The top 5 highest climbing alt coins in 2023 registered significant price gains. Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images for FIVB.
Key Takeaways
- Overall, 2023 has been a good year for crypto markets, led by Bitcoin’s bullish turn from mid-October.
- However, the highest-climbing altcoins have significantly outperformed BTC.
- As 2024 approaches, CCN counts down the top 5 best-performing altcoins of 2023.
Despite prolonged periods of stagnation, 2023 was a good year for cryptocurrency markets, which ended the year on a strong bull run. While Bitcoin outperformed the overall market, a handful of altcoins bucked the trend, racking up impressive price gains throughout the year.
Among the top 50 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, the five best-performing altcoins in 2023 more than tripled in value throughout the year. In fact, the top gainers climbing 2000% or more. As 2024 approaches, CCN looks back at their journey over the past 12 months.
Injective (INJ): Year-to-Date Gains 2,960%
Like most cryptocurrencies, Injective (INJ) started out the year hungover from the events of late 2022. Even as Bitcoin started to climb in mid-January, INJ remained depressed, extending its prolonged spell trading below $2 until the very end of the month.
Despite being late to the party, the Cosmos-based DeFi token was eventually swept up in a Spring rally that saw it peak at over $9 in April.
From there, a bearish trend that swept across the market brought the price of INJ below $6 at the beginning of June, but it had recovered its losses by mid-July.
The rest of the summer was fairly uneventful for Injective. Mirroring the wider market’s retreat from a highpoint in July, it traded between $7 and $8 throughout most of August and September.
As it did for many cryptocurrencies, mid-October marked a turning point for INJ, triggering a month-long rally that saw the cryptocurrency climb to over $18.
After flatlining in late fall, from December 10, INJ embarked on another bull run, aided by growth across the Injective ecosystem. Having smashed through $20, within days, the price of INJ doubled again to above $40 on December 20.
Kaspa (KAS): Year-to-Date Gains 2,000%
After Injective, Kaspa (KAS) has been the most noteworthy crypto breakout of 2023. The coin emerged from obscurity to amass a market cap of around $4.5 billion by the end of the year.
Having never previously traded above $0.01, once it breached the critical threshold in February, Kaspa’s ascent was kicked into overdrive, with the price of KAS nearly tripling in the space of a few weeks to hit a peak of $0.039 in April.
The four-cent mark eluded KAS until July. Two months later it climbed above $0.05, entering the elite club of coins with a billion-dollar market cap in September
Mirroring its performance earlier in the year, the first 20 days of November saw the price of KAS double again, jumping to $0.145.
Of course, such a heated market had to cool off eventually. Since hitting a record high of $0.1452 on December 5, Kaspa has fallen back to around $0.11. In the grand scheme of things, though, this minor retreat has barely dented the token’s 2023 gains.
Solana (SOL) Year-to-Date Gains 760%
Solana’s price trajectory in 2023 has been marked by a remarkable rebound. From its abysmal performance in the previous year, SOL started the year trading at around $10, dipping to a low point of low of $8.25 in February.
Things started to look better for the cryptocurrency in March, however. Fueled by optimistic investor sentiment, SOL continued to rise throughout the spring. Recording an average price of $18.91 in April, SOL even held its ground when the wider crypto market fell in May.
Following further gains in July and August, the late October crypto rally catapulted SOL above $30 for the first time all year, sending it to a 19-month high of $78.8 on December 15. A week later, the token jumped by around 20% between December 19 and 21. This saw it smash through resistance at $80 and it overtook XRP as the 4th highest market cap crypto.
Immutable X (IMX): Year-to-Date Gains 506%
After a late 2021 bull run thrust gaming tokens like Immutable X (IMX) into the limelight, they were among the worst hit when the market crashed a few months later.
The low point for IMX occurred on December 31, 2022, when the token briefly traded below $0.382. This set the stage for a remarkable comeback in 2023.
Strong growth in February and March propelled the token to a peak of over $1.5 on March 18. By mid-June, though, it had fallen back below $0.60.
From there IMX traded between $0.4 and $0.6 for the next 4 months before breaking out in late October.
From $0.52 on October 20, the price of IMX increased by around $160% in the space of a month. This movement was boosted by news that Immutable had forged partnerships with Amazon and Ubisoft.
After a two-week lull, another pump saw IMX break above $2 for the first time since April 2022. It is closing in on $2.40 in the final days of 2023.
Avalanche (AVAX): Year-to-Date Gains 318%
After a strong January that saw the price of AVAX double to around $20, the following three months were defined by extremely choppy waters. The coin revisited $20 on several occasions, only to crash back down to the mid-teens a few days later.
Like many cryptocurrencies, the value of AVAX declined in May. However, in contrast with many of its peers, the token failed to make a comeback in the following months. An early summer rally never materialized.
From mid-July onward, the AVAX market managed to shake its previous volatility. Unfortunately, as it settled into a period of stability, the token’s price would move in the wrong direction, falling to below $9 by the end of September.
The next 30 days saw AVAX regain lost ground, climbing back above $10 in October ahead of a stratospheric pump the next month. From less than $12 on November 1, in just 20 days, AVAX surged to a yearly high of over $20.
A mild correction followed, only for the feat to be repeated in the first half of December when the token climbed to highs of over $42.
