Best Cryptocurrencies in 2020
2021 has got off to a very bullish start, with many cryptocurrencies doubling, tripling, and going even further in their price gains than even the wisest crypto-oracle could have predicted.
January and February have been great for anyone with long-term holds, as well as committed day traders, however, we want to know if looking at the past, and 2020 in particular, can give us any additional insight into how 2021 might go.
We’ve picked out our 5 best cryptocurrencies in 2020, who have made this list for very different reasons.
NEM (XEM)
The NEM Ecosystem Blockchain had an incredible 2020, and so we have to include it first on this list. NEM started 2020 at around $0.03 per token, peaking on December 19th at $0.30, representing a 900% rise to that point. The end of year price was $0.21, still, a fantastic 7-fold growth for those who decided to keep holding. Those same individuals will be glad to see that in February 2021 it has hit a new all-time high of $0.41.
The news of NEM’s partnership with StakeHound, which resulted in the launch of StakedXEM on December 7th 2020, is thought to have been the catalyst for the sudden end-of-year growth surge.
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum began 2020 at just $130.6 per token, whilst at the same time 365 days later, it was worth $736, representing a growth of almost 400%. What’s even more shocking is that in the first two months of 2021, we have already seen Ethereum go over $1,900, so it looks like it’s on its way to the moon and anyone who bought in early will be thrilled. Some, however, won’t be so thrilled, as Ethereum transaction fees have also soared, making the sending of ERC-20 tokens more pricey than ever.
So, what caused such incredible growth in 2020? DeFi. We saw Decentralised Finance take centre stage in the most exciting things happening in crypto in 2020, and since Ethereum is the most actively used innovation tool for DeFi, it makes sense that their blockchain became increasingly more useful and desirable. DeFi literally allows users to cut out the banks and the middle man and make a direct interest return on their crypto holdings.
There are other reasons for the surge, such as the announcement of Ethereum 2.0, which will have lower transaction fees than the current platform. ETH enthusiasts are also looking forward with anticipation to the upcoming release of Ethereum Futures.
Cardano (ADA)
Entering 2020 at just $0.03 per coin, Cardano’s rise has been nothing short of remarkable. By the summer of 2020, with much of the world under lockdown and many people entering crypto to pass the time, interest grew, and so did the price, reaching $0.14 in July. At the year-end, Cardano was impressing many at $0.18, offering a 600% growth in just half a year, but the tale doesn’t end there, as right now, in late February 2021, many believe that ADA is on the verge of tipping over $1. Today (18/02), it’s sitting pretty 0.94$, a 31-fold growth for those who bought in early 2020.
What caused it? Cardano’s Blockchain is causing no end of excitement. So many announcements of developments and partnerships made this one of the must-have cryptocurrencies of 2020. There’s no piece of news, in particular, however, the overall limitless potential for Cardano is itself causing its parabolic growth.
Bitcoin (BTC)
As the new year bells chimed into 2020, Bitcoin was relatively stable, hovering at around $7250, however, the year saw impressive gains, and towards the end of the year, the new all-time high was set day after day. By December 31st, Bitcoin had quadrupled in value and was then being priced at $29000.
The reasons for this increase in demand were obvious, as every major global media outlet was reporting on them. The main factor was institutional demand, with major companies, like PayPal, indicating a future move into the Bitcoin space. On top of that, the decline of the US dollar worked in Bitcoin’s favour, as did the coronavirus pandemic, which caused people to look for alternative ways of storing their wealth. Then CME and Grayscale joined the game and the rally truly took off. Don’t forget FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) which caused many people to buy Bitcoin to enjoy the expected price gains.
It is approaching the end of February as we write this, and this morning, Bitcoin went over $58,000, more than doubling since the turn of the year. Where is the ceiling? We are yet to find out.
Tether (USDT)
We finish this article with Tether, a stablecoin that is pegged to the US dollar. So, how, you may be asking, in a year where the US dollar lost value, could a coin that is literally worth $1, be described as one of the “best cryptocurrencies in 2020”?
It’s not for reasons of price growth, but for reasons of market cap. Tether had an amazing year in 2020, forging countless partnerships and becoming the central focus for major trading pairs on the big platforms, like Binance and Kucoin. USDT started 2020 with a market cap of $4.1bn, but, as the year went on, it climbed phenomenally to reach $20.9bn. This is quite extraordinary, as the Hong Kong-based Tether company achieves a stable peg by maintaining fiat reserves equal to the supply of USDT. This means they have poured in over $16bn of fiat currency into the project in just 12 months.
Now, there’s no question about which stablecoin offers the most liquidity, stability, and trust. Much like Ethereum, USDT is central to what the DeFi ecosystem is trying to achieve, and so the options for staking USDT presents investors with returns on their currency that literally no bank can compete with.
Conclusion
Perhaps, in years to come, other websites will be writing about the PBX token in the same manner as above. It is our ambition to create a cryptocurrency that can offer similar levels of growth and importance to the industry we owe so much to.
We finish with one question: which cryptocurrency do you think will be featured on next year’s Best Cryptocurrencies in 2021 article? Let us know in the Telegram group.
Photo Source: Depositphotos
