How the crypto performers of 2021 have performed one year later

by Arthur · October 10, 2022

After a massive rally in 2021, this year cryptocurrency markets have crashed back to earth. That’s thanks to aggressive interest rate policies from global central banks as well as the war in Ukraine. Both factors have combined to put pressure on the broad crypto market.

The crypto founders are also to blame. Their questionable decisions and projects are responsible for the dramatic collapse of some of the existing 19,000 digital assets. The demise of the $40 billion Terra (LUNA) blockchain in May is nothing short of spectacular.

And so is the decline in the price of satirical token Shiba Inu (SHIB), so-called Ethereum killer Solana (SOL), and the gaming platform Axie Infinity (AXS). Even Bitcoin (BTC), considered something of a benchmark in the industry, declined sharply this year.

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The Great Purge

Combined, the total market value of all crypto assets fell from around $3 trillion a year ago to $939 billion currently, according to Coinmarketcap.

It’s the great purge, flashing out “crossovers in crypto” as illustrated by the speculative boom in meme coins like SHIB last year.

One year after peaking in November 2021, how have the above cryptocurrencies fared, all top 50 coins that outperformed last year? We take a look below.

Shiba Inu

With strong community support, this meme coin shot through the roof in 2021. SHIB rose around 43 million percent throughout the year, rising from $0.000000000077 to an all-time high of $0.00008616 on October 28, 2021, according to CoinGecko.

The numbers don’t make sense. Too many zeros. It can be confusing. But SHIB represents the value which is only a fraction of one cent. The popular meme coin, created to compensate for rival Dogecoin (DOGE)’s lack of functionality, has plunged over 87% since its peak.

At the time of writing, SHIB is trading at $0.00001072, down 3% in the last 24 hours. Over the past 52 weeks, the token has plunged 63%, and is down 68% year-to-date from $0.00003345 in January.

SHIB snuck into the top 10 most valuable cryptoassets during the meme coin euphoria of 2021, displacing the likes of Litecoin (LTC) and Ripple (XRP). But the dog-inspired token has since fallen out of that range, falling to 14th place, with a $5.95 billion market cap.

SHIB builds on strong community support in addition to a number of improvements to the network to increase the token price. On October 6, the Shiba Eternity game was launched and there are plans to unveil a metaverse and a layer two (L2) solution called Shibarium.

More than 410 trillion Shiba Inu tokens have so far been taken out of circulation in a process known as “burning,” all part of a plan to increase the SHIB price. No doubt that SHIB at $1 with the current token supply figure, originally set at one quadrillion, is still a pipe dream. At least for now.

Without utility, meme coins like Shiba Inu and Dogecoin are “examples of speculative hype coins that are better classified as fun for gamblers on an unprecedented 24/7 global scale,” as Mike McGlone, Bloomberg senior commodity strategist, previously said.

Terra (LUNA)

LUNA is the ill-fated native token of the Terra blockchain. It collapsed dramatically in May, creating a massive contagion that bankrupted some of the biggest companies in the industry. Hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), and lenders Celsius and Voyager are all victims.

The Terra blockchain held some promise, ushering in the idea of a decentralized stablecoin backed by code. In retrospect, it was a terribly bad idea. In a cruel twist of fate, the $40 billion collapse left millions of crypto investors destitute overnight.

Nevertheless, in 2021, LUNA made many millionaires after the token rose by almost 15,800%. LUNA broke the psychological $100 mark in December, rising from just $0.65 in January. It reached a series of highs at different times of the year, finally reaching $119 on April 5, 2022.

But it quickly went downhill from there. LUNA crashed to $0 a few weeks later after its sister token TerraUSD, a stablecoin, failed to hold its dollar peg. Terra co-founder Do Kwon, a pompous character who bet $11 million that his project would never fail, became a fugitive.

Kwon had to create another token, a new LUNA, to appease those investors who lost money in his first venture, now known as Terra Luna Classic (LUNC). At press time, the classic version of LUNA is trading at $0.00030057, up 2% on the day. It could be another meme.

The new LUNA, or Terra 2.0, rose 0.1% to $2.50. This particular token is down 87% since it hit a record high of $19 on May 28, 2022. Terra may have taken its name into the annals of history as arguably the crypto market’s own version of Lehman Brothers.

And Do Kwon had to surrender to the South Korean authorities who have looked high and low for him.

Axie Infinity (AXS)

There is never a dull moment in crypto. In March, the Ronin Network, a sidechain for the crypto game Axie Infinity, was hacked for over $620 million in ETH and USDC. The attacker “used hacked private keys to forge fake withdrawals” from the Ronin bridge.

The hack became one of the largest in decentralized finance (DeFi) history, eclipsing Poly Networks’ $611 million theft last year. But AXS, the ruling symbol of the Axie Infinity gaming metaverse, took a beating.

After rising more than 30,000% to reach an all-time high of $165 on November 6, 2021, AXS has fallen sharply this year. The token has fallen 92% since its peak. AXS, which traded at $0.53 last January, is currently changing hands at $12.25, down 3.3% on the day.

Over the past 52 weeks, AXS has fallen from $122 and is down 87% year to date.

Solana (SOL)

Solana is a blockchain network that held a lot of promise when it launched in 2020. It is one of those chains that aimed to dislodge the Ethereum blockchain from its dominance as the most used platform in crypto for money markets, NFTs, dApps, and much more .

But Solana seems to be struggling in that regard. The blockchain is plagued by network outage issues, which plague millions of users. To date, Solana has suffered a total of eight technical power outages. The outbreaks may be partly to blame for SOL’s decline.

In 2021, the price of SOL rose over 10,500% to $180 at the end of December. According to CoinGecko, the token peaked at $260 on November 6, 2021, but has been in decline since then. At the time of writing, AXS is trading at $32, down 78% from $147 a year ago.

Analysts predict that SOL will reach $45 by the end of this year.

Bitcoin (BTC)

Considered by some as the benchmark currency of the crypto world, Bitcoin has been merged with technology stocks on the Nasdaq, with which it has become more correlated.

BTC hit a record high of $69,000 on November 10, 2021, up nearly 140% from its opening price of around $29,000 at the beginning of the year. Amid worsening macroeconomic conditions and rising geopolitical tensions, Bitcoin fell sharply this year.

At press time, BTC is trading at $19,288, down 65% from $54,741 a year earlier. Since January, the asset has fallen 56% and continues to see volatility. Veteran trader Gareth Soloway expects that, at worst, Bitcoin will collapse to $3,500 this year.

For Be[In]Crypto’s latest Bitcoin (BTC) analysis, click here

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