Is HODLing profitable or not? Reviewing the biggest price increases and decreases of cryptocurrencies in 2019

Saying goodbye to the bear market of 2018, the cryptocurrency market made a comeback from its lows in 2019. Most cryptocurrency prices experienced significant changes last year, with a continued upward trend in the first 6 months. This article compiles the top 100 cryptocurrencies with the largest price fluctuations, including an overview of the overall performance of Bitcoin and Ethereum in the past year.

Due to the long-standing high volatility of cryptocurrencies, the market's fluctuations are always surprising. For example, Luna Coin (LUNA) achieved an astonishing increase of 48,900% last year. On the other hand, Dogecoin DogeCoin (DOGE) showed extremely low volatility, entering 2020 at the same price as 12 months ago.

Bitcoin (BTC)

• Market Rank: 1
• Year-to-date: +87%
• Maximum Increase: 282% within 6 months

Bitcoin achieved a 282% increase within just six months in 2019. However, on July 11, after U.S. Congress criticized Facebook's Libra project, Bitcoin experienced a 10% drop, the largest in a 24-hour period last year.

Bitcoin surged from $3,400 to $13,000 in the first six months of the year, reaching a new high since January 2018, which also boosted the overall cryptocurrency market.

Ethereum (ETH)

• Market Rank: 2
• Year-to-date: -12%
• Maximum Increase: 139% within 6 months

The second-largest cryptocurrency Ethereum ended the first half of the year with a 139% increase. However, it experienced a significant 36% drop within 10 days in July, marking the largest decline.

Ethereum made significant progress in 2019 with the booming DeFi ecosystem and advancements towards the transition to the 2.0 upgrade of Proof of Stake. Despite these developments, its price trended negatively, with supporters hoping for a turnaround with Bitcoin's halving effect next year.

Top Performers of 2019

According to reports, 2019 was a fruitful year for some investors in the crypto market. The assets with the highest increases included Luna Coin, SEELE, and Matic.

LUNA (LUNA)

• Market Rank: 62
• Year-to-date: +25,000%
• Maximum Increase: +48,900% in one day

LUNA's chart resembles a patient's revived electrocardiogram. The token surged by 48,900% on August 19, exhibiting a typical "Pump and dump" behavior, leading to a subsequent decline.

Despite this, the token still made it to the list of assets with the highest increases, with a year-to-date surge of 25,000%. Its price rose from $0.001 to $0.25.

SEELE (SEELE)

• Market Rank: 45
• Year-to-date: +2,640%
• Maximum Increase: +2,640% in one year

The Ethereum-based token Seele has grown nearly 27 times in price since the beginning of the year, starting at $0.005 and currently at $0.137.

Matic Network (MATIC)

• Market Rank: 89
• Year-to-date: +285%
• Maximum Increase: +1,233% in one month

Matic is a significant contributor to the Ethereum ecosystem, providing off-chain computations through sidechains as a layer 2 scaling solution. The token price surged by 1,233% in May but dropped by 52% within the same month.

In mid-November, the token hit a historical high of $0.042 on December 8, only to swiftly drop by 70% back to levels two weeks ago. Sandeep Nialwal, Matic's COO, stated:

This is clearly the result of "market manipulation," and a detailed analysis will be conducted on the sharp decline in December.

Despite the general market downturn, Matic's current price is nearly four times its initial issuance. Even though the token price dropped threefold in mid-December, early investors are still in profit.

Chainlink (LINK)

• Market Rank: 19
• Year-to-date: +459%
• Maximum Increase: +1,186% within 6 months

Chainlink gained attention last year with partnerships with major companies like Google, Binance, Oracle, and Aelf, leading to a tenfold increase in token price in the first half of the year. Shortly after the surge, Coinbase announced its plans to list the coin.

Binance Coin (BNB)

• Market Rank: 8
• Year-to-date: +122%
• Maximum Increase: +548% within 6 months

BNB is the platform coin of Binance exchange, benefiting from the popularity of the IEO (Initial Exchange Offering) model last year. The token grew by 548% in the first half of the year and has maintained a 122% increase year-to-date.

Biggest Decliners of 2019

Despite Bitcoin's positive performance in 2019, the altcoins experienced significant price declines. The projects with the largest drops are listed below.

BitTorent (BTT)

• Market Rank: 65
• Year-to-date: -99%
• Maximum Decrease: -38% in 10 days

As an early project of Binance IEO, BTT showed excellent performance last year, reaching a historical high of $0.0017 in May. However, it has since experienced a 99% decrease year-to-date.

Despite this, BitTorrent by Tron remains one of the most successful IEO projects, still showing several times the profit compared to its crowdfunding price.

Bitcoin Gold (BTG)

• Market Rank: 46
• Year-to-date: -59%
• Maximum Decrease: -82% within 6 months

For holders of Bitcoin Gold (BTG), 2019 was a bearish year, with an 82% decline in the second half of the year, dropping from $31 on June 25 to approximately $5.30 now.

Stellar (XLM)

• Market Rank: 12
• Year-to-date: -63%
• Maximum Decrease: -63% in one year

Stellar also experienced a 63% decrease, with its token XLM dropping from $0.08 in November to the current $0.044.

Despite the poor performance of the cryptocurrency market in the second half of 2019, Bitcoin's performance throughout the year was still impressive compared to the lows of late 2018. Considering the high volatility and speculative nature of some cryptocurrencies, investors should choose projects carefully and be aware of the risks.

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