The cryptocurrency market keeps growing.
Almost every day, new coins are being launched while some are dying.
As a result, there is a constant change in the number of cryptocurrencies available.
However, despite the vast range of cryptocurrencies, certain digital assets remain at the top thanks to their market cap. Investing or trading in such coins often brings a financial fortune.
So, which are the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap?
Well, here is a quick look at the top Cryptocurrencies as per market cap data provided by CoinMarketCap:
Which Are the Top 10 Cryptocurrencies by Market Cap?
1. Bitcoin
Bitcoin is the world’s first cryptocurrency and the most popular digital asset.
The cryptocurrency was launched in 2009 by an anonymous entity named Satoshi Nakamoto.
As of today, Bitcoin has a market cap of $682.1 billion.
It is a decentralized digital currency without a central authority or single administrator.
All the transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a publicly distributed ledger called the blockchain.
Bitcoin ownership is established through digital keys, addresses, and signatures.
Also, the Bitcoin transactions are maintained by the network’s participants.
Another interesting part of Bitcoin is that it has a limited supply.
This means there can only be 21 million Bitcoins, expected to be mined by 2140.
Overall, Bitcoin, being the first crypto, has years of trust, and many investors recommend the coin for long-term investments.
2. Ethereum
Ethereum is the second most popular cryptocurrency, with a market capitalization of $227.8 billion.
The cryptocurrency was launched by Vitalik Buterin in 2015, while the programmer started working on the project in 2013.
Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain platform with smart contract functionality, and Ether or ETH is its native token.
Using Ethereum, developers can deploy permanent and immutable decentralized applications (dApps) onto its platform.
These dApps can be used for various purposes, including decentralized finance (DeFi), Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), and more.
Additionally, the Ethereum network used proof-of-work (PoW) to verify transactions in the past.
However, in 2022, the network shifted to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.
As a result, Ethereum is now using 99% less energy than it used to.
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3. Tether USDT (USDT)
Tether USDT, popularly known as USDT, is the world’s most popular stablecoin and holds a market capitalization of $85.4 billion.
Being a stablecoin, the cryptocurrency’s value is pegged to the value of the US Dollar.
As a result, one USDT represents one dollar bill.
The stablecoin was launched by Tether Limited Inc. in 2014 to offer a digital currency with a stable price at all times.
USDT is also the most popular choice among traders for trading digital assets, hedging, or transacting crypto across various blockchain networks.
One of the key reasons why the stablecoin holds a large market share is its legitimacy and wide acceptance.
Almost all the exchanges and other vendors accept USDT as a payment method.
Also, it holds a large reserve of US dollars to ensure that the coin price isn’t fluctuating too frequently.
However, cryptocurrency has also been the subject of many controversies in recent years.
But that didn’t affect the market cap of USDT.
4. BNB
BNB, or Binance Coin, is another popular cryptocurrency with a large market share.
As the name suggests, the largest cryptocurrency day trading exchange, Binance, created the cryptocurrency.
The coin was launched in 2017 as an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain.
However, later, the coin moved to its blockchain, called the Binance chain.
As of today, BNB holds a market cap of $38.1 billion.
Talking about the use of the coin, it is more of a utility token as it can be used for paying trading fees on the Binance exchange to avail discounts.
However, the crypto token is widely accepted across vendors and other exchanges.
Binance implements a quarterly burn BNB policy to maintain the coin’s value.
This means they burn some of their profits to buy back BNB and permanently destroy BNB tokens to reduce the overall supply and increase scarcity.
5. XRP
XRP holds the 5th position of the top cryptocurrencies by market cap.
The coin has a market cap of $36.6 billion.
Talking about XRP is the native crypto token of the Ripple Network, which is a real-time gross settlement system, currency exchange, and remittance network.
The intention behind XRP was to create and enable secure, instantly, and nearly free global financial transactions of any size with no chargebacks.
It was created within the Ripple network to facilitate the transfer of different currency types.
The network is known for speed and efficiency as it can instantly validate accounts and balances for payment transmissions and deliver payments within a few seconds.
Also, one key reason why the currency holds a large market share is that various financial institutions have adopted XRP to facilitate financial services.
6. USDC
USDC is the second most popular and used stablecoin after USDT.
The stablecoin holds a market cap of $24.5 billion.
Just like USDT, USD Coin or USDC also has value pegged to the United States dollar.
The stablecoin was first launched in 2018 and is managed by a consortium called Center.
Circle originally founded this consortium, which includes members from Coinbase and the Bitcoin mining company Bitmain.
USDC is designed to be a stable digital dollar.
