Many believe that the 2008 global economic crisis gave birth to cryptocurrency, even though the idea was floated long before the 2008 financial crisis.

People blamed the 2008 economic Crisis on the greedy actions of a few individuals in government and financial corporations.

Thus the idea behind Cryptocurrency was to create an independent financial system devoid of government control.

Today, there are over 5000 coins or tokens in the cryptocurrency market. The demand to access the cryptocurrency market has been on the rise, and therefore there is a need to know the best cryptocurrency (coins or tokens) to buy in 2021.

Knowledge is power, and without knowledge, ignorance takes the lead. As a cryptocurrency investor and enthusiast, proper research on any coin or token is advised before buying and selling. For instance, a look into Shiba Inu's Price prediction can help investors as they make decisions on their portfolios.

Clacified seeks to bridge the gap between knowledge and ignorance; the article will guide and provide a purview into the best crypto to buy in 2022.

There are 4 essential questions a cryptocurrency investor is expected to answer before investing in any crypto coins or tokens:

  1. What gives this coin or token value, or is it used for?
  2. What is the market capitalisation of the coin or token?
  3. What is the maximum supply of the coin or token?
  4. How many of these coins or tokens are already in circulation?

The economics of demand and supply comes into play in the stock and cryptocurrency exchange market. For example, the price goes up whenever the market demand for bitcoins increases.

Still, if the supply of bitcoin increases without a corresponding increase in demand, the price will start sinking.

This analysis does not negate that other fundamental factors, like government crackdown, policies, and daily news, affect the cryptocurrency market.

Read more about cryptocurrency and its associated terms and abbreviations here for better comprehension. Below is a list of the best crypto to invest in in 2022.

Note:

The cryptocurrency market is very volatile. It is highly unregulated and therefore prone to regular downward and upward spirals.

Image from Unsplash.

1. Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a decentralised peer-to-peer electronic transaction processed on a ledger system called a blockchain. Bitcoin is the best crypto for investment in 2022 because other cryptocurrencies are indirectly linked to the rise and fall of bitcoin.

Satoshi Nakamoto published the first Bitcoin white paper in 2008, while bitcoin started circulating in 2009.

According to Coinmarket cap, Bitcoin has a market capitalisation of over 7.2 billion US dollars at press time.

One of the factors that made bitcoin valuable is how difficult it is to earn bitcoins. Bitcoin miners are expected to solve complex mathematical calculations and then receive a reward in bitcoin - this is how new bitcoins go into circulation.

Bitcoin's creators also implemented another feature to limit the supply of bitcoin. The total amount of bitcoin that bitcoin miners can ever mine is 21 million bitcoins.

It took about 4 years to mine half of the proposed supply of bitcoin. Still, it will take another 120 years to scoop the remaining half. In economics, this is called a monetary policy based on artificial scarcity.

The potential to be scarce gives bitcoin its value, and the fact that the maximum supply of bitcoin is limited pushes cryptocurrency enthusiasts to buy and HODL more bitcoins.

The overall effect of the demand and supply is responsible for the vast market capitalisation of bitcoin.

It s worthy to note that a total of 18,776,000 bitcoins are already in circulation as of press time.

During one of the conferences in June 2021, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey told a group of cryptocurrency enthusiasts that he believes bitcoin will protect against currency devaluation and expedite funds transfer.

Jack Dorsey also confirmed to Twitter investors that bitcoin would be a big part of twitter's future.

In October 2020, Square announced they bought $50 million worth of bitcoin; fast-forward to February 2021, it appreciated to $253 million.

Ethereum.

2. Ethereum

Ethereum is a decentralised and open-source blockchain system launched in 2015. It is a cryptocurrency network that supports various cryptocurrency software.

The native cryptocurrency on the Ethereum network is called Ether, though people erroneously refer to ethereum as a cryptocurrency. Ether ranks as the 2nd best crypto to buy in 2022.

The Ethereum network is unique compared to Bitcoin, especially as a pioneer of brilliant contract execution. It is limitless and offers Software developers a platform to deploy other decentralised applications (DApps).

It supports the recent decentralised Finance (DeFi) and Non-fungible tokens (NFT), Ethereum Request for Comments 20 (ERC-20).

More than 280,000 ERC-20-compliant tokens have been launched on the Ethereum network; about 40 cryptocurrencies are among the top 100 by a market cap, like USDT and BNB.

Ether is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation; it has a market cap of $25,545,874,379, and one unit of ether is about $2,675 as of press time.

