Top Cryptocurrencies With the Highest Returns in 2021

Tether (USDT)

USD Coin (USDC)

• Jan. 1 price: $1.0000
• Dec. 17 price: $1.00
• YTD change: $0.00
• YTD change (%): 0.00%

Like Tether, USD Coin is another stable coin that is designed to remain at a fixed value of $1. These coins have uses for certain institutions and individuals, but it’s not the type of coin you’d want to chase in quest of high returns.

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Bitcoin (BTC)

• Jan. 1 price: $29,279.53
• Dec. 17 price: $46,489.29
• YTD change: $17,209.76
• YTD change (%): 58.78%

Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency and still remains the largest, with a leading market capitalization hovering around $900 billion. Its nearly 60% YTD return is almost triple that of the S&P 500 index in 2021.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH): How’s It Differ From Bitcoin and What’s It Worth?

Polkadot (DOT)

• Jan. 1 price: $8.7977
• Dec. 17 price: $24.75
• YTD change: $15.95
• YTD change (%): 181.25%

Polkadot gained some traction in 2021 as a competitor to Ethereum, which is labeled by some as too expensive for developers.

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XRP (XRP)

Ethereum (ETH)

Cardano (ADA)

Crypto.com Coin (CRO)

Binance Coin (BNB)

Avalanche (AVX)

• Jan. 1 price: $3.58
• Dec. 17 price: $110.43
• YTD change: $106.85
• YTD change (%): 2,984.64%

Avalanche is another Ethereum competitor, but it is relatively new to the sign, launching in 2020. Avalanche was created to run transactions faster and more energy-efficient than Ethereum, operating on a proof-of-stake platform.

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Dogecoin (DOGE)

• Jan. 1 price: $0.0049
• Dec. 17 price: $0.17
• YTD change: $0.1651
• YTD change (%): 3,369.88%

Dogecoin famously started out as a joke but has gotten a lot of publicity from tweets by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who once facetiously dubbed himself “The Dogefather.” In mid-December 2021, Tesla announced that it would allow customers to purchase merchandise using Dogecoin, boosting the coin another 20%.

Dogecoin (DOGE): What It Is, What It’s Worth and Should You Be Investing?

Terra (LUNA)

• Jan. 1 price: $0.6374
• Dec. 17 price: $66.36
• YTD change: $65.72
• YTD change (%): 10,311.04%

Terra is an interesting cryptocurrency because it is related to the Terra stable coin (UST). As more demand pours into UST, more LUNA is “burned,” making it scarcer and subject to the laws of supply and demand. The gains in Terra (LUNA) can grow exponentially or vanish rapidly based on the demand for UST.

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Solana (SOL)

• Jan. 1 price: $1.61
• Dec. 17 price: $175.37
• YTD change: $173.76
• YTD change (%): 10,785.79%

Solana is one of the major competitors to Ethereum, and it already operates using a proof-of-stake system, making it more energy-efficient and positioning it with a head-start before Ethereum switches to its own POS system under Ethereum 2.0.

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Polygon (MATIC)

• Jan. 1 price: $0.01769
• Dec. 17 price: $2.11
• YTD change: $2.09231
• YTD change (%): 11,827.64%

Polygon was designed as a “sidechain” to Ethereum, but it’s growing twice as fast as Ethereum was at this stage of its existence and may end up becoming independent. There are also market rumors of the crypto receiving a huge cash infusion of $50 million to $150 million from venture capitalists.

More for You: 10 Cheap Cryptocurrencies To Buy

Shiba Inu (SHIB)

• Jan. 1 price: $0.000000000073
• Dec. 17 price: $0.0000312
• YTD change: $0.000031199927
• YTD change (%): 42,739,626.03%

Shiba Inu is another “mythical” cryptocurrency, in the vein of Dogecoin, but that hasn’t stopped investors from riding the momentum train to some truly staggering gains. What’s perhaps most remarkable about Shiba Inu’s rise is that even after jumping over 40 million percent, the coin price remains at a microscopic $0.0000312.

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