People talk about “crypto” as if it were one asset class. It isn’t. I went back and looked at the ten largest coins by market cap at the end of 2016, then again at the end of 2021, and compared both lists with today’s market. The pattern is the same in both windows: the names churn, most of the leaders fade or disappear, and Bitcoin is still sitting at number one.
I believe Bitcoin is a store of value, though it is speculative too, for a different reason. The bet, in my view, is simply that it keeps succeeding and stays decentralized and secure. It is not trying to disrupt some other industry the way the other coins and projects are; those are bets on a business, and I see them as likely unregistered or unregulated securities that behave more like stocks. That is why I would only consider Bitcoin, and I regard every other coin as extremely speculative.
A note on the data before the tables. End-of-year ranks, prices, and market caps come from CoinMarketCap’s historical snapshots for December 31, 2016, and December 31, 2021. Today’s figures come from CoinGecko on November 14, 2026, at 1:52 p.m. CST for the 2021 comparison and today’s top 10, and at about 2:30 p.m. CST for the 2016 coins that aren’t in those tables. Every table is ranked by market cap, excluding stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets – Tether, USDC, and the like, and Figure Heloc, a tokenized home-equity product. Those are not coins meant to appreciate, so they were taken out, and the next-largest coins from the same snapshots were moved up. Size in this post always means market cap, not price. A coin can trade at half a dollar, or at a fraction of a cent, and still be worth more than a high-priced coin with a small supply. The gains and losses below are shown as both the change in price and the change in market cap, because those two numbers diverge when new coins are issued, burned, or unlocked. It was a down day – Bitcoin was off about 5% over 24 hours – so these are not flattering marks for anyone. Ethereum launched in July 2015, so the ten-year percentages catch its earliest, very young gains and flatter it; two other 2016 leaders, Ethereum Classic and Steem, were under a year old at that snapshot. The five-year comparison from the end of 2021 is the fairer test, because most of these coins were already established by then. And this is not investment advice.
The ten-year list
At the end of 2016, Bitcoin was already first by market cap, at $15.49 billion – $963.74 a coin. Ethereum was second, at $697 million, or $7.97 a coin. The rest of the top 10 was XRP, Litecoin, Monero, Ethereum Classic, Dash, MaidSafeCoin, Augur, and Steem. XRP is the clearest reminder that price is not size: it was third, with a market cap of $234 million, even though it traded at about six-tenths of a cent. No Tether. No BNB. No Solana. Several of those names barely come up anymore.
Top 10 at end of 2016 (by market cap) and how each has performed since, through Nov 14, 2026
| # | Coin | Launched | Price Dec 31, 2016 | Price Nov 14, 2026 | Price change % (Dec 31, 2016 → Nov 14, 2026) | Market cap Dec 31, 2016 | Market cap Nov 14, 2026 | Market cap change % (Dec 31, 2016 → Nov 14, 2026) | Rank Nov 14, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bitcoin (BTC) | Jan 3, 2009 | $963.74 | $65,580 | +6,704.7% | $15.49B | $1.319T | +8,413.9% | 1 |
| 2 | Ethereum (ETH) | Jul 30, 2015 | $7.9691 | $1,830.37 | +22,868.3% | $697.0M | $223.7B | +31,995.9% | 2 |
| 3 | XRP (XRP) | June 2012 | $0.006449 | $0.9512 | +14,649.6% | $234.3M | $60.4B | +25,681.2% | 4 |
| 4 | Litecoin (LTC) | Oct 7, 2011 | $4.3253 | $45.21 | +945.2% | $212.5M | $3.52B | +1,555.1% | 18 |
| 5 | Monero (XMR) | Apr 18, 2014 | $13.78 | $496.72 | +3,504.6% | $188.3M | $9.36B | +4,869.5% | 9 |
| 6 | Ethereum Classic (ETC) | Jul 20, 2016 | $1.4131 | $5.96 | +321.8% | $123.5M | $947.1M | +666.8% | 51 |
| 7 | Dash (DASH) | Jan 18, 2014 | $11.21 | $36.21 | +223.0% | $78.3M | $466.9M | +495.9% | 81 |
| 8 | MaidSafeCoin (MAID) | Apr 22, 2014 | $0.09933 | — | — | $45.0M | — | — | Delisted |
| 9 | Augur (REP) | 2015 (token) | $3.7748 | — | — | $41.5M | — | — | Unranked |
| 10 | Steem (STEEM) | Mar 24, 2016 | $0.1695 | $0.04205 | −75.2% | $38.9M | $23.7M | −39.2% | 690* |
Ranked by market cap, excluding stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets.
The price change is what a holder of one coin gained or lost over that period.
Combined market cap of this top 10 at the end of 2016: $17.15 billion. MaidSafeCoin is no longer listed on CoinGecko, and CoinMarketCap no longer shows a live market price. Augur’s original token is unranked on CoinGecko (market cap reported as $0, almost no volume); the project has since moved through later token migrations. Those two are not given a clean buy-and-hold return. “Rank now” is today’s rank by market cap on the same excluded-stable, excluded-RWA basis. Steem’s 690* is CoinGecko’s overall rank, which still includes stables.
