2022 hasn't been the best of years for crypto investors.
Although a few top-altcoins have managed to wildly outperform.
Overall, however, the digital assets have been hit by many of the same headwinds that have pressured other risk assets, like high growth tech shares. Namely fast rising inflation numbers and soaring geopolitical uncertainty.
In fact, 17 of the top-100 cryptos by market cap are down more than 40% this calendar year.
Even the biggest players, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) are in the red. Bitcoin is down 8% this year while Ethereum has lost 14%.
But those aren't close to the worst performers.
Here are the 3 worst tokens (out of the top 100) to have bought on 1 January and held onto through today.
Image source: Getty Images
This crypto is down 50% in 2022
The third worst performing crypto of 2022 to date is Loopring (CRYPTO: LRC), down 50% since 1 January.
That's despite gaining 5% over the past 24 hours to currently be worth US$1.03. At the current price, Loopring has a market cap of US$1.4 billion, making it the 75th biggest token in virtual circulation.
Loopring launched with an initial coin offering (ICO) in 2017.
So, what is Loopring?
According to CoinMarketCap, it's an Ethereum-based cryptocurrency token, "an open protocol designed for the building of decentralised crypto exchanges… [combining] elements of centralised and decentralised cryptocurrency exchanges to create a protocol that will enjoy their unique advantages and eliminate inefficiencies."
Loopring reached an all-time high of $3.83 on 10 November. It's down 73% since that record.
2022's second worst altcoin performer
Moving on, our runner up for worst crypto to own in 2022 is Algorand (CRYPTO: ALGO).
Algorand is also gaining today, up 3.5% to 80 US cents. But that still leaves the crypto's price down a painful 54% year-to-date.
At the current price, Algorand comes in as the 30th biggest token with a total market valuation of US$5.4 billion.
Launched in June 2019, Algorand, CoinMarketCap tells us, is "a self-sustaining, decentralised, blockchain-based network that supports a wide range of applications. These systems are secure, scalable and efficient".
Algorand hit its record high of US$3.28 on 21 June 2019, not long after launching. The crypto is down 75% from that high.
The worst performing crypto in 2022 is down 59%
The crypto that would have lost you the most money had you bought it on 1 January and held on through today is – drum roll please – Curve DAO Token (CRYPTO: CRV).
Like much of the crypto market today, Curve is enjoying a boost, up 4% to US$2.57. But that's hardly enough to erase the previous losses, leaving Curve down 59% in 2022.
At the current price, Curve has a market cap of US$1.2 billion, placing it at number 90 on the top-100 list.
Curve launched in January 2020 and works in the decentralised finance (DeFi) space. According to CoinMarketCap, it's a "decentralised exchange for stablecoins that uses an automated market maker (AMM) to manage liquidity".
The crypto reached an all-time high of US$60.50 on 14 August 2020. It's now down a gut wrenching 96% from that high.
Invest with care.
