CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 82.67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money

Crypto news: Most altcoins ‘crushed’ bitcoin (BTC) in 2021

By Daniela Ešnerová


Updated

Coins with logos of various cryptocurrencies
ETH killers and metaverse coins are experiencing strong momentum – Photo: Shutterstock

This year bitcoin (BTC) saw mass adoption by institutional investors and grew by 73%, but 2021 has been “one long altcoin season, as most other cryptocurrencies have crushed bitcoin.”

“Throughout the first five months of the year, bitcoin saw a continuous loss of dominance, as traders rotated into altcoins while bitcoin pushed above former highs,” analysts from Arcane Research wrote.

This was due to “stupid pumps in meme-coins” as well as ethereum and decentralised finance gaining in strength. Bitcoin’s dominance has stabilised since May 21 in the 40-50% range, according to Arcane Research. 

Types of coins that are currently seeing strong momentum are “ether killers” and metaverse coins, according to Arcane Research.

Ethereum is a decentralised, open-source blockchain with smart contract functionality, and its native token - ether - is the second biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation. “Ether killers” is a term used to describe tokens of competing protocols, for example solana (SOL), cardano (ADA) and polkadot (DOT).

BTC/USD

99,553.90 Price
+0.510% 1D Chg, %
Long position overnight fee -0.0616%
Short position overnight fee 0.0137%
Overnight fee time 22:00 (UTC)
Spread 50.00

DOGE/USD

0.44 Price
-0.030% 1D Chg, %
Long position overnight fee -0.0616%
Short position overnight fee 0.0137%
Overnight fee time 22:00 (UTC)
Spread 0.0021737

XLM/USD

0.49 Price
+1.750% 1D Chg, %
Long position overnight fee -0.0616%
Short position overnight fee 0.0137%
Overnight fee time 22:00 (UTC)
Spread 0.00244

ETH/USD

3,994.27 Price
+3.390% 1D Chg, %
Long position overnight fee -0.0616%
Short position overnight fee 0.0137%
Overnight fee time 22:00 (UTC)
Spread 1.75

Metaverse tokens started trending this fall after Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook's venture in metaverse, sparking a surge in cryptocurrencies meant to be use as unit of exchange in the virtual world.

Some examples of metaverse coins include the Sandbox, “a virtual Metaverse built on the Ethereum blockchain, where players can build, own and monetise their gaming experience.” The token, sand, is “a utility token that is used for value transfers as well as staking and governance.”

What is your sentiment on ADA/USD?

1.21416
Bullish
or
Bearish
Vote to see Traders sentiment!

Other crypto news:

  • ProShares filed applicatoin for a new Metaverse exchnage-traded fund with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Bloomberg reports. The fund would, if approved, “track the performance of the Solactive Metaverse Theme Index. The index consists of companies that provide or use technologies that offer products and services around the metaverse, like data processing and metaverse devices,” the report continued.

Chart of the day: Bitcoin (BTC) outperformed by altcoins in 2021

A chart representing performance of bitcoin (BTC) and a number of altcoins.‘Ether killers’ solana (SOL), cardano (ADA) and metaverse coins sandbox (SAND) and decentraland (MANA) all outperformed bitcoin (BTC) in 2021 – Credit: TradingView

Quote of the day: Snoop Dog 'keepin it real' even in Sandbox metaverse

Round-up of coins by market capitalisation

As of 10:30 GMT:

Winners and losers

  • Fantom (FTM) and near protocol (NEAR), 31st and 26th biggest cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation, gained 50.02% and 35.61% over the last seven days of trading
  • Avalanche (AVAX), ripple (XRP) and terra (LUNA), which all saw major rallies in the recent weeks, were down 12.87%, 10.64% and 10.51% respectively over the last week

Read more: Crypto news: Three major coins that defied last week’s plunge

Markets in this article

BNB/USD
Binance Coin / USD
746.87 USD
28.33 +3.950%
BNB/USD
Binance Coin / USD
746.87 USD
28.33 +3.950%
BTC/USD
Bitcoin / USD
99553.90 USD
503.4 +0.510%
ETH/USD
Ethereum / USD
3994.27 USD
130.85 +3.390%

Rate this article

The difference between trading assets and CFDs
The main difference between CFD trading and trading assets, such as commodities and stocks, is that you don’t own the underlying asset when you trade on a CFD.
You can still benefit if the market moves in your favour, or make a loss if it moves against you. However, with traditional trading you enter a contract to exchange the legal ownership of the individual shares or the commodities for money, and you own this until you sell it again.
CFDs are leveraged products, which means that you only need to deposit a percentage of the full value of the CFD trade in order to open a position. But with traditional trading, you buy the assets for the full amount. In the UK, there is no stamp duty on CFD trading, but there is when you buy stocks, for example.
CFDs attract overnight costs to hold the trades (unless you use 1-1 leverage), which makes them more suited to short-term trading opportunities. Stocks and commodities are more normally bought and held for longer. You might also pay a broker commission or fees when buying and selling assets direct and you’d need somewhere to store them safely.
Capital Com is an execution-only service provider. The material provided in this article is for information purposes only and should not be understood as investment advice. Any opinion that may be provided on this page does not constitute a recommendation by Capital Com or its agents and has not been prepared in accordance with the legal requirements designed to promote investment research independence. While the information in this communication, or on which this communication is based, has been obtained from sources that Capital.com believes to be reliable and accurate, it has not undergone independent verification. No representation or warranty, whether expressed or implied, is made as to the accuracy or completeness of any information obtained from third parties. If you rely on the information on this page, then you do so entirely at your own risk.

Still looking for a broker you can trust?

Join the 660,000+ traders worldwide that chose to trade with Capital.com

1. Create & verify your account 2. Make your first deposit 3. You’re all set. Start trading