Crypto Winners
Unfortunately, 2022 wasn’t a good year for the crypto market. Still, some cryptocurrencies survived all the crashes and even entered 2023 as absolute winners. Here’s our list of the best-performing cryptocurrencies of 2022.
GMX (GMX)
- Price as of January 1st, 2022: $22.05
- Price as of December 31st, 2022: $41.56
- Price difference: $19.51
- ROI: 88.48%
- Market Cap: 350.125M*
*All lists and calculations in this article are based on the Yahoo Finance charts
| 2022 all-time high | 2022 all-time low | Price difference |
| $58.71 | $13.26 | $45.45 |
On January 2nd, the GMX price went from $22.05 to $30.38, which wasn’t even its most significant peak. Despite fronting minor crashes, its value rose to $57.96 in less than 20 days. Although fluctuating, it wasn’t until a month later that the GMX price fell below $30.
The first significant price decrease happened on March 14th, when the cost per coin fell to $21.42. Still, it slowly recouped and rose to $42.71 on April 1st.
However, the subsequent promising price increase wouldn’t happen until August. And those four months between these peaks were devastating, not just for GMX but for the entire crypto market. After those disastrous crashes, the coin’s value plummeted to $13.26 in June, reaching an all-time low for 2022.
Source: Yahoo Finance
Yes, those were dark times for the crypto community, and although not a lot of coins recovered from this market plunge, GMX almost doubled in price by the end of last year.
Its value skyrocketed to $58.71 in December, but it had some other wins before the final significant price increase occurred. And although it decreased in value before the end of the year, the GMX closing price on December 31st was $41.56, making it the first crypto winner.
Not to mention the volume difference between the first and last day of the year. The 24-hour GMX volume was only $1.01K on January 1st, incomparable to the $8.66M that occurred on December 31st.
Trust Wallet Token (TWT)
- Price as of January 1st, 2022: $0.72
- Price as of December 31st, 2022: $1.42
- Price difference: $0.7
- ROI: 102.86%
- Market Cap: 599.342M
| 2022 all-time high | 2022 all-time low | Price difference |
| $2.65 | $0.45 | $2.2 |
If we compare ROI on closing prices on the first and last day of 2022, Trust Wallet Token had an impressive return on investment of 102.86%. Although its price is relatively low, TWT’s performance in 2022 is worth the mention.
Think of it this way.
If you invested $1,000 in TWT on January 1st, you would’ve had roughly 1,428 tokens. Then, imagine that you sold all this crypto right before 2022 ended. You would’ve gotten around $2,027 and enjoyed a profit of over $1,000. Not bad at all.
The only reason it took second place on our list of crypto winners and losers is that its price fluctuated drastically in 2022 and was, therefore, more unstable than the GMX token. Nevertheless, 2022 was an excellent year to invest in TWT, and hopefully, 2023 will be even better.
Regarding fluctuations, TWT entered 2022 with a value of $0.72 per token but reached a 2022 all-time low in February, with a closing price of $0.45. However, the following month was prosperous, as TWT reached its first major peak. On March 27th, TWT’s closing price was $1.36.
Source: Yahoo Finance
The price fell again, of course. But surprisingly, it maintained a stable position between May and November. And just as the FXT collapse began affecting the crypto community, TWT skyrocketed from $1.19 to $2.26 in a matter of days. In terms of money, that’s not a lot, but its price almost doubled while the rest of the market drowned in negative ROI.
The TWT price plunged a few times before dropping to $1.42 on December 31st. Regardless, that’s more than what it was worth at the beginning of 2022.
Unus Sed Leo (LEO)
- Price as of January 1st, 2022: $3.8
- Price as of December 31st, 2022: $3.6
- Price difference: $0.2
- ROI: -5.26%
- Market Cap: 3.347B
| 2022 all-time high | 2022 all-time low | Price difference |
| $7.5 | $3.44 | $4.06 |
If we look at the price difference only, LEO wouldn’t be in the Winners section. Its closing price on January 1st was $3.8, and the token survived 2022 with a value of $3.60.
However, LEO market performance in the former year was steady for the majority of the time.
LEO indeed toiled its way through a rocky start, hitting an all-time low ($3.44 per token) at the end of January. However, the February charts show an impressive rise, as LEO price climbed to $7.5.
Source: Yahoo Finance
It wasn’t until October that LEO’s value began to shake drastically. Of course, market oscillations weren’t always in its favor, but the price didn’t drop below $4 during this period (Feb-Oct).
