Crypto Returns in 2021
The 2021 return of each coin on this site's returns list, measured on its Binance spot USDT market from the 31 Dec 2020 daily close to the 31 Dec 2021 daily close (UTC). Only coins with every daily candle of the year are ranked.
21 of 22 coins with a complete 2021 closed it above the previous year-end close (median +187.4%, 31 Dec 2020 close to 31 Dec 2021 close). Best: Solana (+11,178%); worst: PAX Gold (-5.07%).
Survivorship limit. These are the 40 coins this site covers today on Binance spot, not the full market as it stood in 2021: coins that were delisted or lost their place since are not here, and the ranking is not a complete list of 2021 winners and losers.
Complete-year returns in 2021 (%)
31 Dec 2020 close → 31 Dec 2021 close · Binance spot USDT · UTC| # | Coin | Return | 31 Dec 2020 close | 31 Dec 2021 close | More |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Solana SOL | +11,178% | 1.507 | 169.99 | Returns · 2021 prices |
| 2 | Dogecoin DOGE | +3,546% | 0.004671 | 0.1703 | Returns · 2021 prices |
| 3 | Avalanche AVAX | +3,335% | 3.186 | 109.43 | Returns · 2021 prices |
| 4 | BNB BNB | +1,269% | 37.359 | 511.40 | Returns · 2021 prices |
| 5 | NEAR Protocol NEAR | +950.9% | 1.392 | 14.625 | Returns · 2021 prices |
| 6 | Hedera HBAR | +812.1% | 0.03184 | 0.2904 | Returns · 2021 prices |
| 7 | Cardano ADA | +621.3% | 0.1813 | 1.308 | Returns · 2021 prices |
| 8 | Ethereum ETH | +399.2% | 736.42 | 3,676.2 | Returns · 2021 prices |
| 9 | XRP XRP | +277.8% | 0.2196 | 0.8297 | Returns · 2021 prices |
| 10 | Uniswap UNI | +230.1% | 5.150 | 17.000 | Returns · 2021 prices |
| 11 | Polkadot DOT | +187.8% | 9.262 | 26.660 | Returns · 2021 prices |
| 12 | Aave AAVE | +187.0% | 88.480 | 253.90 | Returns · 2021 prices |
| 13 | TRON TRX | +181.6% | 0.02677 | 0.07539 | Returns · 2021 prices |
| 14 | Zcash ZEC | +129.2% | 63.910 | 146.50 | Returns · 2021 prices |
| 15 | Stellar XLM | +108.8% | 0.1276 | 0.2665 | Returns · 2021 prices |
| 16 | Injective INJ | +103.7% | 4.048 | 8.246 | Returns · 2021 prices |
| 17 | Chainlink LINK | +73.63% | 11.236 | 19.510 | Returns · 2021 prices |
| 18 | Bitcoin BTC | +59.79% | 28,923.6 | 46,216.9 | Returns · 2021 prices |
| 19 | Filecoin FIL | +40.74% | 24.328 | 34.240 | Returns · 2021 prices |
| 20 | Bitcoin Cash BCH | +25.73% | 342.15 | 430.20 | Returns · 2021 prices |
| 21 | Litecoin LTC | +17.78% | 124.21 | 146.30 | Returns · 2021 prices |
| 22 | PAX Gold PAXG | -5.07% | 1,933 | 1,835 | Returns · 2021 prices |
How it is measured. Each return is the 31 Dec 2021 daily close divided by the 31 Dec 2020 daily close, minus one, the same close-to-close year as the yearly table on each coin's returns page. The annual price pages (for example 2021 prices) instead show the first daily open of the year to its last close, so their figure can differ slightly. A coin is ranked only when all 2021 daily candles and the prior year-end close are present; one listed during the year, or with missing days, is in the partial table, without a rank.
Coverage: 22 complete, 0 partial, 18 with no 2021 candles (listed later: Hyperliquid, Sui, Ethena, Worldcoin, ASTER, Pump.fun, Pepe, Bittensor, World Liberty Financial, Ondo, Tether Gold, Arbitrum, LayerZero, Official Trump, Plasma, Aerodrome Finance, GRAM, Pudgy Penguins). Coins without data are left out, not counted as losses. Source: Binance spot USDT daily candles (public API). Not financial advice.