15 September 2021: Back in August, we presented our first official Top 10 Cryptocurrencies List in which ten projects were chosen based on potential a handful of different factors, including funding availability, community engagement, actual utility of the project, and potential future development. This month, we will be reevaluating the original list to see how these projects have performed in the past month since mid-August - and the value they may have added, or taken away, from your portfolio.
September 2021 - Top 10 Cryptocurrencies List
This month's installment of our top 10 list comes with some major changes within the rankings. While all ten projects still hold spots on the list, the rankings themselves have been adjusted primarily based on their actual usefulness, not necessarily just on price action. As the world moves further into unprecedented monetary policy, it is imperative to ensure that the projects being funded are demonstrating the functionality that was marketed along with the projects themselves.
Get ready for some surprises this month. Below is our updated top 10 list for the month of September:
10. Polygon (MATIC) (-1)
Polygon moves down to number 10 primarily because of a jump by a different project in our rankings. Thus, there is no internal reason as to a de-ranking for Polygon. Polygon Network still holds tremendous value for being the main driver in the possible long term success of the Ethereum Network. Polygon's massive role in helping to scale Ethereum effectively for the release of ETH2.0 and Proof-of-Stake demonstrates the immense important of the project. While indirectly tied to the infamous major DeFi hack that occurred, Polygon has demonstrated to be an industry leader in blockchain scalability and will more than likely continue to do so for years to come.
Market Price:+21%
9. Monero (XMR) (-2)
Although down two spots, Monero is still considered one of the most secured private cryptocurrencies available today - and therefore still holds untapped value even though its moves within the market have not been as flashy. With recent visible attempts by a number of governments (particularly western governments) in recent weeks to promote the regulation of cryptocurrencies, an asset such as Monero offers tremendous value as an untraceable, private medium of exchange that is more or less safe from both surveillance and monetary regulation. Monero therefore remains on our list at #9.
Market Price: +15%
8. Solana (SOL) (-)
In our previous rankings, Solana had just experienced its first major breakout, rising to new all time highs. That hype has continued into September. Solana has exploded from a $20 billion market cap back in August to double that value at over $40 billion in just three weeks time. Development on the Solana blockchain have shown considerable promise, and this project is one that may rise up our rankings quickly should things continue to trend in a positive direction.
Market Price: +201%
7. Cardano (ADA) (-3)
Cardano is our biggest loser this month, though still holds a strong spot at #7 in our rankings. Cardano has dropped in our rankings due to some alleged setbacks with the functionality in their UTXO blockchain transaction system. Though it may never be confirmed, the fact of the matter is Cardano still does not have a functional project and therefore it is impossible for us to confirm or deny that this is the case. It has been riding on community hype and peer reviewed research for essentially its entire existence. Putting a greater emphasis on functionality is immediate grounds for a small fall in rank. Still, with major upward price action and the third biggest market cap in crypto currently, Cardano should still be on everyone's radar.
Market Price: +42%
6. Algorand (ALGO) (+4)
Our biggest mover in this month's rankings is none other than Algorand. A very suitable competitor to both Ethereum & Cardano, Algorand checks all the boxes for a fantastic DeFi-capable blockchain. With very fast speeds, low gas fees, and high utility, Algorand is set up to be possibly the most undervalued blockchain network currently out there. Real utility and uncompromising functionality will reign supreme over the long term, and Algorand has positioned itself perfectly to stick around for years to come.
Market Price: +37%
5. The Graph (GRT) (+1)
Moving up one spot to break into our top 5, The Graph's continuing ability to scale and provide essential services to a number of different blockchain-based projects shows the immediate longevity of this project. Querying is a massive part of internet functionality and data processing, and that is something that is not going to change in the foreseeable future. The Graph is still demonstrating it is a great long term hold.
Market Price: +17%
4. Ethereum (ETH) (-2)
Ah, Ethereum. Surprised to see it at #4? Us too. The two spot drop in ranking is really tied to one glaring issue with Ethereum: gas prices are ridiculously expensive. While it was noted that the recent major update to Ethereum (EIP-1559) was not by itself going to fix the gas prices on the network, the fact that it has quite literally done anything but assist small players warrants a move down in our rankings. Gas prices, especially during normal market times, have actually gone up considerably. EIP-1559 as it stands right now, while assisting in some capacity to pushing the overall price up, has done nothing but enrich miners and hurt small players. The long term success of Ethereum rests solely on the success of ETH2.0 lowering gas fees and scaling the network in a way that benefits all.
Market Price: +26%
3. Ampleforth (AMPL) (-)
Sitting in our bronze medal position, Ampleforth remains at #3 in our rankings. This is mainly due to the fact that $AMPL remains by far the best stable, non-collateralized, decentralized unit of account with actual utility and unshakable functionality. Ampleforth has worked beautifully across multiple blockchains and has had zero hiccups in functionality when it comes to rebasing both in normal wallets and even through the borrow/lending platform Aave. Ampleforth is the best stable unit of account in all of crypto right now (over the likes of Tether, USDC, DAI, and others).
Ampleforth Governance Token, though not a direct example of the price action of $AMPL, is useful in measuring the engagement of the Ampleforth community in participating in the governance of the network. Therefore, the market price action of $FORTH will be used here.
Market Price: +6%
2. Chainlink (LINK) (+3)
Chainlink continues to be one of the best projects in all of crypto. With immense utility across multiple use cases, Chainlink is considered by most to be the best oracle service available. As adoption of blockchain technology continues to accelerate along with interest in blockchain protocols outside the traditional blockchains themselves, Chainlink will see these use cases continue to expand moving forward. Chainlink is about as safe a bet as Bitcoin.
Market Price: +11%
1. Bitcoin (BTC)
We all know why Bitcoin is number one. With the world's very first country preparing to finally have Bitcoin become official legal tender, El Salvador is just the first of many nations on the road to adopting the Bitcoin standard. If there is no Bitcoin in your portfolio, there definitely should be. Bitcoin will more than likely remain #1 for the foreseeable future as adoption continues to expand rapidly.
Market Price: +10%
Honorable Mentions & Notable Other Projects:
Polkadot (DOT), XRP (XRP), Terra (LUNA), Aave (AAVE), Sushiswap (SUSHI), Pancakeswap (CAKE), 0x (ZRX), Maker (MKR), Litecoin (LTC), Basic Attention Token (BAT), Dash (DASH), Storj (STORJ), Nexus (NXS), Uniswap (UNI), Harvest (FARM)
Summary
This month, our selections for the top ten cryptocurrencies currently available remains the same ten from last month. With every single project churning a positive return over the last several weeks and no major developments showing a reason for projects to be replaced, we felt these were still the best ten projects to keep in your watch list or in your portfolio.
The above list (including honorable mentions) should not be considered a 100% comprehension of all the important projects within cryptocurrencies nor is it a guide to the only projects you should feel comfortable investing in. New projects are created all the time that may have a substantial, disruptive impact on the entire market in the years to come. Nevertheless, the above projects are the ones we feel have the most going for them currently, in terms of use case, community support, development, and overall impact.
As always, be sure to conduct your own due diligence before choosing which projects you should add to your portfolio. What coins do you feel should or should not be included in this list above? Do you agree with the rankings? Hate them? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!
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