Opinion: What is the Next Big Cryptocurrency To Explode in 2022?

Last year saw cryptocurrency reach dizzy new heights. The idea of digital currencies entered the mainstream in an unprecedented way, and 2022 is shaping up to be another big year for crypto. Nico Lim from crypto exchange Digital Surge looks at five crypto assets that have the potential to explode in 2022.

The crypto landscape

While crypto assets are still highly volatile investments, in 2021 the total crypto market cap increased from $760B to $2.3T, with the total volume of crypto payments increasing by over 100% throughout the year. In Australia, it is estimated that nearly one in five (18%) adults own some form of cryptocurrency, a figure which shows no signs of slowing down.

Cryptocurrencies beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum

Bitcoin and now Ethereum have become household names and boast huge market capitalisations. While exposure to these two pillar assets of the crypto sector is a great way to invest in crypto while mitigating risk, many investors want to know which other crypto assets are destined for greatness in 2022 and beyond.

Nowadays there are thousands of cryptocurrencies on the market, each with the goal of solving a specific problem in the market or offering some real utility to the world. While most of these cryptocurrencies will not be around in 10 years’ time, a handful of projects will make it through and see the kind of astronomical growth that Bitcoin and Ethereum have seen in the last decade. Here’s our top five crypto assets to keep on your radar for 2022.

Australian Cryptocurrency Exchanges September 2022

The table below displays some of our referral partners’ Cryptocurrency Exchanges.

This information does not reflect any ranking, rating, recommendation or endorsement by Canstar of cryptocurrency or any specific provider. Canstar is providing factual information supplied by providers. Not all providers or products are shown. Canstar will earn a fee from the providers displayed in the table, and the fee levels determine placement in the table. Cryptocurrencies are speculative, complex and can involve significant risks. Canstar is not providing a recommendation for your individual circumstances.

Provider	Fiat currencies	AUSTRAC	Fees per Trade	Number of Currencies	Year Established
	AUD	Yes	0.1%	250+	2013
	AUD, USD, GBP	Yes	1%	70+	2007
	AUD	Yes	0.1%	600+	2020
	AUD, NZD, USD	Yes	0.5%	25	2013
	AUD, GBP	Yes	0%	57	2013
	AUD	Yes	0.1%	250+	2013

Cardano (ADA)

First on the list is Cardano (ADA), a well-known cryptocurrency that has been building a buzz for almost five years now. Cardano is a blockchain and smart contract platform (like Ethereum) with a world-class team of developers and advisors (including the notable co-founder of Ethereum, Charles Hoskinson). With the rising demand for eco-friendly Ethereum alternatives, Cardano is a frontrunner to capture a large portion of Ethereum’s market share in 2022.

Along with being a particularly green cryptocurrency, Cardano’s unique and rigorous commitment to peer-reviewed research has created a huge amount of hype around the project, despite it still being in its development stages.

Unlike many cryptocurrencies who tend to adopt more of the trial-and-error method, Cardano places a strong emphasis on planning and getting it right the first time. It’s been a long time in the making, but 2022 has some huge announcements in store for Cardano, and this may well be the year that it finally emerges from the shadows to take the crypto world by storm.

Solana (SOL)

In the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, scalability is one of the biggest obstacles. Virtually every project must deal with the limitations of transaction speed and confirmation times when the network is congested. Which is why Solana is number two on our list.

What makes Solana such a promising project for 2022 is that it can handle thousands of transactions per second, without compromising security or decentralisation. On top of this, Solana already has a working product and several big-name projects and developers building on top of it.

When it comes to Ethereum competitors, Solana is undoubtedly up there with the best of them. Along with its impressive transaction speeds, Solana has already seen key players in the crypto space like Sam Bankman-Friend choosing Solana to deploy one of his brain-child projects, Serum. The backing by such a well-respected name in crypto suggests that Solana’s future is bright indeed.

