Key Findings
- Cryptocurrencies were hammered across the board, with all of the top 10 coins suffering heavy losses.
- LUNA was the worst performer, collapsing to almost zero in May.
- Solana lost 92% of its value this year, falling from the third-largest crypto to sixteenth.
- The best relative performers were BNB, XRP, and Dogecoin, but each still declined by more than 56%.
- Bitcoin fell 64% and Ethereum fell 67%.
2022. What a year.
On the cryptocurrency markets there can be no doubt: it was not one of the better years. The world shifted to a new interest-rate paradigm, and markets suddenly recognised how much of the crypto space had been propped up by cheap financing.
The era of easy credit is over. Liquidity has been pulled back, and prices across the sector collapsed as a result. Add several major scandals—FTX, LUNA and Celsius among them—and markets have been severely shaken.
This article looks back at the top 10 coins at the start of the year and how they fared.
2022 Feels Like a Long Time Ago
The snapshot below shows the market at the start of the year, drawn from CoinMarketCap data.
Bitcoin was trading near $50,000 and still within sight of a trillion-dollar market cap, leading the market overall. Ethereum had recently dipped below $4,000, while Binance’s BNB held the third spot.
Tether was the top stablecoin in fourth place, with Solana rising into fifth. Solana—closely associated with a prominent developer community and marketed by some as an “Ethereum rival”—had surged, reaching a market cap in excess of $50 billion.
The other stablecoin in the top ranks was USD Coin at seventh, and Dogecoin appeared among the top non-stablecoins. LUNA, the token powering the Terra ecosystem and its DeFi ambitions, was sitting in ninth place.
Back then the mood was largely upbeat. Though the market had cooled a little since Bitcoin’s November peak around $68,739, prices remained high and profits were plentiful. It felt like a positive start to 2022.
One Year Later
A year on, the picture is starkly different. Below is a summary of performance for the top 10 coins from the start of the year, excluding the two major stablecoins.
LUNA effectively collapsed to near zero. Solana was the next worst performer, losing an astonishing 92% of its value in 2022. Once ranked in the top five, Solana tumbled to sixteenth place. Avalanche also inflicted heavy losses on investors, slipping from eleventh to eighteenth and shedding about 87% of its value.
The relatively strongest performers were BNB, XRP and Dogecoin, yet even these “best” outcomes represented declines in the region of 56–57%. Despite controversies surrounding Binance, BNB managed to finish the year as a top-five cryptocurrency after being overtaken by USDC and USDT in market cap.
Throughout the year, stablecoins were the only category largely insulated from dramatic price swings. Even the market leaders were hit hard: Bitcoin lost roughly 64% and Ethereum about 67% over the period. These declines would be even more dramatic if compared to November’s all-time highs.
Investors will be relieved to see the year close, given how severe the market downturn has been. But risks remain: the high-rate environment persists, the industry continues to absorb fallout from the FTX collapse, and global economic and geopolitical uncertainty is still significant.
As the market heads into the next year, participants will be watching liquidity conditions, regulatory developments and the broader macroeconomic backdrop closely—each will play a major role in determining whether the sector stabilises or faces further turbulence.