The cryptocurrency market has experienced a significant increase in recent years, starting with Bitcoin and Ethereum, followed by Dogecoin and USDT. How to know what to purchase? In this volatile market, it's hard to determine with absolute certainty which investment will be superior. However, several metrics exist that can be used to assist in the decision. One of them is the market capitalization.
What is market capitalization?
Market capitalization is the monetary value of the object, which is determined by the current market (interchanging) price. This metric demonstrates the current state of affairs and facilitates the calculation of future potential.
The formula for calculating the capitalization of cryptocurrencies is as simple as possible: the total number of tokens in circulation x the current price of a token.
This indicator determines the type of cryptocurrencies to be divided into three major categories:
1. Coins with a large capitalization - greater than $10 billion. These include profitable assets like BTC and ETH.
2. Coins with a typical value of 1 to 10 billion dollars. These are assets that have the potential for significant growth in the future.
3. Coins that have a small capitalization - less than $1 billion. These coins are considered to be risky; however, they are also highly volatile and have a significant potential for profit.
The 10 most popular cryptocurrencies by market capitalization in 2024
1 - Bitcoin (BTC)
Market cap: $1,332,684,651,575 (as per May 30, 2024).
Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency, created by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009. BTC is based on a decentralized blockchain technology, a ledger that records transactions distributed across a network of thousands of computers.
The cost of Bitcoin has increased significantly, as it become more popular. In May 2016, you could purchase one Bitcoin for around $500. As of May 30th, 2024, a single Bitcoin's cost was around $67,641. That is to say, the total number of settlements increased by more than 13,528%.
2 - Ethereum (ETH)
Market cap: $447,960,936,148 (as per May 30, 2024).
Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain system that has its own cryptocurrency, Ether. ETH serves as a platform for other cryptocurrencies as well as for the execution of decentralized smart contracts.
Ethereum was released in July 2015 and is considered the most significant cryptocurrency, besides Bitcoin. The Ethereum blockchain was the first to include smart contracts, code that executes decentralized applications, or dApps. The Ethereum blockchain has over 1,400 apps and instruments for developers, and Ether is the primary cryptocurrency used on the Ethereum network.
Ethereum's growth has also been exponential. From April 2016 to May 2024, its price had increased from around $11 to around $3,728, which is a 33,891% increase.
3 - Tether (USDT)
Market cap: $111,918,502,648 (as per May 30, 2024).
Tether (USDT) is a cryptocurrency that is determined by the value of US dollar. This is accomplished by having a direct correspondence between the token's value and the US Dollar value, this hypothetical association would have the effect of keeping the value of the token constant at one of the other denominations, since every token would have the ability to be exchanged for one dollar. In theory, this implies that Tether's value is supposed to be more steady than other cryptocurrencies, it's favoured by investors who are hesitant about the extreme fluctuations of other cryptocurrencies.
4 - BNB (BNB)
Market cap: $87,185,827,200 (as per May 30, 2024).
The BNB cryptocurrency is issued by Binance, an international leader in cryptocurrency regulation and exchange. BNB was originally conceived as a utility token that was based on the Ethereum protocol that would allow users to consume discounted fees on the Binance exchange. However, the token has since moved to the Binance blockchain on its own. BNB is now capable of conducting a variety of transactions, applications and other scenarios.
The price of BNB was just $0.10 in 2017. By May 30th, 2024, its price had increased to around $590.73, an increase of around 590,730%.
5 - Solana (SOL)
Market cap: $75,880,662,488 (as per May 30, 2024).
Solana was officially released in March 2020. Solana's blockchain employs a hybrid consensus mechanism that combines PoH (Proof-of-History) with PoS (Proof-of-Stake), and is capable of executing up to 50,000 transactions per second.
The native currency of the Solana platform is called SOL, and it's used to pay for transactions on the network. The price for SOL was $0.9511 in April 2020, and as of May 30th, 2024 it stands at $165.09, an increase of 17,357%.
6 - USD Coin (USDC)
Market cap: $32,146,508,980 (as per May 30, 2024).
Similar to Tether, USD Coin (USDC) is a stablecoin that is backed by American dollars and is intended to have a 1-to-1 ratio with US dollars. The USDC is accessible on multiple blockchain platforms, including Ethereum and Solana, and you can utilize the USD Coin to complete global transactions.
7 - XPR (XPR)
Market cap: $28,676,792,380 (as per May 30, 2024).
Developed by some of the same founders as Ripple, XRP can be utilized on the network to facilitate transactions between different currency types, including fiat currency and other significant cryptocurrencies.
In 2013, the cost of XRP was $0.006. As of May 30th, 2024, its price was around $0.5174, which is an 8,623% increase.
8 - Dogecoin (DOGE)
Market cap: $22,889,458,635 (as per May 30, 2024).
Dogecoin was originally intended as a joke in 2013, but it quickly became a popular cryptocurrency due to the dedicated community and creative memes. Unlike other cryptocurrencies, there is no maximum number of Dogecoins that can be created, which leaves the currency susceptible to depreciation as the supply increases.
The Dogecoin price in 2013 was $0.0002. By May 30th, 2024, its price was $0.1584, which is 79,200% increase.
9 - Cardano (ADA)
Market cap: $16,024,121,463 (as per May 30, 202).
Cardano is a decentralized blockchain that was released in September 2017 to be more effective than Bitcoin, Ethereum or another type of blockchain that was available at the time. The ADA is the primary cryptocurrency employed on the network that facilitates transactions and executes apps. Also, Cardano users can utilize ADA to facilitate the verification of network transactions and receive additional tokens.
The Cardano token has had a modest increase in comparison to other significant cryptocurrencies. In 2017, the price of ADA was $0.02461. As of May 30th, 2024, its cost was $0.4488. This is a significant increase of 1,823%.
10 - Toncoin (TON)
Market cap: $15,541,547,293 (as per May 30, 2024).
Toncoin (TON) is the traditional currency of The Open Network (TON), a blockchain network dedicated to decentralization originally created by Telegram, but released to the public. Toncoin is employed to pay for transactions or verify transactions using the Ton's PoS (Proof-of-Stake) consensus model.
TON's unique attributes, including the quickness of their transactions, low fees, their app ecosystem, and the integration of Telegram, have led to the coin's popularity in the top 10 cryptocurrencies by capitalization. As of May 30th, 2024, its cost was $6.45, which is an increase of 1,240% over the cost of $0.5199 in 2021.
Where to purchase cryptocurrency?
Kolo is a trustworthy and simple platform, that supports multiple currencies, including BTC, ETH, USDT, TON, BNB.
It's beneficial for both novices and experienced users, as it has a plenty of simple functions.
To purchase crypto, you need to:
1. Go to the Kolo website and log in to your account.
2. Visit the Exchanger section in your profile and choose the Buy crypto section.
3. Enter the desired amount of crypto and provide your crypto wallet address
4. Add all the necessary personal information. After that, confirm the purchase.
