Bitcoin has set a new historical high this year, mainly benefiting from the approval of US spot ETFs and the influence of Trump’s presidential election. However, some assets have outperformed Bitcoin.
Decrypt evaluated the best-performing cryptocurrencies this year by analyzing data from CoinGecko and Nasdaq. Eligible assets needed to have a starting market cap of at least $500 million between January 1 and December 17.
In addition to Bitcoin, other digital asset-related investments, including those from some large companies, have also performed very well. Next, let's take a look at the strongest-performing crypto assets this year.
PEPE - The King of Meme Coins This Year
PEPE is a newer meme token that was launched only last year but has quickly risen to the forefront of the market. Its prototype comes from Pepe the Frog, an internet cartoon character later labeled as a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League because of its overuse by some far-right groups.
However, the Pepe token reached a new historical high in December 2023. This Ethereum-based token had a market cap of $590.8 million at the beginning of the year and had skyrocketed to $9.4 billion by December 17, an increase of 1,492%.
PEPE has become a headline news, attracting a lot of attention - with its typical meme style, due to the crazy increase in value and making some minority traders rich, it has sparked discussions. Unlike the strange assets of many meme tokens, Pepe's upward momentum has continued, and it has now become the 28th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
Sui (SUI) - The Best Among Altcoins
Not long ago, the little-known Sui (SUI) suddenly came to the forefront: this blockchain launched in May 2023, developed by former Meta (formerly Facebook) engineers, now has an active DeFi community fully utilizing its high-speed network.
Sui's native token SUI has performed strongly this year, with its market capitalization soaring. In January, SUI's market capitalization was $925 million, and by December, it had skyrocketed by 1,193% to nearly $12 billion. Now, SUI has entered the ranks of the 18th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
MicroStrategy (MSTR) - Bitcoin Stock Market Winner
Michael Saylor's software company MicroStrategy has fully bet on Bitcoin this year, showing very strong performance. At the beginning of this year, the company's stock was less than $70 per share.
By December, the stock price had nearly quintupled, reaching $386, with an increase of 464%, far exceeding other stocks on Nasdaq, including Nvidia.
MicroStrategy was once an obscure software company, but since 2020, the company has begun to purchase Bitcoin on a large scale and reshape its brand, declaring itself a 'Bitcoin Treasury Company.' This year, the company further increased its Bitcoin purchase efforts, promising speculators the best Bitcoin investment opportunities.
This has also attracted a large number of investors, including hedge funds seeking high-volatility returns, flooding into the stock.
Dogecoin (Dogecoin) - The Pioneer of Meme Coins
Dogecoin (DOGE) was originally just a joke, created to mock the flood of altcoins at the time, but it has now become the seventh largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
This year, Dogecoin's market capitalization skyrocketed by 342%, reaching $45.9 billion. The rise of Bitcoin undoubtedly provided a boost to it.
The credit for this largely goes to Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The world's richest man frequently posted about Dogecoin on social media between 2020 and 2021. This year, speculation about Dogecoin being used on his social platform X (formerly Twitter) has once again made Dogecoin a hot topic.
XRP - Reborn from Regulatory Turmoil
XRP has performed quite strongly this year. It is the token of the Ripple network, which provides blockchain solutions for cross-border payments to institutions.
XRP's market capitalization has soared, now becoming the fourth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, growing from $34 billion to $131.2 billion, an increase of 286%. Just this month, it briefly surpassed Tether to become the third largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, while it was ranked sixth on January 1.
XRP has also become the focus due to its disputes with regulators. In 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a $1.3 billion lawsuit against Ripple, accusing the company of selling unregistered securities to raise funds.
However, last year, Ripple achieved partial victory in its lawsuit with regulators, with a judge ruling that XRP sold to retail investors through cryptocurrency exchanges does not count as a securities transaction.
Although the judge ruled that XRP valued at $728 million constituted unregistered securities sales for institutional sales, the entire ruling is still seen as a victory for Ripple and the entire cryptocurrency industry.
BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) - A Successful Case of Bitcoin ETF
From the title, this article can be seen as an honorary nomination. This year has been extraordinary for Bitcoin, as the world's largest asset management company has brought Bitcoin, the largest and oldest cryptocurrency, to more people by launching an ETF, contributing to its development.
The iShares Bitcoin Trust is a traditional investment tool that allows investors to buy and sell stocks tracking Bitcoin prices, which are traded on Nasdaq.
When this fund began trading in January, IBIT broke records with record trading volumes and inflows: by December, its assets under management had exceeded $50 billion, and it reached this milestone in just 228 days, faster than any other ETF in history.
Although several other top asset management companies have launched Bitcoin ETFs, BlackRock's product is undoubtedly the most successful.