There are currently more than 17,000 different cryptocurrencies , so it is relatively normal for us to look rather at a Top 100 that is generally headed by Bitcoin and Ethereum. However, given the start of the year that is so irregular and with falls that the main ones are suffering, we are going to investigate which ones have received the new year with a loaf of bread under their arms.
Of those first 100 cryptocurrencies according to their market capitalization, it is practically impossible to find green graphs, due to the usual domino effect of Bitcoin that causes that, if its graphs are red, those of the rest also.
2022, year of falls in YTD
To find out which cryptocurrencies are having the best results in the month and a half of the year, we are going to look at the so-called YTD ( year-to-date ) profitability index.
YTD return is the amount of profit (or loss if the value is negative) made by an investment in the period from January 1 of the current year to the calculation date . Investors and analysts often use YTD calculations to assess the performance of a portfolio or to compare the recent performance of a series of securities.
Bitcoin YTD (image: CoinMarketCap)
If we look at this index at the time of writing this news, the price of some of the most famous cryptocurrencies has plummeted in the 49 days of 2022:
- Bitcoin (BTC) continues its annus horribilis , sinking 15% in 2022, despite forecasts of highs for the second half of the year.
- Ether (ETH), the token of the Ethereum network, has fallen by 23%.
- BNB, the Binance token, 23%.
- XRP is down 7.60%.
- The promising Cardano (ADA) presents a decrease of 25%.
- Solana (SOL), has lost 44% of its value.
Biggest price increases in cryptocurrencies
If we invert the results of the YTD index to see which cryptocurrencies have fared better this year, we will find 6 big rises in 2022 : UNUS SED LEO (LEO), FTX Token (FTT), Secret (SCRT), Huobi Token (HT ), Theta Fuel (TFUEL) and Bora (BORA).
UNUS SED LEO (LEO) , the token of US exchange Bitfinex , is up 49.53% YTD since January 1. It peaked on February 9, a day after the US Department of Justice announced that it had recovered most of the funds stolen from the 2016 Bitfinex Bitcoin hack.
YTD of LEO in euros (image: CoinMarketCap)
The token was issued in 2016 to refinance cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex after it lost around $70 million worth of Bitcoin to a hack. He has now recovered about 80% of the stolen Bitcoin. Bitfinex confirmed its promise to use the recovered funds to buy back and burn LEO tokens in a released statement , noting that the process would be completed within 18 months from the date it receives the amounts.
The following cryptocurrencies with the best YTD are also not so well known. Secret (SCRT) is up 4.39% since the start of 2022, Theta Fuel (TFUEL) is up 1% and BORA hit its third all-time high last week, posting a 0.30% gain on YTD.
The other two remaining assets are related to exchanges: one is FTT , the token of the FTX derivatives platform, with more than 9% up; and HT , the token of the Asian exchange Huobi (just over 3.6%).