If you’ve ever felt like you can’t keep up with the upward and downward trend of the crypto market —welcome to this post; feel comfortable. So far in the year, a lot has happened, with some coins gaining momentum and some losing it.
Cryptocurrency is close to hitting a market capitalisation of over $2 trillion this year — resulting from the different types of coins and their performances in the market. Here are the ten most popular cryptocurrencies:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Tether (USDT)
- Binance Coin (BNB)
- U.S. Dollar Coin (USDC)
- XRP (XRP)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Dogecoin (DOGE)
- Polygon (MATIC)
- Solana (SOL)
Before you run off to invest in these crypto coins, we must know why they’re on the list. Have they done well? Is there some drama around them? Or did they flop so much that they made the list? That’s precisely what I’d be telling you in this post. I’ll cover their unique features, the growth potential, and global adoption by individuals and businesses.
Overall, this post promises to answer all your questions with extra information. Dig in!
The Top 10 Most Popular Cryptocurrencies In 2024
1. Bitcoin
Bitcoin tops this list as it is the coin that introduced digital currency outside the control of governments and central institutions. Despite its volatility, it has steadily increased in value, and in 2017, it reached an all-time high of $20,000 and is now the largest crypto by market capitalisation.
Bitcoin remains the leading cryptocurrency due to these unique features:
- Largest crypto market capitalisation: This gives investors confidence in Bitcoin as it represents the market’s perception of the coin’s worth. And as you know, the higher investors’ confidence in a crypto, the more they’re likely to invest in that coin. This has been the case for Bitcoin, causing it to grow continuously.
- Liquidity: Bitcoin is the most liquid coin. This means there’s a high enough demand for the coin to convert into fiat currency easily. This makes it easy for investors to buy or sell large amounts of Bitcoin.
- Difficulty in mining: Bitcoin is designed to have a challenging mining process. This means the difficulty in mining new Bitcoins ensures its supply is limited while driving up demand.
- Widespread adoption: Many small and large businesses have begun accepting Bitcoin payments. Many industries, like retail and e-commerce, travel and hospitality, technology and services, gaming and entertainment, real estate, cross-border payments, etc., have adopted Bitcoin as a digital asset in exchange for goods and services.
2. Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, following Bitcoin. Ethereum is a decentralised platform that runs smart contracts and allows developers to create decentralised applications (DApps). This coin is much more than a cryptocurrency. It is highly innovative and allows the development of many blockchain technologies.
This year, Ethereum is still so popular due to many reasons. Some include:
- A large and active community: In cryptocurrency, a large community is vital to the success and sustainability of that project. And Ethereum has this on lock —with developers, companies, and users as members. Ethereum’s active community has attracted positive attention and interest, which has increased the coin’s adoption and growth.
- Growth potential: Despite Ethereum’s success so far, it’s still in its early stages of development. However, its growth potential is very high due to the consistent development of DApps and the rising demand for the blockchain.
- Future upgrades: Ethereum is undergoing Ethereum 2.0, a major upgrade designed to fix some challenges. This upgrade would make Ethereum more energy efficient, secure, and scalable. After full implementation, Ethereum’s popularity would grow even further.
3. Tether (USDT)
Tether (USDT) is the largest stablecoin with a market capitalisation of $70 billion. It is pegged to the US Dollar as 1 USDT equals 1 dollar. As the name, stablecoin, suggests, it is a more stable investment than other volatile coins. This makes it a safer investment, even though it doesn’t grow rapidly like others.
USDT’s popularity is due to some advantages. Some are:
- Transparency: Tether regularly updates and reports on its reserves, inspiring trust and confidence among investors and users.
- Widely accepted: Many crypto exchanges accept this coin, making it easy to buy, sell, and trade USDT.
- Used for payments: USDT is one of the most globally accepted digital currencies in various industries as it is deemed more stable and reliable to be taken as payment, removing the barrier of currency conversion.
4. Binance Coin (BNB)
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world by trade volume, has its native token, Binance Coin (BNB).
BNB is one of the most popular coins in the world and is ranked 5th by market capitalisation due to the Binance ecosystem, which BNB powers. Here are some of the factors that influence its popularity:
- It can be used to participate in Binance Launchpad offerings, which give users access to new crypto projects and investment opportunities in their early stages.
- BNB is a deflationary cryptocurrency, so its supply is steadily decreasing. This makes the coin a scarce asset which can cause a price increase.
- Binance Coin can also be staked to earn rewards in the Binance blockchain.
5. U.S. Dollar Coin (USDC)
Like USDT, U.S. Dollar Coin is also a stablecoin with a value pegged to the US dollar. It also offers a stable investment in a very volatile market. So, why’s USDC this popular? Here are some reasons:
- Backed by fiat currency: Unlike some stablecoins and cryptocurrencies, there is a one-to-one relationship between USDC tokens and US dollars. This means that for every one USDC, there is an equivalent dollar. This offers more stability and is a more attractive investment option.
- Regulated: the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS) fully regulates USDC. So, it offers an extra layer of protection and is more attractive to institutions that want secure digital assets.
- Scalable: USDC can handle many transactions, making it an excellent option for people to trade and make payments.
6. XRP (XRP)
Ripple is a blockchain that provides a more efficient and cost-effective way to make cross-border transactions. The blockchain uses its native token, XRP, to facilitate these payments between banks and other financial institutions.
Ripple recently took over its place as a leading player in the blockchain payment solutions space after bouncing back from some regulatory challenges. In 2020, an SEC lawsuit was filed against Ripple when it was alleged that the company had sold XRP as an unregistered security. This caused some hiccups due to the regulatory uncertainties for cryptocurrencies.
XRP has become popular again due to these unique features:
- Speed: Transactions with Ripple can be completed in seconds, making it much faster than traditional cross-border transactions that take months.
