The Year 2018 which launched in with a bang with every single cryptocurrency reaching its ATH price ended with an unexpected nosedive for most of them. One of the major factors that caused the demise of altcoins prices was surely the downtrend of Bitcoin price. Evidently 2018 can be termed as the year of “Crypto Crash” in the era of blockchain history. Conversely if we account for the yearly lows of bitcoin price over the years, the bitcoin trading was still profitable for HODLers.
Even amidst such negative sentiments of the market the technological developments of cryptos like Ripple (XRP), Tron (TRX) etc. made the headlines every now and then reminding people that ICO era was yet not over.
In this article we’ve considered currencies that are atleast an year old. While calculating percentages we’ve considered their this year highs and their closing rate on 31st Dec 2018. We’ve also mentioned their lowest price this year. Even though Bitcoin and ethereum do not make it to the TOP 10 list but still have suffered a major drop worth mentioning.
Bitcoin (BTC)
Ever since its to the moon ride in December 2017, the glorious era of cryptocurrency market where bitcoin’s ATH price almost touched $20,000, the ride has been deteriorating ever since reaching an year’s low at $3156 (as per binance exchange). Bitcoin price has plunged about 77.94% this year.
**High: $**17527.30
**Low: $**3156
**Closing rate : $**3865.95
Percentage Decline : 77.94%
Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/
Bitcoin average DAILY value change during:2010: +0.82%2011: +0.76%2012: +0.26%2013: +1.11%2014: -0.25%2015: +0.09%2016: +0.22%2017: +0.37%2018: -0.33%
Numbers do speak for themselves, 2018 can be termed as the worst year for bitcoin till now. Even amidst such hue and cry, where almost everyone is crying foul about cryptocurrencies and ICOs, John McAfee has turned out to be a true believer who stands tall with his $1 million price prediction for bitcoin by 2020.
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum is the second largest cryptocurrency in the world in terms of market cap. Its developer friendly platform makes it easier to build and deploy decentralised apps (DApps). Vitalik’s interview with Bloomberg, where he announced that crypto’s exponential growth days are over. He said
There is no longer the opportunity for yet another 1,000-times growth in anything in the space anymore.
This comment further fueled the ethereum’s plunge to $100 range. Although he took to twitter to explain his comment but the damage had already been made.
Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/
**High: $**1397.48
**Low: $**84.66
**Closing rate : $**139.86
Percentage Decline : 89.99%
1. Quantum (Qtum)
Quantum is the public blockchain platform that leverages the simplicity and security of bitcoin UTXO protocol while adding the convenience and flexibility of smart contracts. This hybrid blockchain application platform is built with a motive to tap onto the mobile DApps (Decentralised Applications) market. In year 2018 Qtum happens to be the worst performing cryptocurrency.
**High: $**94.07
**Low: $**1.48
**Closing rate : $**2.31
Percentage Decline : 97.54%
Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/qtum/
2. Cardano (ADA)
Similar to Ethereum, Cardano is a scalable and secured smart contracts platform conceptualised by Charles Hoskinson, one of the co-founders of Ethereum.
Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/cardano/
**High: $**1.17
**Low: $**0.027
**Closing rate : $**0.043
Percentage Decline : 96.32%
3. Nem (XEM)
Nem’s smart asset blockchain system allows enterprises to build applications for real world use cases.
Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/nem/
**High: $**1.84
**Low: $**0.057
**Closing rate : $**0.068
Percentage Decline : 96.30%
4. Neo (NEO)
Neo, formerly known as Antshares, is a conglomeration of digital assets, digital identities and smart contracts thereby building a smart economy for the world. Post its re-fabrication from Antshares in 2017, Neo’s claim to fame was a point of discussion for the trading community. The returns were as high as 50X in the initial days of its launch. The first quarter of 2018 saw an ATH price at **$**187.97. From there it was a downward road for the coin closing the year at **$**7.53.
Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/neo/
**Year’s High: $**187.97
**Year’s Low: $**5.53
**Closing rate : $**7.53
Percentage Decline from Year’s High: 95.99%
5. Lisk (LSK)
Established in early 2016 Lisk is a sidechain development platform which allows developers to create DApps in javascript. It also allows them to deploy a sidechain linked to the lisk blockchain.
Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/lisk/
**High: $**33.59
**Low: $**1.10
**Closing rate : $**1.46
Percentage Decline : 95.65%
6. OmiseGo (OMG)
Majorly used in thailand, Omisego Network talks about disrupting the current payment network systems throughout the world. Its motto Unbanked the banked signifies financial inclusion. It is the next-gen financial network built on ethereum network to provide transparent peer to peer transactions in real-time.
Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/omisego/
**High: $**25.72
**Low: $**1.09
**Closing rate : $**1.42
Percentage Decline : 94.48%
7. Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
Released in 2017, Bitcoin Cash is the fork coin of bitcoin backed by Roger Ver. It’s the upgraded version of bitcoin core software which is faster, cheaper and more reliable to use. Bitcoin cash closing in at $163.62 this year by suffered a plunge of -94.34%. As a matter of fact bitcoin cash faced another hard fork into Bitcoin Cash ABC (BCHABC) and Bitcoin Cash Satoshi Vision (BCHSV).
**High: $**2891.55
**Low: $**76.52
**Closing rate : $**163.62
Percentage Decline : 94.34%
Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin-cash/
8. Dash (DASH)
Based on bitcoin framework, Digital cash a.k.a Dash makes it easier to shop online with cryptocurrency as it enables swifter and private transactions. It values financial privacy of customers.
Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/dash/
**High: $**1283.36
**Low: $**58.47
**Closing rate : $**81.79
Percentage Decline : 93.62%
9. Litecoin (LTC)
Launched in 2011, litecoin is a decentralised global payment network meant to provide instant payments. The transaction speed is 4X times the transactions on bitcoin network. Just like bitcoin only 84 million litecoins can be mined. Developers of litecoin call it silver to bitcoin’s gold.
Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/litecoin/
**High: $**300.49
**Low: $**22.97
**Closing rate : $**31.98
Percentage Decline : 89.36%
10. Stellar (XLM)
Founded by Jed McCaleb in 2014, stellar facilitates cross border payments just like ripple. The cryptocurrency launched on stellar network is lumens (XLM).
Source: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/stellar/
**High: $**0.892
**Low: $**0.093
**Closing rate : $**0.117
Percentage Decline : 86.88%
The Road Ahead
The end of crypto era is no way near. What crypto crash 2018 taught us is that there is a dire need to curb malpractices like pump and dump responsible for such volatility of prices. With the advent of institutional investors, STOs (Security token offereings) and legalisation of cryptocurrencies by multiple countries a long road lies ahead for crypto.