When Solana launched in 2020, SOL’s price started at $0.77. By Feb. 1, 2022, its price was around $100, a gain of almost 13,000%. With the demand for Ethereum alternatives on the rise, this year could be the one that cements Solana as the number one alternative to Ethereum that is already live and ready to go.

Avalanche (AVAX)

Despite already being one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, Avalanche (AVAX) has the potential to go to the moon like few other coins in 2022. As a smart contract-driven blockchain network that offers incredible speed, and most importantly, compatibility, Avalanche became a favourite for both developers and investors alike in 2021.

While the likes of both Solana and Cardano are in competition with Avalanche, this project has a secret weapon that may see the tables turn in their favour in 2022. Since the dawn of Ethereum, developers have relied heavily on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM – the software that allows developers to create dApps on Ethereum). It is by far the most common way to develop a dApp, and so, rather ingeniously, Avalanche has found a way to incorporate the EVM onto its own blockchain.

This integration of the EVM allows developers to avoid the usual congestion and high fees of Ethereum and seamlessly migrate their projects over to Avalanche’s network where 4,500 transactions are processed per second (TPS). This EVM compatibility along with a number of other strong fundamentals make for a very compelling argument for Avalanche being set to make waves in 2022.

Polygon (MATIC)

While layer-1 smart contract platforms get most of the spotlight, layer-2 platforms will also play a key role in the widespread adoption of crypto. In its simplest terms, a layer-2 like Polygon refers to a network that operates on top of an underlying blockchain (like Ethereum) to improve its scalability and efficiency. Layer-2s essentially shift some of the layer-1’s transactional burden to another system, reducing the congestion and allowing for better scalability, and thus more people able to use the network.

Polygon is the popular layer-2 solution for Ethereum network and will likely be a crucial piece of the puzzle as crypto adoption grows. The founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, has stated that even once the long-awaited Eth2 upgrade is complete, layer-2s like Polygon will still be necessary.

Additionally, Polygon has some of the most impressive partnerships in the layer 2 game, with booming metaverse coins like The Sandbox (SAND) and Decentraland (MANA) partnering with Polygon. With Ethereum being an indisputable pillar of the crypto industry and the metaverse potentially taking off, this could mean big things for Polygon in 2022.

Polkadot (DOT)

Cryptocurrency is evolving at breakneck pace, but one of its major hurdles is interoperability, or a lack thereof. In simpler terms, interoperability is the ability for blockchains to connect and communicate with each other, a problem which Polkadot (DOT) is trying to solve.

Polkadot is an incredibly innovative project led by the well-known Gavin Wood. In a nutshell, it is essentially a platform that uses ‘parachains’ to allow different blockchains to communicate and transfer anything of value to one another in a seamless and secure way.

Between September 2020 and Feb. 1, 2022, DOT’s price grew about 565%, from $2.93 to $19.49, and its current market cap is sitting at over $20 billion. Unlike other blockchain projects, Polkadot has hundreds of projects already running on its network, many of which are linked to the rapidly growing DeFi (decentralised finance) space. With Polkadot’s long-awaited parachains set to go into full effect in 2022, this project is uniquely placed to change the crypto landscape as we know it, making its potential for growth very hard to put a cap on.

Should you buy cryptocurrency?

Before investing in cryptocurrency or any asset for that matter, you should consider your own personal circumstances, goals and tolerance for risk. Cryptocurrencies are notorious for their volatility, so while there is the potential for great gains there is also the potential for great losses. Be sure to do your research and before investing you should clearly understand what the cryptocurrency does and if it has any real-world functionality.

Cover image source: castrophoto/Shutterstock.com

This article was reviewed by our Content Producer Marissa Hayden before it was updated, as part of our fact-checking process.

Nico Lim

Head of Content, Digital Surge

Nico Lim is an experienced writer, bringing over five years of experience to his role of Head of Content at Digital Surge. He has a keen interest in cryptocurrency and the Blockchain. He holds a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Sociology from Monash University.