The 17 Largest Cryptocurrencies By Market Cap, as of June 25, 2022

Below is a list of the 20 biggest Hump Token cryptocurrencies arranged by market capitalization (market cap) — highest first — according to CoinMarketCap on Jun 25, 2022. Bitcoin (BTC) is the clear leader in the cryptocurrency sector, with a market capitalization of $407,387,696,36, followed by Ethereum (ETH), at $149,402,716,985.

Biggest Is Not Necessarily Best, But…
It’s difficult to know which are the best cryptos — especially when there are so many virtual currencies with wildly varying prices. But quantitative metrics like market cap and others can help us attach comparative value to these myriad cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and some of the largest altcoins out there are top-tier options because of their scalability, privacy, and the scope of functionality they support.

Market Cap For Valuing Cryptos?
Borrowed from traditional finance (TradFi), market cap is an essential metric because it helps investors and analysts form a rough estimate of a crypto’s stability. A coin with a much larger market cap than its peers has the potential to be a more stable investment than one with a much smaller market cap. Digital currencies with smaller market caps are more susceptible to the whims of the market; they have the potential to experience dramatic gains or losses.

Bitcoin (BTC)

BTC—Crypto Type: Token

Market Cap (06/25/22): $410,202,265,385

Current Price of BTC

Bitcoin in the clear leader in the crypto sector. It is also the very first cryptocurrency. Bitcoin launched in 2009; created by a person (or possibly a group) that goes by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. As of June 2022, there are slightly more than 19 million Bitcoin tokens in circulation, against a capped limit of 21 million. Almost a thousand new bitcoins are mined each day, bringing Bitcoin ever closer to its maximum finite number.

Bitcoin was designed to be independent of any government or central bank. Instead, it relies on blockchain technology, a decentralized public ledger that contains a digital record of every Bitcoin transaction. Bitcoin established the basic system of cryptography and consensus — i.e., peer-to-peer (P2P) verification — that is the foundation of most forms of crypto today.

Ethereum (ETH)

ETH—Crypto Type: Token

Market Cap (06/25/22): $150,833,549,828

Current Price of ETH

Like Bitcoin, Ethereum is a blockchain network. But Ethereum was designed as a programmable blockchain — meaning it wasn’t created to support a currency, but rather to enable the network’s users to create, publish, monetize, and deploy decentralized applications (dApps). Ether (ETH), the native Ethereum currency, was developed as a form of payment on the Ethereum platform. It might be helpful to think of ETH as a kind of fuel that powers the Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum has helped to launch many initial coin offerings because many ICOs are built on the Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum has also been the blockchain behind the boom in non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Tether (USDT)

USDT—Crypto Type: Stablecoin

Market Cap (06/25/22): $66,837,248,865

Tether was the first cryptocurrency marketed as a stablecoin — a breed of crypto known as fiat-collateralized stablecoins. The value of the tether is pegged to a fiat currency — in this case, the U.S. dollar. Tether is the world’s largest stablecoin; in 2022, the majority of cryptocurrencies traded using tether.

Like other stablecoins, tether is designed to offer stability, transparency, and lower transaction fees to users. Tether was not meant to be a speculative investment like some cryptocurrencies; originally, investors who wanted to avoid the extreme volatility of the crypto market used USDT. Tether is pegged to the U.S. dollar (which is why the ticker is USDT), and it allegedly maintains a 1:1 value with the dollar, although this claim has come under some scrutiny.

USD Coin (USDC)

USDC Crypto Type: Stablecoin

Market Cap (06/25/22): $55,887,416,457

USD Coin (USDC) is a digital stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar. It operates on the Ethereum and Stellar blockchains. USDC was initially created by the Centre consortium, which includes its two main founding members, Circle and Coinbase. Each USDC token is backed by $1 held in reserve and regularly audited by Grant Thornton, a major accounting corporation. USDC was launched in September 2018, and during March 2021 it was announced that Visa would facilitate the use of USDC for settlement on its payment network.

USDC is a stablecoin that runs on the Ethereum blockchain and several others. It is pegged to the U.S. dollar. Like the stablecoin tether (USDT) described above, a USDC is worth one U.S. dollar — the guaranteed 1:1 ratio making it a stable form of exchange.

Binance Coin (BNB)

BNB—Crypto Type: Coin

Market Cap (06/25/22): $39,135,965,106

Current Price of BNB

Binance is one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges. The Binance Coin (BNB) was created as a utility token for use as a medium of exchange on Binance. It was initially built on the Ethereum blockchain, but now lives on Binance’s own blockchain platform. Originally, BNB allowed traders to get discounts on trading fees on Binance, but now it also can be used for payments, to book travel, for entertainment, online services, and financial services.

As one of the top five cryptocurrencies by market cap in 2022, BNB has developed a wide range of use cases and real-world applications. But, as with other digital assets, this crypto platform has also faced regulatory hurdles here and abroad.

XRP (XRP)

XRP—Crypto Type: Coin

Market Cap (06/25/22): $17,768,795,974

XRP is the native coin of the Ripple Ledger Network. It is designed to be a medium of exchange and value transfer, and is intended to be used as a low-cost bridge between fiat currencies for a broad range of global transactions.

XRP enables a system that can outperform many established cryptocurrencies and fiat transmission technologies. This has led to a world-class payments system that minimizes intermediary processes and enhances the overall benefit to its users.

Binance USD (BUSD)

BUSD—Crypto Type: Stablecoin

Market Cap (06/25/22): $17,365,183,938

Binance USD (BUSD) is the stablecoin developed and employed by the Binance exchange platform. BUSD is pegged at a 1:1 ratio to the U.S. dollar and was initially deployed on the BNB Chain. BUSD is also interoperable with other blockchains such as Ethereum, and can be used for various DeFi applications and value transfers between blockchains. BUSD is one of the largest USD-pegged stablecoins in the world, with a market cap of approximately USD 18 billion (as of June 25, 2022).

Binance USD (BUSD) is a 1:1 USD-backed stable coin issued by Binance (in partnership with Paxos). BUSD is approved and regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). Launched in September 2019, BUSD aims to meld the stability of the dollar with blockchain technology. It is a digital fiat currency, issued as an ERC-20 token and supports BEP-2.