308% since the beginning of the year. Render is a distributed GPU rendering network built on the Ethereum network. The increasing popularity of AI also supported the price increase.
Maker ranks fourth with a price increase of 152%. As it is known, Maker is a protocol produced to issue the DAO stable coin on the Ethereum network. DAO emerged stronger last year from the period when many stablecoins lost their peg, and Terra Luna collapsed.
We can list other Ethereum ecosystem coins that gained considerable value: ImmutableX, dYdX, The Graph, Synthetix, Maker, Optimism, Compound, Aave, LIDO, and Ethereum.
It is impossible to claim that this year has generally been good for DEFI tokens. The original Ethereum DEFI protocols, created early on, have gained value. Maker, Aave, Compound, and LIDO are examples of these protocols. Imitations of the protocols in question have been off the agenda since last year.
Nearly half of the coins in the top 100 gained value this year. This rate is higher for Ethereum-related coins. This situation could be considered natural. Because DEFI, NFTs, and play-to-earn games were developed on the Ethereum network. During the bear season, investors are conservative and show less interest in alternatives.
Thorchain, another notable DEFI coin of this year, gained 38% in value. DEXs such as Uniswap and Pancakeswap are an exception to DEFI due to the loss of value they inflict on their investors.
Metaverse/gaming coins are among this year's losers. "The big three," Axie Infinity, The Sandbox, and Decentraland delivered negative returns. Likewise, Gala, Wax, and Splinterlands (SPS) are among the losing coins of the year. On the games front, experimentation continues, and know-how increases. During the next bull market, gaming digital assets may gain value again.
Meanwhile, Hive has gained 13% since the beginning of the year. Although it remains modest compared to Ethereum's 33% increase since the beginning of the year, it is optimistic that the return is positive.
TL;DR
The top four coins with the highest premiums this year are connected to the Ethereum network. The Ethereum network's major DEFI coins also delivered positive returns. Bear markets cause investors to make more conservative choices. This year, Ethereum was preferred over Ethereum Killers. Likewise, currencies such as Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Stacks have attracted investor interest.
Investors have also shown great interest in Ethereum Layer 2 coins. Mantle, Arbitrum, Immutable, and Optimism are the coins whose value increased and found a place in the top 50.
NFTs, games, and metaverse coins were this year's losers.
Solana, an alternative to Ethereum, became one of the best-performing coins of the year with a 98% increase. Cardano, Polkadot, Avalanche, and Cosmos are still in the red.
As of the first nine months, the year's winner was the Ethereum ecosystem. There are three more months left in the year. Will the situation change? The bear market will likely end in the coming months. In this case, different ecosystems and categories may come to the fore.
Thank you for reading.
Cover Image Source: Midjourney App