This year was tough on crypto prices, but ETH, LDO, MATIC, DAI, and ATOM positively impacted the industry.
From a price perspective, Bitcoin, Ether, and the rest of the crypto market had a rough 2022, but traders are hopeful that 2023 will include bullish developments that push prices higher. Despite the marketwide downturn, a handful of altcoins contributed positively to the crypto space. Thanks to Ethereum, the term altcoin is no longer a derogatory term.
Let’s explore the top altcoins that made a difference over the past 12 months.
Ethereum ETH Fundamentals shone in 2022.
Ether’s price hit a yearly high at $3,835 on Jan. 2 and has struggled to regain footing amid the bear market and other macro factors. The Ethereum network is the top project in 2022 not because of Ether’s price action but for its fundamentals and for completing the long-awaited mainnet upgrade. The Ethereum merge was completed on Sept. 15, and while many feared the Merge to proof-of-stake (PoS) could cause issues, the transition was flawless.
The main advantage of PoS is that it is much more energy-efficient than proof-of-work (PoW) because it does not require expensive and energy-intensive hardware to validate transactions. This reduces usage costs for the end-user and makes it a more sustainable and scalable solution for Ethereum’s long-term growth. The Merge also reduced the Ethereum network’s energy consumption by over 99.9%.
Some analysts are bullish on Ether post-Merge due to its emissions schedule becoming deflationary. Although daily active users have increased for the network, emissions have remained inflationary, and Ether price is still down from yearly highs.
In 2023, investors are hopeful that increased transactions on the network will create higher demand for Ether and translate to a boost in the altcoin’s price.
Lido (LDO) brought Ethereum network staking to the masses.
Lido makes it easy for users to participate in Ethereum PoS as validators by providing a simple interface without them having to reach the high threshold of 32 ETH the network typically requires for staking.
Since launching, Lido has earned $158.8 million in fees from its staked Ether protocol. At the peak, Lido saw 823 daily active users on Sept. 17.
Cumulative Lido fees and daily active users. Source: TokenTerminal
With the Ethereum network’s Shanghai hard fork scheduled for March, Lido will have a busy first quarter, and all the Ether staked on the platform will have the option of being withdrawn. Aztec Connect, the creator of the Lido protocol, also recently secured a $100 million fundraising round to build an encrypted blockchain.
Polygon MATIC partnerships show long-term resiliency.
Mass adoption requires traditional companies and brands to get involved in crypto.
Polygon MATIC has a significant focus on partnerships, and some of the relationships developed in 2022 include Warner Music, JP Morgan, Instagram, and Nubank, a neobank backed by Warren Buffett. These partners use Polygon in various ways, including integrating the Polygon network into their infrastructure and using Polygon to offer distributed ledger technology (DLT) for their products and services.
Notable companies, including Cointelegraph, also chose to launch NFTs on Polygon. In addition to Cointelegraph, former President Donald Trump, Reddit, DJ Deadmau5, and Nike launched NFT collections on Polygon.
Some traders expect a 200% upside swing from MATIC due to on-chain metrics showing traction and future partnerships. Despite Polygon’s growth, the Ethereum network still intakes more fees.
Polygon’s focus on Web3’s core principles and partnerships earned them a spot as a top altcoin project in 2022.
MakerDAO’s DAI proves resilient.
In a year that saw algorithmic stablecoins de-peg and perish Dai.
DAI has shown resilience. Unlike centralized stablecoins, DAI is a decentralized stablecoin that provides transparency, censorship resistance, and the ability to operate outside traditional financial systems. While DAI is not new to the crypto space, the decision to increase its exposure to low-risk assets such as Treasurys and corporate bonds earns them a spot as a top altcoin. According to an analysis from Sebastien Derivaux, a crypto scholar, this decision generated 75% of all DAI revenues ($600 million.)
Cosmos ATOM upgrades attract institutional investors’ attention.
In 2022, Cosmos ATOM focused on solving the interoperability and communication challenges between blockchains. On Jan. 1, Cosmos had 74 active developers, which has more than doubled, reaching a peak of 154 on Nov. 30. In a year plagued with cross-chain casualties, Cosmos’ inter-blockchain communications protocol (IBC) has so far seemingly weathered the storm. The success caught the eye of Delphi Digital’s research arm and fund managers at VanEck.
Overall, Cosmos has the potential to be an essential infrastructure layer for the crypto ecosystem, helping to facilitate the exchange of value and information between different blockchain networks and enabling a more interoperable future.
While 2022 is a year, most crypto investors would like to forget, positive factors in mass adoption arose. The altcoins, focusing on building, will continue to propel crypto’s future in 2023 and beyond.
Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/5-altcoin-projects-that-made-a-real-difference-in-2022
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