With the number of altcoins listed on Coinmarketcap reaching 1,640 as of this writing, the question begs – how will all of these altcoin markets perform in the long term? When looking back four years at a historic snapshot of the leading markets from June 1st, 2014, one can see that only two of the top ten altcoins have retained their position in the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization today. Additionally, only two markets have gained value over both fiat and BTC pairings, whilst four markets have lost value against both USD and BTC.
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The Cryptocurrency Markets Four Years Ago
At the time of the snapshot, the altcoin sphere was early in its development – with six of the ten cryptocurrency markets by capitalization then being less than 12 months old. Whilst the majority of markets have produced gains over the U.S. dollar (USD), most markets have produced dramatic losses against BTC.
BTC has maintained its position as the leading market by capitalization over the years. At the time of the snapshot, the BTC markets had a total capitalization of $8.2 billion, with bitcoin trading for approximately $640 each. Today, BTC boasts a market cap of nearly $127.2 billion, and the price of bitcoin has since risen to 1,065%, trading for approximately $7,450 as of this writing.
Many Leading Altcoins Lose Value Against BTC
Litecoin was the second largest crypto market on June 1st, 2014, then comprising a $320.5 million USD market, with LTC trading for $11.10 each. Litecoin has retained its position in top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap, today ranking sixth with a capitalization of roughly $6.725 billion. As of this writing, LTC is trading for $118.40 – an increase in USD-value of 966%. Despite the impressive gains, LTC has lost value against BTC – falling 9.14% from 0.0175 BTC to 0.0159 BTC.
At the start of June 2014, NXT was the third largest crypto market by capitalization. NXT was then trading for $0.057 and had a total capitalization of $57 million. Today, NXT is the one-hundred-and-fourth ranked market by capitalization with a market cap of approximately $123.3 billion. NXT is trading for $0.132 each as of this writing. Despite having gained 131.5% over USD, NXT has lost nearly 80% of its value when paired against BTC – falling from 8,802 satoshis to 1,780 satoshis in four years.
Dash Gains 130% Over BTC
Fours years ago, Dash was the fourth largest cryptocurrency market cap with a total capitalization of nearly $50 million, despite having traded for only four and a half months.
Today, Dash is still a leading market, ranking fourteenth by capitalization with a market cap of almost $2.5 billion. Dash is one of two top ten altcoin markets to have gained over both fiat and BTC pairs since four years ago – gaining 2,550% from $11.50 to $305, and nearly 130% from 0.0178 BTC to 0.0409 BTC.
Peercoin Falls 92% Against BTC
Since the time of the snapshot, Peercoin’s market cap ranking has slid from fifth to two-hundred-and-twelfth – growing modestly from $43.3 million to $46.3 million.
The price of PPC has lost against both fiat and bitcoin pairings – falling by 7.5% from $2.02 to $1.87, and dropping by 92% from 0.0032 BTC to 0.00025 BTC.
XRP Gains 15,250% Over USD in Four Years
Ripple is the only top ten altcoin market from June 2014 to have since ascended in its ranking by market cap – climbing from sixth with a total capitalization of $31.7 million four years ago, to third with a market cap of over $24 billion today.
The gains produced by the price of XRP over the last four years exceed those posted by all other top ten markets from the time of the snapshot – with XRP having since gained 15,250% from $0.004 to $0.614, and 1,243% from 615 satoshis to 8,260 satoshis.
DOGE Gains Over USD, Drop Against BTC
At the time of the snapshot, Dogecoin was the seventh-ranked cryptocurrency by capitalization with a market cap of $28 million. Today, the Dogecoin markets are ranked forty-seventh with a capitalization of nearly $390 million.
The price of DOGE has increased against fiat but fallen against BTC – gaining roughly 875% from $0.000349 to $0.0034 over the dollar, whilst dropping 16.3% from 55 satoshis to 46 satoshis.
Top 6-10 Ranked Altcoin Markets Lose Over 90% Since June 2014
Fours years ago, Namecoin was the eighth-ranked crypto by market cap with a capitalization of $21.1 million. Namecoin has since fallen to rank three-hundred-and-sixteenth, with its market cap currently sitting at $25.37 million. NMC has lost value against both USD and BTC – falling 27.4% from $2.37 to $1.72, and dropping 93.6% from 0.0036 BTC to 0.00023 BTC.
Blackcoin was the ninth-ranked cryptocurrency by market cap with a capitalization of $19 million at the time of snapshot. Blackcoin’s market cap has since shrunk to $15.9 million – ranking it three-hundred-and-ninety-second. BLK has suffered significant losses since the snapshot – dropping 19.15% from $0.256 to $0.207, and falling roughly 93.5% from 42,000 satoshis to 2,780 satoshis.
On June 1st, 2014, Omni was the tenth largest cryptocurrency by market cap with a capitalization of $13.6 million. Today, Omni is ranked four-hundred-and-twenty-seventh with a market capitalization of nearly $13.8 million. The price of OMNI has gained 11.4% from $22.6 to $24.58, however, has lost 91% against bitcoin – plummeting from 0.037 BTC to 0.0033 BTC in four years.
At the time of the snapshot, Bitshares PTS was the eleventh largest crypto market with a capitalization of $7.5 million. Four years ago, PTS was trading for roughly 742,000 satoshis each. Today, the Bitshares PTS markets appear dead with the last trade recorded on Coinmarketcap having occurred on the September 7th, 2016 for 27 satoshis – a 99.99% drop against USD from $4.59 to $0.000165.
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