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The Crypto market boasts over 17 000 cryptocurrencies with a total market capitalization of $1.7 trillion. And new virtual currencies continue to join the market. While each crypto has a unique design and mission, they share some attributes and functionalities. Therefore, each digital token fits a group with some overlapping in several groups. The most popular categories include stable coins and meme coins.

The top categories have greater value thanks to massive adoption. This article will explore the ten most valuable cryptocurrency categories based on market capitalization. Continue reading.

1. Smart Contracts Ecosystem

The smart contracts platform is the biggest crypto category, with a market capitalization of $525 billion and a daily trading volume of $43.8 billion. The ecosystem supports decentralized apps and smart contracts. Smart contracts are preset conditions that self execute automatically when certain conditions are met. These codes automate the process of lending and borrowing money, minting non-fungible tokens, and staking assets. Smart contracts enhance transaction security, efficiency, and speed. 

Smart contracts platforms include Solana, Polygon, Cardano, and Ethereum. These platforms have varying transaction fees and assets. Typically, users use native currencies to pay for transaction fees. To give you a clear picture, SOL is the native currency of the Solana platform. On top of the Solana blockchain system are then very often built various NFT-Game Projects like the popular Invaderz game.

2. BNB Chain Ecosystem

The BNB chain ecosystem is hosted on the Binance platform. It is Ethereum’s alternative platform for launching decentralized applications and smart contracts. However, it uses a proof of stake-authority consensus model, which boosts throughput and reduces transaction fees. Developers are eschewing the Ethereum platform due to higher transaction speed and low cost. The Binance chain aims to build a global parallel virtual ecosystem infrastructure.

The parent chain has a BNB Beacon Chain, which deals with governance, including voting and staking. Coins found on the BNB ecosystem include BNB, USDC, USDT, DOGE, and BUSD. The chain ecosystem has a market capitalization of $298.026 billion and $84.79 billion 24 hour trading volume.

3. Polygon Ecosystem 

While Polygon is an Ethereum layer 2 solution, it has become a popular standalone chain. It seeks to enhance the constraining feature of Ethereum by improving the speed and throughput. It plans to achieve this by using the Proof of Stake consensus method for staking, validating transactions, and governance. Additionally, it has its own bridge, allowing users to transfer tokens between polygon and Ethereum. According to exness cryptocurrency, the ecosystem has decentralized platforms and a native currency. Some of the projects running on the polygon chain include Curve, DAI, and Aave. The ecosystem network has a market capitalization of $279 0004 398 563.

4. Avalanche Ecosystem

While avalanche came into existence less than two years ago, it has become a sought-after chain for creating non-fungible tokens and decentralized finance apps. The network also allows users to create and run their own multipurpose chains and has embarked on an Avalanche Rush incentives program to boost ecosystem growth and the creation of more apps. The mainnet consists of three main blockchains: X CHAIN, P chain, and C chain. 

• X chain manages assets.
• C chain creates smart contracts. 
• P chain coordinates validators 

Avalanche is designed with scalability in mind. It can process 6500 transactions per second. Besides the interoperability features, it also trumps Ethereum in transaction fees. The blockchain network has a market capitalization of $270.97 billion and records transactions worth $80.098 billion daily. Some of the coins in this ecosystem include AVAX, UNI, and LINK. 

5. Moonriver Ecosystem

Moonriver is the fifth-largest blockchain ecosystem. It is a mirror reflection of what Moonbeam will be on Polkadot. To understand the Moonriver ecosystem, you need to be well versed with Polkadot functionality. Essentially, Polkadot uses Kusama canary network to test and verify projects before releasing them on its network. 

Moonriver is a smart contract platform that runs on Kusama. It is set to be moonbeam after launch on Polkadot. The blockchain ecosystem provides a smart contract platform for developers to run decentralized apps. According to Coingecko, the Moonriver ecosystem is valued at $262.83 billion. Its daily trading volume has hit $82.56 billion at the time of writing.

6. Fantom Ecosystem

According to Coingecko, the Fantom ecosystem is worth $208.71 billion and enjoys $83.112 billion daily trades. Like other Ethereum alternatives, the Fantom blockchain ecosystem is designed to offer lower transaction costs and more scalability. The open-source smart contract allows users to create decentralized apps. Here is the best part. Users can develop and run their networks without relying on the mother chain. However, decentralized apps enjoy the speed and security of the parent blockchain. In addition, it is designed with a BTF proof of stake consensus mechanism to boost efficiency. The Blockchain uses FTM native utility tokens for payments, staking, fees and governance. Some of the coins in this ecosystem include WBTC, LUNA, and MIM.