- Cost: Transaction costs way less on the Ripple blockchain than regular cross-border payments.
- Transparency: All users can see the exact movement of their transactions.
7. Cardano (ADA)
Cardano is a blockchain platform that provides a more secure and scalable solution for developing decentralised applications (DApps) and smart contracts. Its native token, ADA, is used on the blockchain. Cardano is a third-generation project, so it has all the experience from the preceding generations to learn from.
Cardano’s popularity stems from the following features:
- Strong development team: Cardano has a record of delivering innovative and reliable solutions due to its team of developers, engineers, and scientists.
- A large community: Cardano’s community is committed to its success and plays a massive role in driving its adoption in the real world.
- Clear roadmap: Cardano has clearly outlined features that will be added to the blockchain in the future.
8. Dogecoin (DOGE)
Dogecoin is one crypto that has gone from a joke to gaining real value. Created as a meme, it has since become one of the most popular cryptocurrencies — growing significantly. There are so many reasons Dogecoin is as popular as it is. Some are:
- The Doge meme: The use of the Shiba Inu dog endeared and attracted many to Dogecoin. It made the coin more accessible and relatable, which helped to drive its adoption.
- The community: Dogecoin is a community-driven crypto. Most of its successes can be attributed to this as it helps to create excitement and anticipation around Dogecoin, which presents the coin as an excellent investment.
- The price: Dogecoin has had volatile price fluctuations, even some pump-and-dump schemes, but has grown significantly. So much so that investors looking for high returns often turn to Dogecoin.
9. Polygon (MATIC)
Polygon is a layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum which offers many advantages over Ethereum, including scalability, cost-effectiveness, and speed. It is designed to be linked with Ethereum so developers can conveniently export applications to Polygon.
Over time, there’s been a growing demand for layer-2 scaling solutions. This has increased the price of Polygon’s native token, MATIC. So, this popularity has caused Polygon to have a bullish market trend.
10. Solana (SOL)
Solana is a high-performance blockchain designed to be scalable, secure, and energy-conservative. SOL’s value has increased significantly, and Solana has had a positive market trend. So far, Solana offers great value for money. It is now among the top ten largest cryptocurrencies.
Solana is highly efficient and can handle as many as 50,000 transactions per second —significantly faster than Ethereum’s 15 transactions per second. It also has lower transaction costs than Ethereum, which developers see as a cheaper alternative to Ethereum.
The Future Of Cryptocurrencies
It’s not possible to give an accurate long-term projection of any crypto. However, we can observe trends highlighting the direction coins will probably take. Here are some factors that contribute to the future of cryptocurrencies.
1. The potential for further growth
Some essential elements that can contribute to the growth of cryptocurrency include:
- Increased adoption by businesses and institutions: The more companies start to accept crypto as a viable payment method, the more the adoption and value of the coins will also increase.
- Development of new use cases: If there are more real-world applications of crypto projects, such as in DeFi or NFTs, this will also contribute to the value increase of digital currencies.
- Regulation: Institutions are still wary of crypto because of the lack of rules. However, if favourable regulatory laws are passed, then the legitimacy of crypto will attract more investors.
2. The challenges that cryptocurrencies face
Some challenges that would hinder the growth of crypto include:
- Volatility: The rapid price fluctuations of the market make some people less confident in crypto as an asset. This could be limiting to its widespread adoption and growth.
- Security risks: The impressive growth of crypto over the years could make people forget that crypto is still a relatively new technology. Because of this, there are risks associated with them —but these risks can be solved by further development and regulations.
- Fraud and scams: Some fraud and scam cases have involved cryptocurrencies. This could have a damaging effect as people may become less likely to invest in crypto.
Frequently Asked Questions Questions (FAQs) About The Most Popular Cryptocurrencies of 2024
Which crypto is the next Bitcoin?
Many coins have the potential to become as huge as Bitcoin. Some of the most popular contenders for this position are Ethereum, Solana, and Cardano. However, the successes of these cryptocurrencies depend on several factors, such as their technology, use cases, adoption, and market capitalisation.
Although the coins mentioned above are worth considering as investments, always research before you take that leap.
Which cryptocurrency is most widely used?
Bitcoin is the most widely used crypto in the world. Many businesses and organisations accept it as payment due to its high liquidity (easy to buy and sell).
Which crypto is best to invest in right now?
Your crypto investment decision is up to you. However, the factors to consider are:
- Investment goals,
- Risk tolerance,
- The cryptocurrency’s fundamentals, and
- The market capitalisation
Which cryptocurrency is growing fast?
The crypto market is highly volatile and moves quite fast. You’d want to closely watch the charts and trends to determine the coins’ performances. However, some crypto with impressive growth includes Polygon (MATIC), Solana (SOL), and Avalanche (AVAX).
How do you know which crypto will go up?
There is no guaranteed way to determine the crypto that will go up. But, there are a few indicators that market analysts go by to make educated guesses. They are as follows:
- The cryptocurrency’s fundamentals
- Market capitalisation
- Liquidity
- Technical Analysis
- Crypto news and events.
Conclusion
We’ve exhausted our list of the top ten most popular cryptocurrencies and, as promised — with extra info to help guide you right in this volatile crypto market.
While crypto is a hot topic and a worthy investment, you must know some risks are involved. Before you decide to put money into any of these cryptos we discussed, research and put only what you can afford.
Finally, one more tip and pointer — you need ease and maximum profit as a responsible crypto investor/trader. This is where the Breet app comes in. Whether you’re in Nigeria or Ghana, use Breet for your crypto-to-cash or crypto-to-crypto trades to enjoy all the benefits of seamless trading —including the juiciest exchange rates. All you need is one trial to convince you!
Thanks for reading. All the best in your crypto endeavours!
