The cryptocurrency market has experienced significant setbacks throughout 2022. Bankruptcies, crashes and a long winter market have hit crypto. But according to a new annual report from CoinMetrics, some altcoin projects have outperformed others, especially in terms of monthly returns.
Highlights in the 2022 outlook for the crypto market
On December 20, blockchain analytics platform CoinMetrics shared the best performing altcoin projects in 2022. Specifically, the top five altcoins among them were Tron (TRX), Monero (XMR), Binance Coin (BNB), Ethereum Classic (ETC), and Dogecoin (DOGE). In terms of aggregated results for the full year, all 36 cryptos observed in the analysis were bearish in returns. However, the declines for the five altcoins you mentioned were minimal compared to the others.
Naturally, it was not surprising that Terra (LUNA) was the worst performer, with its 2022-defining collapse. Also, LUNA performed slightly worse than the FTX Token (FTT) that followed it.
Top performing altcoin projects
Among the top performers, Tron’s returns increased 33% in May, according to CoinMetrics’ report. Also, the altcoin recorded the best monthly results, up 19% in March. However, TRX posted 22% losses in January and June. This made them the worst months for TRX. Meanwhile, the most successful month of Monero, another successful altcoin, was July with an increase of 41%. It was followed by March with an increase of 31%. However, in June, when it was least successful, monthly returns fell to 41%. January was also a red month for XMR due to a 35% drop.
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance’s token BNB performed the best, with yields rising 33% in March and 12% in July. However, the altcoin recorded a 32% loss in June and 26% in January. Ranked fourth for the best return performance throughout the year is Ethereum Classic (ETC). Although the altcoin saw a 38% drop in April and 36% in June, it recorded massive returns of 166% in July and 66% in March.
Finally, meme coin Dogecoin saw 89% returns in its best month, October. Then came March with 8%. Compared to this performance, DOGE’s worst month was May, when the token recorded a 31% loss. In addition, DOGE saw a 26% drop in December.
Worst performing altcoin projects
Naturally, at the bottom of the list is Terra (LUNA). Because the altcoin fell almost 100% in May, when it crashed. After that, tracking stopped as the Terra Labs ecosystem exploded. The bottom of the collapse was the loss of the peg of TerraUSD (USTC), the stablecoin of the ecosystem, as you follow on Kriptokoin.com.
Another loser is a name from more recent times. FTT, the local token of crypto exchange FTX, which deepened the crisis in the market with its collapse, also took its place on the list of those who fell. FTT saw a 95% drop in yields in November. It then continued with a slowdown and a 22% decline in December.
Interestingly, Solana (SOL) found herself on the ‘loser’ list. SOL saw a 93% drop in returns for the full year. However, it recorded its worst performance in November with a 59% loss.