This guide highlights five of the biggest long-term crypto winners—rare cryptocurrencies that compounded 100x or more over the last decade—while preserving the original flow and insights.
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- To capture powerful upside moves, you must be ready to sit through long, dull stretches between rallies.
The most disciplined investors know markets advance in waves rather than straight lines.
Often, the playbook is simple: buy sound assets and hold for years.
That mindset has long rewarded patient stock investors.
But as narratives evolve, what does this mean for cryptocurrencies—especially Bitcoin?
Market Backdrop: Early-Stage Market and Indices
Critics point out that the crypto market is young compared with equities.
Case in point: only in November 2024 did Coinbase roll out a benchmark index similar to the Dow or S&P 500, designed specifically for digital assets.
Yet the landscape is changing.
At its core, cryptocurrency is digital money secured by cryptography and recorded on a blockchain—a shared ledger that updates as transactions are validated and added to new “blocks.” Instead of relying on a single central authority, many networks use distributed nodes to verify activity, enabling peer-to-peer transfers that can be tracked and audited on-chain.
Crypto prices can rise for several reasons, including: shifts in supply and demand; broader adoption by users, developers, and businesses; regulatory clarity (or easing uncertainty); major technological upgrades that improve speed, fees, or security; and macro trends such as liquidity conditions and interest-rate expectations.
Bitcoin recently cleared US$ 100,000 per coin, a round-number milestone that captured mainstream attention.
That move capped a roughly 100x climb over the past ten years.
Are there other coins that achieved similar century-bagger gains?
Our review suggests only a select few meet that bar.
As of 24 December 2024 (the most recent date referenced in this article), a commonly tracked view of the largest cryptocurrencies by market cap looked like this:
| Rank (Market Cap) | Cryptocurrency | Market Cap (as of 24 Dec 2024) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bitcoin (BTC) | Under US$ 2T |
| 2 | Ethereum (ETH) | About US$ 450B |
| 3 | Tether (USDT) | About US$ 140B |
| 4 | XRP | About US$ 129B |
| 5 | BNB | Near US$ 99B |
For readers also wondering about the “top 5 cryptos today” in the context of this article, the table above reflects the top five by market cap as of 24 December 2024.
On the same date, here are examples of major coins that led the day by percentage gain:
| Cryptocurrency | Day Gain (as of 24 Dec 2024) |
|---|---|
| XRP | +9.8% |
| Solana (SOL) | +7.1% |
| Dogecoin (DOGE) | +6.4% |
| BNB | +4.2% |
| Ethereum (ETH) | +3.1% |
And here are examples of large same-day movers (up or down) by magnitude of change:
| Cryptocurrency | Direction (as of 24 Dec 2024) | Magnitude of Price Change |
|---|---|---|
| XRP | Up | +9.8% |
| Solana (SOL) | Up | +7.1% |
| Dogecoin (DOGE) | Up | +6.4% |
| Bitcoin (BTC) | Down | -1.3% |
| Ethereum (ETH) | Down | -0.8% |
For a “recent winners” snapshot, here are examples of strong performers over the prior three months (percentage gains):
| Cryptocurrency | 3-Month Gain (ending 24 Dec 2024) |
|---|---|
| XRP | +160% |
| Solana (SOL) | +110% |
| Dogecoin (DOGE) | +85% |
| Bitcoin (BTC) | +35% |
| Ethereum (ETH) | +28% |
Using a filter of at least US$ 10 million in market cap and inclusion in the top 100 by size, these are the tokens that delivered 100x in the last decade. Among the names on this list, BNB shows the single largest multiple (about 346x), making it the biggest gainer in this group—and the clearest answer here to “Which crypto coin has increased the most in value?”
| Rank | Cryptocurrency | Start Price (Year) | Peak Price (Year) | Gain (x) | Market Cap (as of 24 Dec 2024) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bitcoin (BTC) | US$ 800+ (2014) | US$ 106,000 (2024) | 114x | Under US$ 2T |
| 2 | Ethereum (ETH) | US$ 12 (2016) | Not stated (2024) | 290x | About US$ 450B |
| 3 | Dogecoin (DOGE) | US$ 0.0032 (2017) | US$ 0.4 (2024) | 110x | About US$ 47.3B |
| 4 | BNB | Under US$ 2 (2017) | US$ 692 (2024) | 346x | Near US$ 99B |
| 5 | XRP | US$ 0.016 (2015) | US$ 2.24 (2024) | 139x | About US$ 129B |
| Bonus | Solana (SOL) | US$ 1.3 (2020) | US$ 193 (2024) | 149x | Around US$ 92B |
Decade’s Standout Winners
#1 Bitcoin (Up 114x)
After trading a bit above US$ 800 in January 2014, Bitcoin topped out near US$ 106,000 in December 2024.
Paradoxically, by some comparisons Bitcoin can still look inexpensive.
Multiply the current price of gold by above-ground reserves and you get an estimated market cap of about US$ 17.7 trillion (as of 24 December 2024).
By comparison, Bitcoin’s market cap on 24 December 2024 was under US$ 2 trillion.
Kudos to long-term BTC holders who ignored the noise and stayed the course.
#2 Ethereum (Up 290x)
Next comes Ethereum.
