Bitcoin had a good 2021, up around 60% after some wild volatility, but the wider cryptocurrency market had a much, much better year. The Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index of the largest coins gained more than 160% last year.
But I think crypto's overall market cap growth in 2021 tells a good story. On the very first trading day of 2021, the global crypto market was worth a "mere" $861 billion. Barely a month later, it topped $1 trillion, and by early November of 2021, it was flirting with $3 trillion.
As of yesterday morning, the first trading day of 2022, crypto sports a market cap of $2.24 trillion - that's bigger than all but the top seven world economies.
So, when I say, like I have been lately, that 2022 could be crypto's biggest year yet, I'm talking big bucks. And if you've been with me for a while, you know I think the biggest of those gains aren't necessarily going to come from Bitcoin and Ethereum.
These outsized profits will truly be "flying under the radar" with smaller, faster-moving coins like these...
I Love the Profit Potential in These Coins
I've found the best performance comes from trading coins, moving in and out as price dictates. For one thing, when you do that, you use the volatility inherent in the crypto market to your advantage. A lot of folks got steamrolled by crypto volatility last year, and while it's a great strategy to "buy the ******* dip" and add to positions in bigger coins when they pull back, it can be trouble in the smaller coins that are otherwise really profitable.
My entire Microcurrency Trader research service is based on this idea. A lot of the coins in the Microcurrency Trader portfolio are sitting on nice, double-digit gains.
Here's a "highlight reel" of the smaller coins we're looking at in Microcurrency Trader that are already moving in the right direction and look really promising in 2022...
Algorand (ALGO) is a coin that came to the market in 2017. It is a modern-structured coin utilizing proof of stake validation and creation. Created by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor, Silvia Micali, ALGO works more efficiently by only having those with actual coin ownership in the network of the coin market.
My trade so far is working well, with a gain running at 51.3%, as of this writing.
Enjin (ENJ) is a very new coin trade that I've discussed on Money Morning LIVE, and my Microcurrency Trader subscribers know just how excited I am about this one. This coin was engineered from the Ethereum model, and similar to ALGO, is a next-generation coin utilizing proof of stake technology. ENJ is specifically designed for use in valuing and exchanging non-fungible tokens (NFTs). And even more exciting, ENJ is also set up for use as a currency inside the massive and huge growth market for online electronic gaming.
My trade in ENJ is brand-spanking new, so the gain is just getting going at 1.2%, but I have big plans for this one in 2022...
Maker (MKR) was established to be a universal platform similar in objectives to Polygon. Maker provides both stable coins (fixed coin values to U.S. dollars and other currencies), as well as its own MKR cyber coin. The key advantage of MKR is that it is being accepted as a cross-platform and cross-market coin adopted by markets and governments around the globe.
My trade again is newer, but off to a good start, as the portfolio shows a gain of 6.3%.
Finally, Polygon (MATIC) is a very interesting protocol and coin that was set up again under the Ethereum standards, focused on bridging various blockchain networks. This means that Polygon works to connect different blockchains for a more seamless connection for business and financial transactions. And its MATIC coin is a uniform unit that can move from one blockchain network to another.
My trade is new but already taking off, sitting on a gain of 60.6%.
Happy New Year, and here's to a successful, prosperous 2022.
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About the Author
Tom Gentile, options trading specialist for Money Map Press, is widely known as America's No. 1 Pattern Trader thanks to his nearly 30 years of experience spotting lucrative patterns in options trading. Tom has taught over 300,000 traders his option trading secrets in a variety of settings, including seminars and workshops. He's also a bestselling author of eight books and training courses.