2021 was one of the most volatile years in crypto’s nascent journey. Various extreme incidents were witnessed by people all around the world, ranging from Bitcoin being adopted as the legal tender in El Salvador to the complete ban on crypto transactions in China to the flash crash of the market in May 2021.
Needless to say, we’ve spent the last year following the impact that these cryptocurrencies have had on the world. Cryptocurrency has crept into the mainstream and even become a viable idea for virtual gifting, with certain platforms allowing its users to send crypto as gifts.
The very nature of cryptocurrencies is volatile and unpredictable. Sometimes all it takes is a tweet to inflate or deflate the prices of cryptocurrencies and hence investing in them is not everyone’s cup of tea.
Having a thorough understanding of the market as well as knowing the value of these currencies is imperative before you make any decisions. Sometimes, knowing what not to do is almost as good as knowing what to do.
With that, here are some of the most volatile cryptocurrencies that have had a turbulent year.
Bitcoin & Ethereum
Even though BTC and ETH have a stronger foothold in the market, compared to other cryptos the value of these often fluctuates (surge and fall) often. Since they are the oldest and the most frequently dealt in, their large scale of operations often impacts and sways the global crypto market.
Their falls and gains swing drastically making them one of the most volatile cryptocurrencies. These were some of the more heavily impacted cryptos at the time of the flash crash of the market in May 2021, but they recovered just as quickly owing to their well-developed infrastructure and user base.
Ripple
Ripple was created to provide a cheaper and faster payment option for international transactions but it is considered highly volatile as its price swings quite often.
Ripple surged by 170% in 2020 followed by rising concerns of the SEC case against the network; it prevented Ripple from reaching impressive peaks in 2021. Although the ongoing issues were dealt with successfully, it was still considered risky.
Shiba Inu
Shiba Inu is a cryptocurrency based on the Ethereum blockchain. The Shiba Inu coin was started as a meme coin launched as a joke or a parody rather than based on actual utilities, to “create something out of nothing” with more than 500,000 community members.
Over the years, it gained quite a dedicated fanbase. Shiba Inu was launched in the mid of 2020 and has extremely low-price value, which fluctuated even lower because of a couple of tweets.
Matic/Polygon
Matic is an altcoin by the Polygon Network. Due to the heavy network load on the ETH blockchain, the user experience, transaction fee, and overall computation time were hampered. This brought into existence Matic, also based on the ETH blockchain architecture.
Owing to its base, it saw a highly turbulent year in 2021 with an all-time low reaching $0.003012. The Matic coin price currently is approximately $2.1186.
Solana
SOL’s price rally made it one of the top five cryptos in the global market. In 2021, its volatility index reached a whopping 7183% as the crypto enjoyed a strong year. It has grown by over 12000% since 2020.
Its record was set in September 2021 after going through multiple fluctuations. SOL provides several advantages, including low transaction fees, which attract most of its investors.
Dogecoin
Dogecoin was launched in 2013 after the Shiba Inu dog went viral. Its price volatility created a plot twist of 9530% within a year. The coin owed its quick success to the tweets made by Elon Musk, as well as to its listing in Coinbase.
IT is highly volatile as its value is dependent on its influencers and investors, not to mention Elon Musk’s tweets. It has also been accepted by several sports clubs for fan tokens which boosted its popularity in the market.
Dash
Dash was popular among investors in 2021 as it was seen as a bitcoin alternative. It focused on improving financial transactions and ensuring that the banking services reach the poor and unbanked.
The volatility index of DASH in 2021 was 1251%. The coin reached from US$66 in January to US$440 in May 2021. Right after this rally, its prices fell to US$120 and remained around US%160.
The crypto world in itself is volatile and dynamic, making the currencies highly turbulent and risk-prone. Thorough knowledge and understanding are required before making any sort of financial decision related to investments.
It is often best to consult experts and follow their advice.