The crypto community has been patiently awaiting the highly anticipated Ethereum PoS upgrade. By the way, only 26 days left until merge. After Ethereum transitioned from PoW to PoS, only 2 altcoins will be among the top 10 cryptocurrencies as PoW tokens.
PoS era begins: PoW altcoin projects disappear from the top 10
This year, for the first time in crypto history, three stablecoins entered the ten largest market cap positions. In the first week of May, Terra (UST) was in the top ten along with USDT and USDC. However, after the collapse of UST, the token fell from the top 10 and even disappeared from the market. After this event, BUSD, the stablecoin issued by Binance Smart Chain, has reached among the largest stablecoins by market cap.
That was not the case nine years ago, on August 18, 2013. Because there were no stablecoins in the top ten. Back then, stablecoins were not as common as they are today.
Ethereum merge is at the door
In 26 days, Ethereum will transform from PoW to PoS after operating as a PoW Blockchain for seven years. When this happens, only two PoW tokens will remain in the top ten. The last two PoW tokens in the top ten will be Bitcoin (BTC) and Dogecoin (DOGE). This trend was also not common nine years ago in 2013, when the top ten crypto tokens were mostly PoW coins.
On August 18, 2013, Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at $ 113. Also, there was no player like Ethereum in the market. In fact, the Ethereum Blockchain was not released for another 711 days after August 18, 2013. Also, Litecoin (LTC) was the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap. PoS cryptos were conceptualized back then, and in 2013 there was a series of hybrid proof-of-work (POW) and proof-of-stake (PoS) tokens, with Peercoin (PPC) leading the charge. PPC was the first hybrid PoW/PoS Blockchain introduced to the crypto community. It was signed by a developer nicknamed Sunny King.
Nine years ago, the top ten PoW and hybrid PoW cryptos included:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Namecoin (NMC)
- Peercoin (PPC)
- Feathercoin (FTC)
- Novacoin (NVC)
- Primecoin (XPM)
- Terracoin (TRC)
- Infinitecoin (IFC)
At that time in 2013, the only non-PoW coin in the top ten was XRP. Meanwhile, XRP is still in the top ten crypto market capitalization rankings in 2022. On August 23, 2015, about seven years ago, there were fewer PoW cryptocurrencies. Even if Ethereum (ETH) joins the ranks as a PoW coin, it still ranks in the top ten.
Dogecoin remains in the top 10 altcoins as a PoW coin
By 2017, there were still 6 PoW coins in the top 10 rankings. The PoW cryptos included at that time were BTC, ETC, BCH, LTC, DASH, and ETC. On the other hand, BCC, LTC, DASH and ETC are no longer in the top ten rankings. Also, a few cryptocurrencies that were once in the top ten, such as IOTA, NEM, and NEO, have since dropped from the top ten. That was about five years ago, and today, DOGE and BTC are the last PoW coins to hit the top ten.
It is also worth noting that Dogecoin is in 10th place and is quite close to the market cap of Polkadot (DOT). Once the merge happens and Ethereum becomes a PoS Blockchain, there is a chance it will leave DOGE. DOGE may lag behind its competitors technologically. Finally, if the merge is complete, BTC will be the only PoW coin from the top ten crypto market capitalizations. As Kriptokoin.com, we have discussed 5 lesser-known features of the Ethereum merge right in this article.
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