2021's Digital Asset Shuffle: A Myriad of Crypto Market Cap Positions Moved Chaotically This Year

2021 has been a bullish year for crypto assets. While prices have risen a great deal, the top ten and top twenty rankings in terms of market capitalization have also changed significantly. A great number of coins have either been pushed down or have entered the crypto economy’s top positions in terms of overall market valuation.

2021’s Top Crypto Asset Positions Change Drastically

On December 27, 2020, a historical snapshot of the crypto prices that day shows that bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) both led the pack as far as the top two crypto asset market valuations are concerned. This is still true today as both BTC and ETH are the top two market leaders. However, on December 27, 2020, bitcoin’s value was $26,272 per unit and BTC had a market cap of $488 billion. Additionally, ethereum was changing hands for $682 per unit on that same day, and had a market cap of around $77.8 billion.

Fast forward to December 26, 2021 statistics, and BTC was trading for $50,809 per unit and had an overall market valuation of around $960 billion. ETH on December 26, 2021, traded for $4,067 per coin and held a market capitalization of roughly $483 billion. We know that prices have changed since December 27, 2020, but BTC and ETH still lead the pack in terms of the top crypto positions. On the other hand, the rest of the top 20 coins have been shuffled like a deck of cards.

Tether (USDT) held the third-largest market position last year and today, it’s transitioned to the fourth-largest crypto asset in terms of market valuation. Last year, xrp (XRP) held the fourth rank but today, XRP has moved to the seventh-largest crypto coin position. A year ago, litecoin (LTC) was the fifth-largest crypto asset in terms of overall valuation but LTC has dropped all the way down to the 19th spot. Similarly, bitcoin cash (BCH) held the sixth-largest market valuation last year, but on December 26, 2021, BCH was hovering around the 25th ranking.

Binance coin (BNB) managed to increase its market position and is the third-largest market as of December 26, but a year ago BNB’s market cap held the seventh-largest position. Chainlink (LINK) was in the eighth spot last year, but as of December 26, LINK has dipped down to the 20th coin market cap ranking. Cardano (ADA) was hovering around the ninth-largest market position last year but has moved up to the sixth in a year’s time. Lastly, polkadot (DOT) was the tenth-largest market and also held that position on December 26.

New additions to the top ten standings include terra (LUNA) in the ninth position, USDC has entered the eighth-largest coin market cap ranking, and solana (SOL) holds the fifth spot today. LUNA’s market cap last year was in the 67th position, USDC held the 11th spot, and SOL was ranked 139th on December 27, 2020.

In addition to the top ten standings, a large quantity of tokens from the tenth to the 20th positions also shuffled a great deal this year. Many coins moved forward and a myriad of tokens dropped the positions they once held last year. It goes to show that 12 months in the world of crypto can change things drastically.