According to Coinmarket cap, 116,976,938 Ether coins are in circulation. Ethereum has no maximum supply. However, adequate precautions through a consensus are always taken before new Ether coins are released into circulation - to maintain the maximum number needed for good security.

On 2nd August 2021, ConsenSys founder Joe Lubin told Cointelegraph that NFT would turn into an enterprise in its own right.

Tether USDT.

3. USDT

United States Dollar Tether (USDT) is a stable cryptocurrency issued by a company called Tether. USDT is the 3rd best crypto invest 2022. USDT was founded in 2014 and is believed to mirror the United States dollar in value.

The purpose of the USDT coin is to bring stability to the high volatile market of cryptocurrency. During a market downturn, cryptocurrency investors may store their cryptocurrency assets in USDT because, as a stable coin, USDT's value rarely fluctuates.

USDT also serves as a viable financial option for investors in developing countries like Nigeria, where individuals lack access to foreign currency. USDT can provide a haven to save for countries with unstable economies or currencies.

According to Coinmarketcap, USDT is the 3rd highest cryptocurrency based on Market capitalisation. USDT has a market capitalisation of $61,988,949,804 as of press time.

About 62,000,121,094 USDT coins are already in circulation. There is no known maximum supply for USDT.

USDT's parent company, Bitfinex, claims the cryptocurrency is pegged against the USD value, but many investors dispute this assertion. According to Bitfinex, the company maintains the USDT value by storing the same USD in cash, treasury bills, deposits etc.

New York Attorney General Letitia James led an investigation that discovered the claim made by Bitfinex about every USDT being backed by USD was false. Their asset included loans to affiliate companies, contrary to popular belief.

Binance.com

4. Binance coin

BNB is known as the Binance coin. BNB was launched in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao and He Yi. BNB is issued by Binance exchange, a top global cryptocurrency exchange site.

BNB is the native coin on the Binance chain. It was created to process discounted trading fees on the finance network, but its application has surpassed the initial milestone.

BNB is also used as a payment option on Travala and to buy new coins launched on Binance smart chain network.

Binance exchange tops global cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, thus providing a solid ecosystem for the Binance smart chain network.

During the BNB initial coin offering (ICO), Binance released a maximum supply of 200 million BNB into circulation. Binance uses 1/5 of its profits to repurchase and permanently burn the BNB in its wallet. According to Investopedia, Binance will carry out this operation every quarter.

As of press time, there is a maximum of 168,137,036 BNB in circulation, and the number will only reduce with time.

5. Cardano

Cardano is a proof-of-stake blockchain platform founded in 2017 by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson. The Cardano coin, ADA, is the defacto cryptocurrency on the Cardano blockchain network.

ADA, one of the few cryptos that allow staking, ranks 5th on Clacified's list of best crypto to invest in 2022.

Cardano's parent company, IOHK, has developed 3 unique products that run on the Cardano network. Atala prism, Atala Scan and Atala trace are viable products that users can use in agriculture, Education, Financial technology, etc.

Cardano seeks to overcome issues such as scalability and interoperability - significant drawbacks many cryptocurrency networks face.

On 14th July 2021, IOHK announced that the company had completed an upgrade to allow smart contract executions on the Cardano network. This new development will lead to the implementation of DeFi and the building of DApps on the Cardano network.

As of press time, ADA has a market cap of $45,361,919,972 with over 32,106,825,804 ADA coins in circulation. ADA has a maximum supply capped at 45,000,000,000 ADA coins.

Solana

Solana ranks 6th on the list of best crypto for investment in 2022. Solana is a new blockchain network in the crypto space but has risen to make a name for itself with SOL as the native cryptocurrency in the network.

The advantage Solana holds against every other crypto asset is its uniqueness. The network not only uses the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) model of validation but also combines it with an entirely new concept, Proof-of-History (PoH); this duality ushered in a new era in the crypto space. It transformed Solana into a highly scalable network and stakeable crypto.

Besides being among the leading projects in the DeFi and smart contracts space, Solana is also known for its fast transaction speed. Solana can process up to 50,000 transactions per second; this advantage entices Solana to institutional interests and attracts a broader community with its record low transaction fees.

Solana is among the best crypto in 2022 because analysis of the future of Solana and its price prediction shows a positive trajectory for the crypto project.

Conclusion

This article is only a guide for cryptocurrency investors. Many technical factors affect the rise and fall of cryptocurrencies. Fundamental factors also play a huge role.

Clacified advises that investors consider every possible scenario before buying any cryptocurrency.

There are many scam coins and tokens available in the cryptocurrency space today. Vigilance, proper research, and zero tolerance for greed are crucial to making the best decisions on buying and selling cryptocurrencies.