Each USDC token represents a single US Dollar bill.
Initially, the stablecoin was launched as an Ethereum ERC-20 token, but later, it expanded to other blockchains.
As far as the reserved funds are concerned, as per Circle, each USDC is backed by a dollar held in reserve by other approved investments.
However, this information could be more detailed and transparent.
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7. Solana
Solana is another popular cryptocurrency that holds a large market share.
Its market capitalization is around $17.4 billion.
Talking about the coin, Solana is a blockchain and works similarly to Ethereum.
It was originally projected as an Ethereum killer.
The Solana blockchain uses a proof-of-history consensus mechanism.
It is mostly used for running crypto apps or dApps, decentralized exchanges, and more.
The unique part of Solana is that it can process around 50,000 transactions per second.
Furthermore, compared to other blockchains, Solana set itself apart because of its architectural design.
It can offer developers faster transaction settlement and the flexibility to write and launch customizable apps in different programming languages.
8. Cardano
Cardano is a public blockchain platform that is decentralized and open-source.
It is based on the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.
The blockchain platform was developed to facilitate peer-to-peer transactions with its internal cryptocurrency, ADA.
Currently, the coin holds a market capitalization of around $12.3 billion.
Cardano markets itself as the updated version of Ethereum.
It has called itself a third-generation platform.
Over the years, the Cardano blockchain has been part of many applications.
For instance, it is used as an educational credential verification service in Georgia.
Also, it entered into the world of DeFi in 2021 and more.
As far as the ADA token is concerned, just like Bitcoin, it has a limited supply.
The maximum number of ADA tokens that can be created is 45 billion.
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9. Dogecoin
Dogecoin is also one of the largest cryptocurrencies in terms of market cap.
It holds a market capitalization of $10.5 billion.
However, in the last few years, Dogecoin lost much of its market share to other crypto tokens.
The currency was created by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer as a satirical take on the cryptocurrency boom.
The crypto was launched back in 2013, and it features the Shiba Inu dog from the “Doge” meme as its logo.
The coin gained extreme popularity after Elon Musk made several tweets about it.
However, while the hype around crypto is slowly dying, it is still being used in different charitable and fundraising events.
Another unique part of Dogecoin is that it is based on the Scrypt algorithm and has a block time of 1 minute.
Also, unlike Bitcoin, Dogecoin has an unlimited supply, with 5 billion new coins entering circulation each year.
As a result, many investors do not consider this a good coin for long-term investment.
10. Tron
Tron, or TRX, is a decentralized blockchain-based operating system with smart contract functionality.
The blockchain was launched in 2014 by Justin Sun, using proof-of-stake as its consensus mechanism.
Today, the currency holds a market capitalization of $8.6 billion.
Originally, Tron was an Ethereum-based ERC-20 token.
However, later, it moved to its blockchain network in 2018.
The native cryptocurrency of the Tron ecosystem is called Tronix (TRX).
Its platform is designed to help users freely publish, store, and own their data in a decentralized autonomous form.
Unlike other blockchains, Tron is quite different as there are no transaction fees for TRX.
Along with that, its network can support 2000 transactions every second.
Also, holding TRX tokens allows you to participate in the super representatives’ selection process.
The platform’s ability to reward content creators for their work while retaining full ownership of their projects is an extremely valuable concept.
How does Market Capitalization Affect a Cryptocurrency’s Rank in the Top 10?
To get to the market capitalization of a crypto coin, we multiply a crypto token’s price by its circulating supply, which determines the coin’s ranking.
The higher the market cap a coin has, the greater its value and dominance.
What Factors Contribute to the Rise and Fall of Cryptocurrencies within the Top 10 Rankings?
Key factors that decide the ranking of crypto tokens are
- Investor demand
- Market sentiment
- Recent news
- Technological updates
- Broader economic factors
For instance, Dogecoin saw a rise in market cap after Elon Musk’s influence.
What Role Does Trading Volume Play in Ranking the Top 10 Cryptocurrencies?
Trading volume is a significant factor determining the top 10 rankings of cryptocurrencies.
Trading volume indicates how much of a crypto token is traded within a timeframe, which affects liquidity and stability and can influence the market cap.
In other words, if a coin is experiencing high trading volume, then more people are interested in buying it, so it will increase the token price and eventually increase the market cap.
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Conclusion
So those were the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap.
However, the full ten list of cryptocurrencies keeps changing occasionally.
As new coins gain popularity, the market share of the coins also increases.
However, coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT stand strong, and their rankings haven’t changed.
These coins still hold the first three positions.