November wasn’t the best month, and the price eventually dropped to $3.79. Despite the charts showing improvements, LEO’s value amounted to 3.60 on December 31st.
Crypto Losers
As you can see, some currencies were doing great in 2022. But some crashes that happened at the same time were really bad.
Like, really, really, bad.
So, let’s break the ice by talking about the worst one.
Terra Classic (LUNC)
- Price as of January 1st, 2022: $91.36
- Price as of December 31st, 2022: $0.000145
- Price difference: $91.35
- ROI: -100%
- Market Cap: 929.451M
| 2022 all-time high | 2022 all-time low | Price difference |
| $116.40 | $0.000048 | $116.39 |
Terra’s fall from grace was a collapse of outlandish proportions, leading to terrible losses in the crypto world. Its native token was doing just fine at the beginning of 2022, and despite losing value to around $46 at the end of January, LUNC price skyrocketed to an astonishing $116.40 at the beginning of April.
So, the first quarter of 2022 was promising, making the Terra collapse even harder to digest. However, the Force wasn’t with Terra, nor its native coin, on May 4th, as that was the day that marked the beginning of their downfall. Unbelievably, LUNC value dropped from $86.17 to $0.000102 between May 4th (the last significant peak) and May 13th.
Source: Yahoo Finance
This crash of a multi-billion dollar coin wreaked havoc in the crypto community, and, as imagined, panic selling began. Around that time, Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies dropped further in value, and many still feel the consequences of this terrible loss.
Soon after, LUNC was delisted from many exchanges, but it somehow rejoined the crypto game.
Did it recover?
No.
Its closing price on December 31st, 2022, was $0.000145.
And for that matter, not a lot of progress regarding LUNC recovery is expected anytime soon. Of course, its price has been going up and down for the past few months, but the changes are barely noticeable.
FTX Token (FTT)
- Price as of January 1st, 2022: $40.20
- Price as of December 31st, 2022: $0.84
- Price difference: $39.36
- ROI: -97.91%
- Market Cap: 291.979M
| 2022 all-time high | 2022 all-time low | Price difference |
| $51.96 | $0.92 | $51.04 |
Speaking of crypto catastrophes, let’s talk about the FTX Token (FTT).
By this time, everybody knows about the FTX collapse, but what’s often omitted from the FTX-related news is that the FTX collapse dragged FTT through the mud.
FTT was the native token of the FTX exchange. Was, I say, because FTX went bankrupt and is no longer operating. The token is still circulating the market, though.
In 2022, its 1Q performance wasn’t impressive, but it managed to acclimate and recover from constant market fluctuations before the end of March. FTT’s all-time high for 2022 struck on March 27th ($51.96) but wasn’t a significant win, as the price fell slightly under $23 in the middle of June.
Source: Yahoo Finance
Although that wasn’t the most fortunate performance of the year, nothing prepared us for November 2022. On the 9th of that month, FTT’s value plummeted to $2.3 per coin, and two days after, FTX filed for bankruptcy, which only drove the price down.
On November 8th, the FTT purge began, and the 24-hour volume reached an astonishing $3.35B, followed by $1.32B the next day. This drastic volume increase only shows that FTT investors tried to recoup losses that, at that point, were inevitable.
The closing FTT price on December 31st amounted to $0.84, with an ROI of -97.91%. That said, not even a miracle can lead to its full recovery.
Solana (SOL)
- Price as of January 1st, 2022: $178.52
- Price as of December 31st, 2022: $9.96
- Price difference: $168.56
- ROI: -94.42%
- Market Cap: 4.897B
| 2022 all-time high | 2022 all-time low | Price difference |
| $178.52 | $9.65 | $168.9 |
Solana’s native coin, SOL, belongs in the “Loser” section, partially due to the FTX collapse.
But let’s start from the beginning.
SOL, the native coin of the Solana blockchain, had a rocky yet decent start, but it all began crashing down before the end of January, as its value quickly went below $100 per coin.
At first, February charts showed some improvements, and the SOL price was well over $100 per coin. Nevertheless, its luck was short-lived.
Frequent price drops, counteracted by slight improvements, really drove the volume up every time the charts even remotely indicated a better (still negative, though) ROI for those who wanted to sell. Then, despite having struggled for three months in a row, the SOL price peaked again, amounting to no more or less than $136.78.
Source: Yahoo Finance
The next indication of a further crash was recorded the following day. And roughly one month later, in May 2022, SOL’s value was $44.68. June, and pretty much the rest of the year, didn’t show mercy to the SOL market.
