Cryptocurrencies come and go, but some are here to stay. Here are a couple that we’re keeping an eye on heading into the new year. Keep in mind that cryptocurrency markets can often be very volatile and all price information is subject to change after publication.

Solana

One of the fastest growing coins of 2021, there is massive potential for Solana in upcoming years. People often compare it with Ethereum, but the Solana network boasts lower gas fees and transaction times, along with growth of over 10,000 percent in the last year. Solana has seen criticism for being more “centralized” than its competitors due to influence on the coin from the Solana Foundation, which develops nodes on the blockchain. With a market cap of $61.1B as of today, it has room to grow. The platform is developing many Web3, Defi, and Metaverse projects. This is certainly a good coin to keep an eye on as we move into 2022. 

The Sandbox (SAND)

SAND is a utility token that’s used as a payment system for The Sandbox, a metaverse game. The game runs on the Ethereum blockchain. Players are able to buy land, some parcels worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. With 500,000 registered wallets, the coin continues to grow even as other parts of the market see consistent dips in price. This has created growing hype for the coin on platforms like Twitter, leading to more people accumulating the coin in their wallets. In the last week, it has seen a price increase of over 600 percent and has a market cap of $6.9B. 

Avalanche (AVAX)

With a market cap of $25.5B, AVAX has seen a price gain of 70 percent in the last month, but has declined 16.5 percent in the last week. This decline in price is largely because of fear over the new Omicron strain of Covid-19. AVAX is the coin of the Avalanche smart contracts network. People have compared the Avalanche network has been compared with Ethereum’s in its usability, and since Ethereum’s network has been overwhelmed with transactions recently, it’s seen a sharp rise in competitors. Avalanche claims much faster transaction times than Ethereum’s network currently, and is continuing to improve security and functionality. Ethereum still has more usability and capability than Avalanche, so there isn’t a way to say that one network is superior to the other.

While all of these are projects with strong fundamentals and good backing behind them, there is always the chance that they see a massive crash. They can depreciate as quickly as they appreciate, so it is important for prospective investors to do their own research before putting their own money into anything.