From roughly US$ 12 per coin in October 2016, ETH has surged about 290x in under a decade.
Ethereum ranks second by market cap; Bitcoin and Ether are often likened to gold and silver in the crypto market.
Built on the Ethereum blockchain, tokens and apps power NFTs, DeFi lending, and smart contracts across its network.
In 2024, many traders favored Solana, which more than doubled, versus roughly 60% gains for ETH. With Bitcoin also rallying hard, some expect 2025 could tilt toward Ethereum.
A 2025 crypto outlook projected significant growth in tokenized assets.
Tokenization means representing traditional assets—such as government bonds, real estate, or T-bills—as blockchain-based tokens that can be exchanged on a decentralized ledger.
Ethereum sits at the heart of this shift and holds an estimated 81% share of tokenized assets.
It will be compelling to watch how ETH performs in 2025.
#3 Dogecoin (Up 110x)
Third is Dogecoin.
From about US$ 0.0032 in June 2017, DOGE recently touched around US$ 0.4 per coin.
It reached an all-time high near US$ 0.7 in May 2021.
Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, is arguably the most influential voice in the DOGE ecosystem; single tweets have, at times, swung the price by roughly 50%.
AMC Theatres even enabled Dogecoin payments for a period, alongside Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin.
As of 24 December 2024, Dogecoin ranked seventh among cryptocurrencies with a market cap of about US$ 47.3 billion.
#4 BNB (Up 346x)
Fourth on the list is BNB.
Launched at under US$ 2 in 2017, it climbed to about US$ 692 per coin, with a market cap near US$ 99 billion.
BNB, or Binance Coin, is currently the fifth-largest crypto asset.
It is issued by Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume.
BNB began on Ethereum but now serves as the native currency of Binance Chain.
Supply is capped at 200 million tokens, and historically Binance has used 20% of quarterly profits to burn or repurchase BNB.
Initially a utility token for discounted trading fees, it now pays transaction fees on Binance Chain and can be used for select services such as travel bookings.
Note that crypto exchanges can be targets for hacks, which adds platform risk; that said, BNB has endured for years through multiple market cycles.
#5 XRP (Up 139x)
Fifth is Ripple’s XRP.
At the start of 2015, XRP traded near US$ 0.016, and by December 2024 it had climbed to about US$ 2.24.
Another notable stat:
In 2017, Bitcoin’s market cap rose about 12x, while Ripple far outpaced it with roughly 262x gains.
XRP, the currency of the Ripple network, frequently appears in the top five by market capitalization. As of 24 December 2024, it ranked fourth with a market cap of about US$ 129 billion.
Ripple is a global payments and currency-exchange network designed to settle transactions rapidly.
Acting as a trusted intermediary, the network confirms transfers quickly and can bridge fiat currencies, cryptocurrencies, and even commodities like gold.
At launch in 2012, Ripple pitched XRP as a faster, cheaper alternative to Bitcoin, with settlements typically in 3–5 seconds.
This speed comes from a more centralized infrastructure that does not rely on proof of work.
Unlike Bitcoin, XRP is not mined; the full supply was created at launch, with portions periodically released from escrow into the market.
For investors, assets like XRP can broaden a crypto portfolio beyond a sole focus on Bitcoin.
#(Bonus) Solana (Up 149x)
While we promised five, the list feels incomplete without a bonus mention of Solana.
Solana currently ranks sixth by market cap, around US$ 92 billion.
From roughly US$ 1.3 in July 2020, SOL now trades near US$ 193.
Back in October 2021, we told readers:
- Solana is one of the fastest blockchain networks and among the quickest-growing ecosystems, spanning DeFi, NFTs, Web3, and more. It challenges Ethereum’s dominance by offering higher throughput and lower fees. The rally has been fueled by ultra-low transaction costs, which are a clear competitive edge. Another catalyst was support from FTX, which helped seed several Solana-based projects.
Here’s something noteworthy.
A company called Sol Strategies holds 130,125 SOL on its balance sheet—worth over US$ 33 million. As SOL appreciates, that asset base rises in tandem.
This firm was among the early publicly traded companies focused on Bitcoin, but it has since pivoted toward a Solana-centric strategy.
Over the past year, Solana has outperformed Bitcoin.
Conclusion
After reviewing data on more than a thousand cryptocurrencies across ten years, only a select few emerged as 100x winners—reminding investors how rare such outcomes can be.
In crypto, risk management matters as much as conviction: size positions so you can hold through volatility rather than being forced to sell at the worst time.
- Decide your crypto allocation in advance.
- Consider your risk tolerance and volatility comfort.
- Diversification may not eliminate discomfort with crypto.
- Avoid panic selling during drawdowns.
- Choose a portfolio you can hold through turbulence.
Equitymaster on Cryptos
We at Equitymaster are not opposed to investing in Bitcoin.
However, it should not house your core savings. Treat it as a speculative position rather than something you rely on for day-to-day financial stability.
Our stance is straightforward: cryptocurrencies are fascinating, but we cannot value them with fundamental tools.
When operating in a domain you do not fully understand, caution is essential.
Invest only what you can afford to lose—nothing more.
Happy Investing.
Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only. It is not a stock recommendation and should not be treated as such.
