Forget Bitcoin And Ether, The Number 3 Coin Gained 1,300% In 2021
This year, the old guard of cryptocurrencies lost ground to coins with higher returns. The researchers predict that the trend may continue.
Of the three largest digital tokens by market cap, Binance Coin, or BNB, has outperformed its two big rivals, Bitcoin and Ether. According to Arcane Research, the coin – issued by crypto exchange Binance Holdings Ltd – grew nearly 1,300 percent in 2021.
By comparison, market leader bitcoin gained 65 percent, while the second-largest token, ether, gained 408 percent.
photo credit: bloomberg
BNB is widely used on Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by volume. It is also the native currency of Binance Smart Chain, a blockchain platform that supports smart contracts for use in decentralized finance (DeFi) and other applications. According to Arcane Research, BSC is gaining followers as a challenger to the Ethereum blockchain, which has helped fuel gains in the BNB token.
Other alternative coins, or “altcoins”, saw major gains in 2021, benefiting from an explosion in investor interest for digital assets and the expansion of the crypto ecosystem. For example, coins associated with Solana and Phantom, other blockchain platforms that support smart contracts, outperformed the returns of Binance Coin.
“While bitcoin shows strength in 2021, we have seen a steady stream of capital falling into altcoins,” the research firm wrote in a note. Analysts at the firm have predicted the strongest momentum in “ETH-killers” targeting Ethereum, as well as tokens related to the Metaverse and GameFi.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
