Bitcoin, the best known cryptocurrency, has leapt over 135% in value in 2024. And with a wave of crypto-friendly politicians preparing to take office, crypto fever has only spiked higher.
“I’d encourage investors to think of cryptocurrency as just one more asset class you could include in your long-term wealth building strategy,” said Alex Michalka, Ph.D. and vice president of investment research at Wealthfront. “We recommend our clients allocate no more than 10% of their portfolio to crypto, regardless of what’s happening in the market.”
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So which cryptocurrencies see the highest trading volume? More importantly, should you consider adding them to your portfolio, too?
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The coin with the highest trading volume isn’t actually an investment coin, but a stablecoin. As of this writing, Tether saw a 24-hour trading volume of 186.44 billion, according to Yahoo Finance’s volume rankings.
Stablecoins are tied to a specific currency. In the case of Tether and USD Coin (the coin with the sixth-highest volume), they’re designed to trade at the same price as the U.S. dollar. They work by backing each coin with an actual dollar in a real bank account.
“These aren’t investments; they function more like the crypto equivalent of cash,” explained Joe DiSanto, financial consultant and founder of Play Louder. “They’re frequently used when buying or selling cryptocurrencies or holding funds temporarily. Their high trading volume reflects this utility, not investment potential.”
In other words, people use them like a real currency: to pay for things or otherwise transfer value. But they aren’t designed to go up in value — quite the opposite, in fact.
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The first and most famous of all cryptocurrencies, everyone knows Bitcoin.
Nic Puckrin, the CEO and co-founder of crypto education platform CoinBureau, made the case for Bitcoin:
“To the skeptics, I would say that Bitcoin is the only asset in the world where a protocol-defined supply is not impacted by price,” Puckrin said. “It’s the only fully permissionless and decentralized asset that cannot be seized by a higher power. It’s the only asset that can be easily stored and sent without the need for a third party.
“Moreover, the U.S. is considering a Bitcoin strategic reserve, and the BlackRock IBIT [exchange-traded fund] ETF was the fastest growing in history. More importantly, people all around the world are using it as a medium of exchange and store of value.”
Puckrin makes a compelling case, and the coin’s performance in 2024 has certainly exceeded expectations. Just don’t bet the proverbial farm on Bitcoin, or any other cryptocurrency.
The third-highest cryptocurrency by trading volume comes as no surprise: Bitcoin’s not-so-little brother Ethereum.
While it hasn’t exploded in value at the same pace as Bitcoin this year, Ethereum hasn’t exactly slacked off, either. The coin is up over 46% year-to-date in 2024, and over 60% over the last 12 months.
“Ethereum makes trading history accessible to users,” explained Melanie Musson, a finance expert with Clearsurance.com. “Traders who love to dig deep into transactions can access as much information as they want.”
But the appeal doesn’t end there. Alexandr Sharilov, CEO at CoinDataFlow.com, noted that the code backbone behind Ethereum offers plenty of utility and room to grow.
“Ethereum is the basis of the decentralized finance (DeFi) peer-to-peer financial platform and NFT,” Sharilov explained. “There is a lot of development going on, and over time there are plans to move to Ethereum 2.0, which should reduce energy consumption. After all, it is because of Ethereum’s high energy consumption that transaction fees are high.”
Some cryptocurrencies are backed by physical assets in the real world.
In the case of the fourth-highest traded coin, Max Property, that means the Himana Condotel & Residence in Bali, Indonesia. Buying a coin gives you fractional ownership in property.
In a highly volatile format, it should be noted. Real estate values remain relatively stable precisely because they’re so illiquid. When you add instant liquidity to an asset, it creates just as instant volatility and room for value distortion by speculators, rather than long-term investors.
Solana remains a coin just outside the mainstream financial media coverage, outside the spotlight of Bitcoin and Ethereum but with billions in trading volume nonetheless.
“Solana is very fast with low fees, making it ideal for large DeFi projects,” noted Sharilov. “However, the network has experienced outages, so there are currently concerns about its centralization.”
Consider moving forward with caution, but also note that Solana has outperformed both Bitcoin and Ethereum this year, rising over 150%.
A coin that started as an ironic joke about the made-up value of cryptocurrencies ended up exploding in value itself, partly based on promotion from Elon Musk. (See this quick recap of Dogecoin’s history by Business Insider if you’re curious how that all unfolded.)
That value has only boomed higher since President-Elect Trump appointed Musk to head up the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Consider Dogecoin the ultimate “memecoin,” or cryptocurrencies founded off popular online jokes.
“Memecoins like Dogecoin and Pepe exist purely for speculation — they have no underlying business or intrinsic value,” DiSanto explained. “Their trading volume spikes because they grab attention, often through media buzz. For instance, Burger King recently gave away Dogecoin with purchases.
“However, investing in meme coins is extremely risky. Your money could vanish quickly, though there’s always the potential for a quick gain. Unless you’re a professional trader who understands swing trading and momentum, it’s best to steer clear of these coins or only invest what you’re willing to lose.”
Try to dig into the long-term uses of any cryptocurrency you consider. Michael Tanney, senior managing director of Magnus Financial Group, offers a parting word of caution.
“High trading volume may represent speculative trading, rather than long-term investment fundamentals,” he said. “It doesn’t necessarily reflect the potential for future growth or stability.”
Investor beware.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 6 Cryptocurrencies With the Highest Trading Volume — Should You Invest, Too?
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