Crypto has become more than a single asset class, with coins and tokens trying to solve hundreds of different issues. I decided to research the best performing asset class of this bull run, to see what netted the most profit, which could be helpful for more trends in the future.

Methodology: I calculated the YTD gains you would have made for the current top 75 coins. Then in each asset class, I calculated a weighted average for each project, based on market cap (ie. investing 20 dollars into a 2b market cap project, but 40 dollars in a 4b project). With that, I calculated a weighted average gain for each class.

Click the percentages for the data, all coin data is linked

Stablecoins - Weighted average gains - 0%

Unsurprisingly, stable coins haven’t moved much this year…

Store of value - Weighted average gains - 36%

The only real store of value, Bitcoin, comes next. We all know Bitcoin doesn’t move as fast as altcoins, but is a far safer investment against downside as well.

Privacy Currencies - Weighted average gains - 81%

Privacy coins came next, showing the increasing importance the market is placing on anonymous transactions.

Currency / Payment Protocols - Weighted average gains - 138%

Non-private currency coins have gained well this year, possibly due to less regulatory pressure when compared with privacy coins.

Interoperability Platforms - Weighted average gains - 247%

Interoperability platforms have all performed well this year, all above triple digit percentage gains.

DeFi - Weighted average gains - 252%

DeFi has been all the hype this market cycle, showing crazy gains for most lending protocols.

Storage - Weighted average gains - 384%

In an unexpected appearance, P2P storage coins to store and share data have done incredibly well this year.

Smart Contract / Distributed Computing - Weighted average gains - 406%

To nobody’s surprise, smart contract platforms have done incredibly well this year, with not a single top 75 smart contract platform in losses.

Centralised Exchange / CeFi Tokens - Weighted average gains - 681%

Centralised exchange tokens have done really well, mainly propped up by the sudden gains made by BNB as Binance dominates crypto markets.

Decentralised Exchanges - Weighted average gains - 685%

Dexes have been more and more popular as DeFi becomes more common in the crypto industry, leading to great gains.

Stablecoin Protocols - Weighted average gains - 1575%

And finally, in another unexpected appearance, algorithmic stablecoin protocols have done better than almost every other asset, with the market wanting more options in using stable coins for DeFi.

Other / Unique Coins

These are the coins I couldn’t categorise into a specific asset class, but here are the gains.

Conclusion

In general, DeFi focused projects (DEXes, decentralised stablecoins, lending protocols) have all done extremely well. We all know this market cycle has been extremely DeFi dominated, so this isn't a huge surprise. Smart contract platforms have also done incredibly well, carrying on the craze from the 2017 market cycle. Other asset classes have also done well, with no asset class in losses, but DeFi and Smart Contracts have dominated this cycle.