With the number of altcoins listed on Coinmarketcap reaching 1,640 as of this writing, the question begs – how will all of these altcoin markets perform in the long term? When looking back four years at a historic snapshot of the leading markets from June 1st, 2014, one can see that only two of the top ten altcoins have retained their position in the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization today. Additionally, only two markets have gained value over both fiat and BTC pairings, whilst four markets have lost value against both USD and BTC.
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The Cryptocurrency Markets Four Years Ago
At the time of the snapshot, the altcoin sphere was early in its development – with six of the ten cryptocurrency markets by capitalization then being less than 12 months old. Whilst the majority of markets have produced gains over the U.S. dollar (USD), most markets have produced dramatic losses against BTC.
BTC has maintained its position as the leading market by capitalization over the years. At the time of the snapshot, the BTC markets had a total capitalization of $8.2 billion, with bitcoin trading for approximately $640 each. Today, BTC boasts a market cap of nearly $127.2 billion, and the price of bitcoin has since risen to 1,065%, trading for approximately $7,450 as of this writing.
Many Leading Altcoins Lose Value Against BTC
Litecoin was the second largest crypto market on June 1st, 2014, then comprising a $320.5 million USD market, with LTC trading for $11.10 each. Litecoin has retained its position in top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap, today ranking sixth with a capitalization of roughly $6.725 billion. As of this writing, LTC is trading for $118.40
