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Crypto in 2021: year in review

How the 16 largest coins that traded for the whole of 2021 performed: every coin's return and deepest fall, the month-by-month picture, and how each technical signal that fired in 2021 was followed by the next 30 days.

What stands out

  • In 2021 the median coin among the 16 with a full year of data returned +339%; 16 of 16 finished the year higher, and Bitcoin returned +60%.
  • Solana was the strongest coin (+11,178%) and Litecoin the weakest (+16%).
  • The strongest month for the median coin was January (+84%) and the weakest May (−30%).
  • The deepest fall inside 2021 was Avalanche's −82% from a high to a low within the year.
  • By the median coin's return, 2021 ranks 1st of the 7 full years in our data.

Counted from daily closes on Binance for the 16 largest coins that traded for the whole of 2021. The coins move together, so these are not 16 independent observations.

Every coin in 2021

Return is the change from the last close of 2020. “Deepest fall” is the biggest drop from a high to a later low inside the year. Hover a return for the detail.

SOL+11,178%−58%Feb +208%May −23%10/12
DOGE+3,546%−77%Jan +692%Sep −27%6/12
AVAX+3,335%−82%Jan +323%May −45%8/12
BNB+1,269%−61%Feb +374%May −43%8/12
NEAR+976%−77%Aug +120%May −40%8/12
HBAR+812%−61%Mar +214%May −22%7/12
ADA+621%−59%Feb +281%Sep −24%5/12
ETH+399%−57%Jan +78%Dec −21%8/12
XRP+278%−71%Apr +181%May −35%6/12
TRX+181%−69%Mar +104%May −42%7/12
ZEC+159%−73%Oct +56%May −34%7/12
XLM+109%−71%Jan +141%Jun −29%6/12
LINK+74%−74%Jan +101%Jun −39%7/12
BTC+60%−53%Oct +40%May −35%6/12
BCH+26%−74%Apr +84%May −29%7/12
LTC+16%−72%Apr +38%May −31%8/12

Strongest first. Select a column heading to sort by it.

Month by month

The bars show the median coin each month; the grid shows every coin. Italic months are still running.

0%50%+84Jan+34Feb+33Mar+40Apr−30May−21Jun+4.6Jul+35Aug−12Sep+29Oct−6.0Nov−20Dec
SOL+182+208+48+121−23+8.4+3.5+195+31+43+3.0−18
DOGE+692+30+12+528−3.5−22−18+34−27+37−23−21
AVAX+323+78+20+14−45−34+13+192+69−3.2+87−9.1
BNB+19+374+44+106−43−14+9.4+40−16+35+19−18
NEAR+58+78+57−7.2−40−38+15+120+31+47−14+67
HBAR+159+39+214−17−22−16+9.6+17+34+21−15−17
ADA+90+281−9.2+14+28−20−4.8+110−24−7.1−21−16
ETH+78+8.1+35+44−2.4−16+11+35−12+43+8.0−21
XRP+125−16+37+181−35−32+5.6+59−20+17−10−17
TRX+17+45+104+42−42−11−6.3+39+0.8+14−4.9−22
ZEC+51+30+42+55−34−19−15+29−26+56+32−33
XLM+141+32−0.1+31−24−29+0.1+19−18+34−9.9−21
LINK+101+9.5+19+30−16−39+16+18−10+25−16−23
BTC+14+36+30−1.8−35−5.9+18+14−7.0+40−7.1−19
BCH+17+15+18+84−29−25+3.6+17−21+19−4.4−25
LTC+2.5+28+19+38−31−23+0.1+19−11+25+8.3−30
Median+84+34+33+40−30−21+4.6+35−12+29−6.0−20

Percent. Strongest year-long coin first; select a month to sort by it.

How 2021 compares

The median coin's return in each year of our data. The hollow bar is a year still running.

0%200%−14%2019+211%2020+339%2021−73%2022+94%2023+95%2024−39%2025−7%2026 YTD

Signal scorecard for 2021

Every time one of our signals fired on one of these coins in 2021, and how the coin did over the next 30 days. “Any day” is the yardstick: what followed every day of 2021, signal or not. Signals from the last 30 days of the data are still pending.

Entered oversold27+3.5%63%bullish
Entered overbought173+10%64%bearish
Bullish cross207−2.3%48%bullish
Bearish cross207−5.4%43%bearish
Golden cross15−16%27%bullish
Death cross15+9.9%60%bearish
Any day6,076+2.5%53%–

Pooled across the coins. A year holds only a few market moves, so a gap between a signal and “any day” is not evidence of an edge.

The always-current, all-years version is the signal track record.

Questions

How did crypto do in 2021?
the median of the 16 largest coins with a full year of data returned +339% in 2021, and 16 of them ended higher. Bitcoin returned +60% and Ethereum +399%.
Which crypto performed best in 2021?
Solana (SOL), at +11,178%, among the coins in our data. The weakest was Litecoin at +16%.
What was the best month for crypto in 2021?
January, when the median coin returned +84%. The weakest was May at −30%.
How did technical signals do in 2021?
The table above grades every RSI, MACD and golden or death cross signal that fired in 2021 across 16 coins by what followed over the next 30 days, against what followed an ordinary day in the same year. Signals cluster in a few market moves, so a year is a small sample.

Disclaimer: This page is educational and does not constitute financial advice. It describes past price moves from daily closes on Binance and leaves out fees, taxes and staking rewards. Past performance does not predict future results. Cryptocurrency prices are volatile; never invest more than you can afford to lose.