7. Stablecoins

Stable coins are cryptocurrencies pegged on stable assets to reduce high volatility. For instance, USDT tracks the movement of US dollars. This means you can redeem the USDT for one dollar at any time. Investing in these cryptos helps investors preserve their fiat value without exiting the crypto market. This means they can take advantage of blockchain technology and peer-to-peer transfers without being exposed to the inherent volatility like other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana.

The primary use case of stable coins is being fiat currency digital assets. However, each has varying risks, adoption, and liquidity. Besides fiat-backed tokens, there are commodity-backed, cryptocurrency-backed, and algorithmic stable coins. Commodity-backed coins are based on gold, while algorithmic coins use algorithms to burn or mint new coins to match the demand and supply forces. The top stablecoins include USDT, BUSD, USDC, DAI, UST. They have a total market capitalization of $185.5 billion and a daily trading volume of $77.7 billion.

8. Arbitrum Ecosystem

Arbitrum is a layer 2 solution designed to enhance Ethereum capabilities by boosting smart contracts' speed, privacy, and scalability. It essentially addresses Ethereum shortcomings such as high gas gees and poor efficiency. The blockchain network enables developers to run EVM contracts and transact easily while using the high-security features of layer 1. 

In addition, it relieves Ethereum storage and computational burden. As a result, layer 2 can handle new classes of powerful dApps. Some of the Decentralized finance platforms running on Arbitrum include Curve, Uniswap, Aave, Balancer, and Sushiswap. The Total Arbitrum Ecosystem is worth $174.9 billion with a 24-hour trading volume of over $81.5 billion.

9. Near Protocol Ecosystem

Near protocol is a decentralized app platform designed with users and developers in mind. One of the top use cases is running smart contracts. Other utilities include creating decentralized apps, storing data, and paying transactions.

 Near protocol blockchain uses a proof of stake consensus mechanism, enhancing the speed and lowering costs. But the core aspect in achieving scalability is sharding technology which breaks up the blockchain reducing computational load and increasing the transactions throughput. The ecosystem is deflationary, meaning the value increases as more transactions occur. Near protocol, blockchain has a market capitalization of $167.67 billion and a 24-hour trading volume.

10. Exchange-based Tokens

An exchange-based crypto asset is a digital token native to a cryptocurrency exchange. The exchanges create these digital tokens to increase liquidity, promote community governance, and promote trading. The tokens serve both centralized and decentralized exchanges. In centralized exchanges, the tokens are used to lower transaction fees. This means investors get a discounted rate for trading fees and benefit from airdrops and withdrawals. On the other hand, decentralized exchanges use exchange-based tokens for governance and staking fees. Exchange-based tokens are worth $108 billion.

Other Honorable Mentions

Besides the top ten most valuable cryptocurrency categories, below are additional popular cryptocurrencies categories. They have great growth potential, which could push them to top cryptocurrencies.

1. Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
2. Meme Tokens
3. Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT)
4. Decentralized Exchange Token (DEX)
5. Metaverse

Why you should care?

The top cryptocurrency categories boast great adoption. Having a clear picture of their adoption can help you make informed trading decisions. In other words, the more popular and more valuable tokens are, the greater the growth potential. Additionally, a new token in these cryptocurrencies categories has a better adoption and growth opportunity. For instance, smart contract platforms are a hotcake in the crypto space. Investment in the smart contract is likely to have a higher return on investment. 

On the Flipside

But on the other hand, there are low-ranked cryptocurrency tokens with massive growth potential. Their projects are disrupting the crypto space and fintech industry. For instance, Metaverse digital tokens could be the most valuable tokens in the future. It is therefore important for investors to keep an eye on these projects.

Conclusion

There are numerous cryptocurrencies groups. Some crypto overlaps various categories. However, smart contracts, BNB, and polygon chains are the most valuable platforms. Therefore, it is prudent to keep an eye on upcoming projects and the growth of existing platforms in these Crypto groups. However, you should not forget about meme coins, metaverse, NFT ecosystems, and other growing projects. That said, the whole cryptocurrency ecosystem has a bright future. Deciding which group to invest in is a choice you need to make.