The Best Crypto Bets In 2022

Despite mouth-watering gains, allocation to meme coins should be minimal.

- V. Keshavdev

Can you comprehend the alphanumeric string?

It’s the encrypted equivalent of the word ‘Bitcoin’ — the cryptocurrency that traded at $46,578 (₹35 lakh) per unit on December 20, translating into a global market cap of $881 billion. That’s 3.36 times the GDP of Pakistan, 2.72 times of Bangladesh and 10 times of Sri Lanka. Having started at $1 in 2009 at launch, Bitcoin remains by far the most expensive crypto in history. If an investor had invested $100 in Bitcoin in 2009, the investment would be worth $4.67 million today (equivalent of ₹35 crore)!

It’s this non-linear compounding that has spawned a 24-hour-open crypto bazaar teeming with over 15,700 currencies and a cumulative market cap of $2.37 trillion. It includes coins and tokens trading in cents and even smaller fractions.

Among all these, the top 10 cryptos that have cornered the attention of investors include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Dogecoin, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Filecoin, Ethereum Classic, Monero and Helium, accounting for $1.45-trillion market cap (See: The Top 100). India’s home-grown crypto exchanges together offer a basket of 500 currencies to choose from, according to Crebaco, a crypto research and analytics firm. Crypto investing began in India in 2013 when Bengaluru-based Unocoin became the first crypto exchange in the country.