Only four of those ten are still in today’s top 10: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Monero. That’s it.
Bitcoin is up 6,705% in price over those ten years, from $964 to $65,580 – about 68 times your money if you simply held it – and its market cap went from $15.49 billion to $1.319 trillion, up 8,414%. Ethereum’s percentage gain is even larger, because it started at $8, though it has given back half its value since the end of 2021. That ten-year Ethereum figure is real, but it is also flattering: Ethereum launched in July 2015, so the comparison captures its earliest, very young gains. It was only 17 months old at the end of 2016. Two other 2016 leaders were even younger. Ethereum Classic had only existed as a separate coin since the July 2016 fork, about five and a half months. Steem had launched in March 2016, about nine months earlier. XRP is up about 147 times in price, and much more than that in market cap, because a lot more XRP is in circulation now. Litecoin, Monero, Ethereum Classic, and Dash are also up over the full decade, in both price and market cap, and Monero has climbed back into the top 10, in 9th, just ahead of Dogecoin. That is the honest 10-year picture: several of those early coins made people money if they bought in 2016 and never sold. The fairer test of a “large coin” as an established asset is the five-year window that starts at the end of 2021.
But “up” and “still a leader” are different things. Litecoin has fallen from 4th to 18th. Ethereum Classic is 51st. Dash is 81st. Steem is down 75% in price, 39% in market cap, and ranks far down the list. MaidSafeCoin is gone from the major listings. Augur’s original token is unranked. Six of the 2016 top 10 are no longer top-10 assets, and two of those are effectively gone from the market that used to treat them as blue chips.
If you had assumed the top 10 was a durable club, you would have been wrong. Over a few years, that list is a graveyard. Bitcoin is the name that stayed at the top, by market cap, the whole way through.
Then came 2021
The more painful test is what happened after the last mania. By December 31, 2021, Bitcoin was $46,306, with a market cap of $875.9 billion. Ethereum was $3,683, at $438.1 billion. Solana, Cardano, Terra, Avalanche, Polkadot, and Dogecoin had muscled into the top 10. If you bought that list and held it, you were not buying one thing called “crypto.” You were buying a mixed bag, and most of the bag got cheaper.
Top 10 at end of 2021 (by market cap) and how each has performed since, through Nov 14, 2026
| # | Coin | Launched | Price Dec 31, 2021 | Price Nov 14, 2026 | Price change % (Dec 31, 2021 → Nov 14, 2026) | Market cap Dec 31, 2021 | Market cap Nov 14, 2026 | Market cap change % (Dec 31, 2021 → Nov 14, 2026) | Rank Nov 14, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bitcoin (BTC) | Jan 3, 2009 | $46,306 | $65,580 | +41.6% | $875.9B | $1.319T | +50.6% | 1 |
| 2 | Ethereum (ETH) | Jul 30, 2015 | $3,683 | $1,830 | −50.3% | $438.1B | $223.7B | −48.9% | 2 |
| 3 | BNB (BNB) | Jun 26, 2017 | $512 | $589.15 | +15.1% | $85.4B | $77.5B | −9.2% | 3 |
| 4 | Solana (SOL) | Mar 16, 2020 | $170 | $72.07 | −57.7% | $52.7B | $42.6B | −19.1% | 5 |
| 5 | Cardano (ADA) | Sep 29, 2017 | $1.31 | $0.1541 | −88.2% | $43.9B | $5.79B | −86.8% | 14 |
| 6 | XRP (XRP) | June 2012 | $0.83 | $0.9512 | +14.4% | $39.5B | $60.4B | +52.9% | 4 |
| 7 | Terra (LUNA)* | Apr 23, 2019 | $85.47 | ~$0 | −99.99996% | $30.9B | $192.3M | −99.4% | 124 |
| 8 | Avalanche (AVAX) | Sep 22, 2020 | $109 | $7.41 | −93.2% | $26.6B | $3.31B | −87.6% | 19 |
| 9 | Polkadot (DOT) | May 26, 2020 | $26.72 | $0.7459 | −97.2% | $26.4B | $1.28B | −95.2% | 44 |
| 10 | Dogecoin (DOGE) | Dec 6, 2013 | $0.1705 | $0.05965 | −65.0% | $22.6B | $9.35B | −58.7% | 10 |
Ranked by market cap, excluding stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets.
The price change is what a holder of one coin gained or lost over that period.
Combined market cap of this top 10 at the end of 2021: $1.642 trillion. *Terra collapsed in May 2022. The original coin now trades as Terra Classic (LUNC) at $0.00003483, with a market cap of $192.3 million.
