At BitStarz, we often speak about cryptocurrency in the context of gaming. But there is, of course, another side to this digital currency that can’t be ignored – its ability to increase in value and be worth some serious money!

Ever since Satoshi Nakamoto (the as-yet-unidentified author of the original Bitcoin whitepaper) gave the world a decentralized form of currency, interest has swelled and with it, so has the value of this crypto.

Bitcoin is the most well-known of the cryptos and the largest in terms of market capitalization, so it comes as no surprise that it managed to post some impressive gains from 2020 to 2021.

BTC, as is its acronym, started its day on 24 August with a price of $12,301.19 and closed a year later at $49,253.00 – that works out to an increase of 300.392%. It’s even recently broke through the $50,000 barrier once more, getting closer to its early 2020 all time high of $63,729. But if you thought that was impressive, it pales in significance when compared against some of its competitors.

Enter the previously obscure Cardano (ADA). As of mid-August 2021, ADA became the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency, and it is said they’ll be competing with Ethereum following a much-anticipated software update that’s coming soon.

ADA opened at $0.12 on 24 August 2020 and closed at an adjusted $2.85 exactly one year later. That translates into a mind-boggling 2,275% increase!

Speaking of Ethereum, the world’s second-largest crypto started in August 2020 at a price of
$391.68 and posted a massive $3,230.70 a year later, which means it increased by 724.831% during that time – wow, just wow!

Another impressive climber, and newcomer to the market, is Polkadot (DOT). Founded in 2017 by the co-founder of Ethereum, Gavin Wood, DOT’s opening price in August 2020 was $5.90. It hit its peak in April 2021 where it had climbed to $35.78 but by August 2021, the altcoin settled at $19.74. That’s still a 234.576% gain for a crypto that wasn’t exactly commanding the headlines.

Binance Coin, or BNB as it’s known, is the cryptocurrency that the well-known exchange launched in 2017. In that short space of time, it racked up a market cap of more than R56 billion – ranked only behind Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether.

The price of BNB on 24 August 2020 was $21.87 and it closed at an adjusted $477.34 on the same day in 2021. If you do the math, that works out to 2,082.62% which is a minuscule amount less than the earth-shattering increases posted by Cardano!

So how did XRP (Ripple) do? Well, they ended at $1.18 on 24 August 2021 after opening a year prior at a meager $0.28. And that, folks, equates to an increase of 315.282% which is slightly better than Bitcoin. But, it’s safe to say that XRP has some challenges on the horizon that might see a few figures wiped off this percentage increase.

And the winner is….

So, the winner of this impromptu survey is the ever-impressive Cardano! What makes this altcoin interesting is that like Ethereum – the other monster of the crypto world – it allows for smart contracts and decentralized applications. Cardano also has a hard cap, like Bitcoin, which is set at 45-billion coins, and this aids in creating scarcity.

Even though ADA took the crown for the biggest price increase, there is no denying that the whole cryptocurrency market is riding a massive wave of momentum.

To the Moon in 2021!

The takeaway from this article then should be the fact that cryptos are, in general, becoming increasingly popular and accepted. And they can also be a good investment if you’re not impatient or skittish. But if you are looking to invest in crypto, please do seek out the advice of your friendly neighborhood bean-counter, as we’re not able to offer financial advice.

Of course, BitStarz accepts Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum, and several other leading cryptocurrencies, so you could benefit from the double-whammy of investing in one of these cryptos, and also playing with them.

On that note, we wish you the very best of luck with your crypto journey and we hope to see you playing soon at BitStarz!