How many times did the best-performing cryptocurrency increase in 2023?
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How many times did the best-performing cryptocurrency increase in 2023?
BONK first, INJ second.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy Nicholas Boey, Coingecko
Translated by Songxue, Jinse Finance
Bonk (BONK) was the top-performing cryptocurrency in 2023, rising from $0.0000002 on January 1 to $0.0000146 on December 28, a gain of 7,302.9%. Bonk’s return was 2.5 times higher than Injective (INJ), the second-best performer among major cryptocurrencies in 2023. Bonk's airdrop marked a turning point for Solana and captured the attention of traders and investors.
Injective (INJ) ranked as the second-highest gainer in 2023, climbing from $1.27 to $39.07, an increase of 2,976.4%. Injective's rally began with the launch of pre-listing token futures on its decentralized exchange (DEX), Helix. Additionally, early in the year, Injective established a $150 million ecosystem fund aimed at accelerating adoption of interoperable infrastructure and DeFi.
CorgiAI (CORGIAI) was the third-largest gainer in 2023, rising from $0.00014 to $0.00282, a surge of 1,959.7%. As the leading meme coin on the Cronos blockchain, CorgiAI gained strong momentum, aligning with the trend that each blockchain develops its own "meme coin."
The top 10 best-performing cryptocurrencies delivered returns ranging from 632.8% to 7,302.9%. Holding any one of these assets at the start of the year would have yielded investors more than 3.9 times the return of Bitcoin or Ethereum.
Top crypto winners followed popular narratives
The top 10 performing cryptocurrencies in 2023 were all tied to some of the most popular narratives of the year—meme coins, Layer 1 protocols, artificial intelligence, and Layer 2 solutions.
Bonk, the best-performing cryptocurrency, benefited from multiple narratives in 2023. The rise of meme coins and the resurgence of the Solana ecosystem—two of the most prominent themes of the year—played key roles in its success.
Eight of the top 100 cryptocurrencies declined in 2023
Between the beginning of 2023 and December 28, eight of the top 100 cryptocurrencies saw price declines. This group includes Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), Dai (DAI), Binance USD (BUSD), TrueUSD (TUSD), Toncoin (TON), Chiliz (CHZ), and Sui (SUI).
Five of these eight are stablecoins, whose prices dipped slightly below their $1.00 peg, resulting in losses of up to 0.3%.
TON, CHZ, and SUI were the only non-stablecoin losers in 2023, with price drops ranging from 0.6% to 40.6%. It should be noted that Sui launched on May 3, 2023, initially reaching a high of $1.40 before closing at $0.83 on December 28, 2023.
Bitcoin performance in 2023
Bitcoin (BTC) outperformed 65 of the top 100 cryptocurrencies, rising from $16,540 to $43,418 between the start of the year and December 28, a 162.5% increase. This means that randomly selecting a cryptocurrency from this group gave roughly a one-in-three chance of beating Bitcoin’s 2023 return.
In 2023, Bitcoin attracted significant attention due to spot ETF applications filed by giants such as BlackRock and Fidelity. Approval could significantly expand investor access and enhance Bitcoin’s value.
Bitcoin performance vs. Layer 1s
In 2023, Bitcoin outperformed Ethereum (ETH) by 1.7 times. Bitcoin’s price return of 162.5% exceeded Ethereum’s 98.6% price return for the year.
Bitcoin also outperformed 18 of the 30 Layer 1 cryptocurrencies within the top 100. However, Bitcoin lagged behind the remaining 11 Layer 1s, four of which made it into the top 10 list of biggest cryptocurrency gainers.
Compared to holding Bitcoin and Ethereum at the start of the year, investments in INJ, KAS, SOL, or CFX delivered returns at least 4.8 times higher. However, it is important to note that smaller Layer 1s carry higher risk as they compete for market share against the more established Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Top 10 cryptocurrency gainers in 2023 statistics
The price returns of the top 10 performing cryptocurrencies in 2023 (excluding Bitcoin and Ethereum) were:
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