SOL’s volume was relatively high during each plummet, and although investors did indeed trade SOL in times of every price hike, most of it was, understandably, driven by panic and fear.
But we’re not done here.
Solana and its native currency suffered a major crash after the FTX collapse.
See, FTX was Solana’s greater supporter (investor), so investors bailed on SOL as soon as the information about the FTX founder’s doings went public. That said, SOL ended 2022 with a value of $9.96 per coin.
Sandbox (SAND)
- Price as of January 1st, 2022: $5.97
- Price as of December 31st, 2022: $0.38
- Price difference: $5.59
- ROI: -93.63%
- Market Cap: 766,60M
| 2022 all-time high | 2022 all-time low | Price difference |
| $5.97 | $0.38 | $5.59 |
SAND is the official currency of Sandbox, a gaming ecosystem often referred to as the Ethereum-based metaverse. The Sandbox players can use this utility token to purchase land and in-game items or invest in staking pools.
Last year, SAND suffered a massive setback, as the token price fell from $5.97 to $0.38. After a significant price increase at the end of 2021, SAND’s value began dropping at the beginning of January. Before the end of the month, this token’s value dropped to $2.98, but it somehow climbed to $4.81 in around 15 days. Surprisingly, this was the last significant peak, after which the value crashed somewhat rapidly.
Source: Yahoo Finance
Despite dropping to $0.88 in the middle of June, it managed to maintain a relatively stable price until November. SAND then tried to recover, but the closing price on December 31st amounted to $0.38, which was the coin’s all-time low for 2022.
Axie Infinity (AXS)
- Price as of January 1st, 2022: $94.042
- Price as of December 31st, 2022: $6.042
- Price difference: $88
- ROI: -93.58
- Market Cap: 736.215M
| 2022 all-time high | 2022 all-time low | Price difference |
| $94.042 | $6.038 | $88.004 |
To say that 2022 was a turbulent year for Axie Infinity would be an understatement. At the end of March 2022, Axie Infinity – Ronin bridge suffered a hack, resulting in a roughly $620 million loss. Although the price was fluctuating even before the hack, as soon as the news about the Ronin breach went viral, all hell broke loose, and investors became reluctant to further invest in AXS, the ETH token powering Axie Infinity.
Axie Infinity is arguably the most valuable blockchain gaming project, but the severe price decreases that occurred in 2022 scarred and shook the community to the core. Furthermore, the 2022 AXS price crash doesn’t look good and may affect the project long-term.
The token’s performance wasn’t impressive even before the Axie Infinity hack occurred. Just in February, AXS rice plummeted to $47.404, and although it somewhat recovered, April marked the beginning of its downfall.
Source: Yahoo Finance
What’s interesting here is that the price gradually dropped to $12.93 in June. Since then, AXS’s performance remained stable, meaning it didn’t go over $20 nor dropped below $10 until October. Later that year, the crashes were still an issue, and AXS ended the year with a price of $6.042 per token.
Bitcoin Performance 2022
- Price as of January 1st, 2022: $47,686.81
- Price as of December 31st, 2022: $16,547.50
- Price difference: $31,139.31
- ROI: -65.3%
- Market Cap: 318.80B
| 2022 all-time high | 2022 all-time low | Price difference |
| $47,686.81 | $15,787.28 | $31,899.53 |
Bitcoin is the staple of the crypto community.
But the volatile market doesn’t play favorites.
Despite being the strongest and most dominant crypto in the ecosystem, 2022 was a turbulent year for Bitcoin. It started strong, with one coin being worth $47,686.81, and even with somewhat tolerable price fluctuations, it managed to recover in March of 2022.
However, that is when it reached the second peak ($47,465.73), after which it was all downhill from there. Steadily but surely, Bitcoin’s value began crashing, causing panic among many Bitcoin holders.
Source: Yahoo Finance
The most significant price drop happened between the 6th and 18th of June when its price sank from $31,370.67 to $19,017.64. The price then continued to rise and fall until the end of the year, when the closing Bitcoin price was $16,547.50.
Regardless, Bitcoin is still considered a lucrative investment, especially now, when its value is drastically below-average. With a market cap of 318.80B and a robust 24-hour volume that had not once dropped below $10B in 2022, Bitcoin is far from taking the last punch and losing the market battle. That, of course, doesn’t change the fact that Bitcoin performed terribly in 2022.