Bitcoin is up 41.6% in price since the end of 2021, and 50.6% in market cap, and it still ranks first. It is not the only 2021 leader with a gain, and market cap and price do not always tell the same story. XRP is up 14.4% in price and 52.9% in market cap – a slightly larger cap gain than Bitcoin’s – but more XRP came into circulation, which lifts market cap even when the price move is smaller. BNB’s price is up 15.1%, yet its market cap is down 9.2%, because the circulating supply shrank as tokens were burned. Ethereum is down 50% in price and 49% in market cap. Solana is down 58% in price but only 19% in market cap, because a lot more SOL was issued. Cardano has lost 88% of its price and fallen to 14th. Polkadot, 9th at the end of 2021, has lost 95% of its market cap and fallen to 44th. Avalanche has lost 93% of its price and 88% of its market cap. Dogecoin is still in today’s top 10, but it is down 65% in price and 59% in market cap. Terra collapsed in May 2022. The original coin now trades as Terra Classic (LUNC) at a fraction of a cent, with a sliver of its old market cap.
That is the buy-and-hold lesson people skip when they treat every large coin as if it were Bitcoin. A coin can be huge by market cap at the top of a cycle and still be a bad five-year hold. The 2021 top 10 was a poster of that.
Today’s top 10
Top 10 on Nov 14, 2026 (by market cap) and how each has performed since Dec 31, 2021
| # | Coin | Launched | Price Dec 31, 2021 | Price Nov 14, 2026 | Price change % (Dec 31, 2021 → Nov 14, 2026) | Market cap Dec 31, 2021 | Market cap Nov 14, 2026 | Market cap change % (Dec 31, 2021 → Nov 14, 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bitcoin (BTC) | Jan 3, 2009 | $46,306 | $65,580 | +41.6% | $875.9B | $1.319T | +50.6% |
| 2 | Ethereum (ETH) | Jul 30, 2015 | $3,683 | $1,830 | −50.3% | $438.1B | $223.7B | −48.9% |
| 3 | BNB (BNB) | Jun 26, 2017 | $512 | $589.15 | +15.1% | $85.4B | $77.5B | −9.2% |
| 4 | XRP (XRP) | June 2012 | $0.83 | $0.9512 | +14.4% | $39.5B | $60.4B | +52.9% |
| 5 | Solana (SOL) | Mar 16, 2020 | $170 | $72 | −57.7% | $52.7B | $42.6B | −19.1% |
| 6 | TRON (TRX) | Jun 25, 2018 | $0.07540 | $0.31 | +308.7% | $7.68B | $29.3B | +281.4% |
| 7 | Hyperliquid (HYPE) | Nov 29, 2024 | n/a | $65.15 | New | n/a | $15.5B | New |
| 8 | Zcash (ZEC) | Oct 28, 2016 | $147 | $850.18 | +480.1% | $1.97B | $14.49B | +636.7% |
| 9 | Monero (XMR) | Apr 18, 2014 | $229 | $496.72 | +117.1% | $4.13B | $9.36B | +126.5% |
| 10 | Dogecoin (DOGE) | Dec 6, 2013 | $0.1705 | $0.05965 | −65.0% | $22.6B | $9.35B | −58.7% |
Ranked by market cap, excluding stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets.
The price change is what a holder of one coin gained or lost over that period.
Combined market cap of this top 10: $1.801 trillion. TRON was 26th at the end of 2021. Hyperliquid launched in November 2024. Zcash was 68th at the end of 2021; Monero was 42nd. Prices and market caps are from 1:52 p.m. CST on a down day.
Six of the 2021 names are still in the top 10: Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, XRP, Solana, and Dogecoin. Four coins from that 2021 list dropped out: Cardano, Terra, Avalanche, and Polkadot. The four that replaced them are TRON, which has climbed from 26th at the end of 2021 on a 309% price gain; Hyperliquid, which launched in 2024; Zcash, which was 68th at the end of 2021; and Monero, a 2016 leader that has returned to the top 10.
From the 2016 list, four names are still there: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Monero. Six of the ten largest coins of 2016 did not survive as top-10 assets.
I don’t say “Bitcoin only goes up.” I have never said that. Bitcoin can drop 50%, and it was down hard again today. The point is narrower, and the tables make it: “crypto” is not one bet. The top 10, ranked by market cap, churns. Most of the names that look permanent at the peak are not. Bitcoin has kept the number one slot, by market cap, through both of these windows, and it is the 2021 leader that delivered a real price gain without depending on a shrinking or expanding supply to tell the story.
If you are going to buy and hold, know which asset you are actually holding. A ticker that was seventh in 2016 or ninth in 2021 is not a substitute for Bitcoin just because it showed up on the same list.
Sources
CoinMarketCap historical snapshot, December 31, 2016
CoinMarketCap historical snapshot, December 31, 2021
Today’s prices, market caps, and ranks: CoinGecko, November 14, 2026 (1:52 p.m. CST for the 2021 and current top-10 tables; about 2:30 p.m. CST for the other 2016 coins).
Launch dates are the genesis block or mainnet launch for layer-1 coins, and the token or ICO launch for tokens (for example BNB’s June 2017 ICO, and Hyperliquid’s November 2024 token launch). Ethereum Classic is dated to the July 2016 fork, when it became a distinct asset. Sources include official project posts and CoinGecko genesis dates; the companion fact document lists each source in full.
This is not investment advice. It is a historical comparison of market prices and market caps. Do your own research, and don’t invest money you can’t afford to lose.
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