BNB outpaces Bitcoin and Ethereum with 1,300% value growth, lags behind Solana and Fantom

Of the three biggest coins by market cap, Binance Coin (BNB/USD) triumphed over Bitcoin (BTC/USD) and Ethereum (ETH/USD), its two larger rivals. The old guard of crypto gave way to altcoins with more impressive returns in 2021 in a trend researchers predict will continue in the years to come, Bloomberg reported.

BNB growth was 20 times that of BTC

Binance Coin, which is issued by the biggest crypto exchange in the world, Binance Holdings, gained around 1,300 per cent in 2021, data of Arcane Research showed. Bitcoin, the biggest coin by market cap and the first to come into existence, gained only 65 per cent during that time frame. Ethereum, the second-biggest crypto, fared a bit better with a gain of 408 per cent.

BNB is the native currency of Binance Smart Chain

Binance uses BNB widely. The world's largest crypto exchange by trading volume also uses Binance Coin as the native currency of Binance Smart Chain (BSC), its blockchain platform supporting smart contracts for utilization in various applications, including decentralized finance. Arcane Research has found that BSC is growing as a challenger to Ethereum Mainnet, the leading blockchain, and this has reflected on the performance of BNB as well.

Most altcoins exploded this year

Binance Coin wasn’t even the most successful altcoin this year. Many others saw bigger gains, availing of an explosion in investor interest for cryptocurrency and digital assets in general and impressive growth of the crypto ecosystem. Both Fantom (FTM/USD) and Solana (SOL/USD) outperformed BNB, for example. Fantom and Solana are linked to other blockchain platforms that support smart contracts.

Arcane Research wrote in a note:

Analysts with the research firm forecast the strongest momentum in tokens related to GameFi and the metaverse. The former is a broad concept making reference to the tendency of gamers earning cryptocurrency by playing video games. So-called "Ethereum killers" like Avalanche (AVAX/USD) and Solana show great promise as well, making progress in the process of targeting Ethereum.