The markets for the two major cryptocurrencies have been sluggish in recent weeks, but by analyzing the smaller cryptocurrencies, it turns out that there is more movement than meets the eye.
Cardano (ADA)
For instance, in recent days there has been a lot of talk about ADA, the cryptocurrency of the Cardano network.
ADA is still actually in the top 10 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, although it capitalizes less than one-tenth of ETH and less than one-thirtieth of BTC.
Since 29 November, its price has been rising slightly. Indeed, the lowest monthly peak in November was touched on the 21st, below $0.3, but the real rise began only on 29 November.
In fact, today the price is around $0.32, an increase of almost 20% from the monthly low peak of 21 November.
However, this is still a price as much as 89% below the all-time highs of September 2021, which is definitely low.
Indeed, 2022 has been a difficult year for ADA, in contrast to the excellent 2021. Perhaps it is precisely because of the great climb in 2021 that it is losing so much in 2022.
However, it is worth remembering that in late 2020, when the last big bull run began, the price was below $0.15, which is less than half of what it is now. Compared to then it is now at +110%.
Seeing that there has been a lot of talk about Cardano in recent days, the rebound following 29 November may be no accident, so much so that it is once again attracting the attentions of speculators. The breakthrough news has been about the future launch of a native stablecoin for the Cardano network.
Crypto.com’s Cronos (CRO)
One of the absolute most talked about cryptocurrencies in recent weeks is CRO, which is Crypto.com‘s Cronos cryptocurrency.
By now it has slipped to 31st place by market capitalization, with just over a tenth of ADA’s capitalization.
The fact is that in recent weeks there have been major fears about the resilience of the Crypto.com exchange that have heavily affected CRO’s market value. These problems now seem to have been resolved and CRO has climbed back up a bit.
The monthly low for November was hit on the 14th of the month below $0.06. This was a short-lived peak, because it was already back to $0.07 the following day.
The current price of about $0.072 represents a +28% from last month’s low peak, but still remains 92.5% below last year’s November highs.
Before the FTX bankruptcy the price was above $0.12, so in the first two weeks of November it lost more than 50% of its value.
The current price is in line with that of late 2020, before the start of the most recent big bullrun, so during 2022, it lost everything it had gained in 2021.
It is worth adding, however, that until early November it had been lateralizing for several months around $0.12, so last month’s collapse may have been a lightning bolt due only to the fear that a huge storm was on its way upon the exchange company. That storm did not come, so at this time it seems possible to speculate that the price of CRO might even return to around $0.12.
Shiba Inu (SHIB)
Shiba Inu has not been talked about much lately, and its SHIB token has slipped to 14th place by market capitalization. During last year’s colossal boom it had also risen to the top 10, but 2022 is proving to be a difficult year.
Even so, the current price is only slightly lower than it was at the end of May, and higher than it was in June, because after the June crash it recovered nicely. In fact, before the FTX failure it was even back to mid-May levels.
The current price, although 88% lower than the all-time high of October 2021, is still enormously higher than it was at the end of 2020. However, it is worth mentioning that SHIB is a token that was born precisely in 2020, and until April 2021 was almost unknown to most.
During 2021 it had three huge booms. The first precisely in April, and the current price is well above its April 2021 peak as well. In contrast, it is much lower than that of the next two peaks, namely that of May and that of October 2021.
What is most surprising is the huge difference in volatility between 2021 and 2022. It is perhaps the lack of major news that has prevented significant movements this year after the May crash.
The Sandbox (SAND)
In theory, SAND, which is the token of The Sandbox, should be following its own path, as it is related to the metaverse.
Instead it is following a path similar in some ways to that of the major cryptocurrencies.
Indeed, in November it made new annual lows, at around $0.52, and has since recovered nearly 20%. It is worth noting that the June monthly low was $0.80, and the May low was $1.1.
So since May, it has almost steadily lost value, so much so that it is now at -92.5% from its November 2021 highs.
SAND also debuted in 2020, but unlike SHIB it was already making waves early on thanks to The Sandbox project.
At the end of 2020, the price was about $0.04, so the current price is 1,400% higher.
2021 was a spectacular year for SAND, and although it lost a lot during 2022 it still remains overall a positive trend over the long term.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
The matter is different with regard to Bitcoin Cash, which was born in August 2017 from a fork of Bitcoin.
It had also previously been in the top 10 largest-capitalization cryptocurrencies, while it has now fallen to 29th place.
During the last major bull run in 2021, it failed to make new all-time highs, so much so that the record high of 3.785% set in December 2020 endures. Compared to then, its current price is 97% lower.
It is enough to mention instead that Bitcoin in 2021 touched a high 245% higher than it did in December 2017.
BCH’s current price of $114 is still in line with that of June, although far below the annual peak of $1,500 in May 2021.
Bitcoin Cash is a project that has not seemed to have much to say for many months now. It began as a transactional alternative to Bitcoin, but with the Lightning Network boom, it no longer makes much sense.
Nevertheless, following the June crash, it seems to be holding up quite well.