How have the prices of the 30 major cryptocurrencies changed in 2023?
After the strong declines of the previous year, optimism has returned to the cryptocurrency market. This is probably related to Bitcoin's upcoming halving in 2024. Let's see how the prices of the 30 major cryptocurrencies (top 30 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization) have changed this year.
What was the return on investment in cryptocurrencies in 2023?
Would you make money if you bought any of the top 30 cryptocurrencies on January 1, 2023?
The average return on investment of the 30 cryptocurrencies with the largest market capitalization at the beginning of the past year was 115%, and the median ROI was over 83%. Only one coin lost and it was - of course - a project related to the digital jpg - ApeCoin.
Which cryptocurrencies were the best?
Solana's price has skyrocketed 963% in the last year. Is a second Luna coming? Bitcoin gained 157%, and its little brother BitcoinCash did even better - its price increased by 178%. The only cryptocurrency of the 30 to lose was ApeCoin, which is worth 54% less.
What happened in the world of cryptocurrencies in 2023?
Another crazy year in the blockchain universe is behind us. Here are the highlights of 2023:
FTX Saga
After FTX's bankruptcy, court battles are still ongoing, and the scammed people are waiting for the return of some of their assets. There have been recent announcements that they will be paid at November 2022 prices, so FTX customers would be cheated again.
FTX said in a lawsuit that it holds $3.4 billion in cryptocurrencies, including $1.16 billion in Solana, $560 million in Bitcoin and $192 million in Ethereum. So the largest assets they had would have been paid out at such prices:
BTC: $16,871.63
ETH: $1,258.84
SOL: $16.24
Today's price of these cryptos is:
BTC: $42678.92
ETH: $2302.96
SOL: $104.21
So Solana holders would get 84% less, Bitcoin 60% less, and Ethereum 45% less than they should. The funny thing is that FTX had the most Solana tokens in their assets and Solana gained the most in 2023. Scam me once, scam me twice?
Binance CEO quits
Changpeng Zhao was known as the head of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange after receiving charges from the U.S. justice system decided to leave his post. Binance has halted operations in several countries in the past due to regulatory repression, but this year the exchange agreed to pay a massive settlement of around $4 billion to the US government in late November for its illegal activities. In addition, Zhao pleaded guilty to a felony related to his failure to prevent money laundering on Binance. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that Binance enabled more than 100,000 transactions in violation of U.S. sanctions. The cryptocurrency exchange will be monitored as it is forced to formally exit the US market.
What's in store for us in cryptocurrencies in 2024?
The most important event will be the halving of Bitcoin which will reduce the Bitcoin mining reward from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per block. There are 107 days left and is usually correlated with increased media attention and thus an increase in the price of BTC. Will it be the same this time?
Adoption is slowly increasing and many interesting projects based on blockchain are being developed. This market is unpredictable and it is hard to say what will be the headline this time. Will any cryptocurrency exchanges collapse? Will there be more manias like play 2 earn games, digital jpegs or other strange inventions? We will find out next year.