10 Cryptocurrencies to Pay Attention to in 2022

You might call 2021 the year crypto went mainstream. Not only did major and minor cryptocurrencies deliver blockbuster gains, but it was also the year that Coinbase and Robinhood both went public and when non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse became part of the lexicon.

While 2022 has started off on weaker footing, you can expect plenty of volatility and uncertainty in the asset class.

Crypto is always changing, and there are a number of big projects planned for this year and the future. Keep reading to see 10 cryptocurrencies worth watching this year.

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In the crypto world, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is the granddaddy of them all. It's the oldest cryptocurrency, and it's the most valuable. Though it hasn't been a major player in the newest innovations in crypto like NFTs and the virtual world, Bitcoin is probably still the most talked about cryptocurrency, and many see it as a form of digital gold.

One of the key innovations to watch this year with Bitcoin is the Bitcoin Lightning Network, a payment protocol layered on top of the Bitcoin blockchain that is expected to make payments on Bitcoin instantaneous and be able to process billions of transactions per second.

If successful, the technology should help make Bitcoin more competitive in payments, spurring its goal of widespread adoption.

ALSO READ: What Is Bitcoin? Should You Invest?

Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) may have been the most disruptive cryptocurrency of 2021, as Ethereum-based blockchains helped make NFTs their own asset class and its smart-contract technology seems to be the future of cryptocurrency. Ethereum's price also jumped more than 400%.

Despite its rise, Ethereum faces challenges with gas fees, or transaction fees, as it's often expensive to conduct transactions on its blockchain.

The next big development with Ethereum is the merge, combining the Eth1 and Eth2 into a single chain. In 2023, developers are planning to launch the shard, a multiphase upgrade that will improve Ethereum's scalability and is expected to bring gas prices down.

Keep an eye on those upgrades as they're likely necessary for Ethereum to remain the de facto platform for NFTs and virtual worlds.

Some cryptocurrencies are credibly changing the global economic system like Bitcoin and Ethereum, but there are also meme coins that have made waves, none more so than Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB).

The dog-themed cryptocurrency came to prominence in the fall after Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) spiked in the spring. Shiba Inu finished the year with an incredible gain of more than 40,000,000% last year, even though it has little utility.

More recently, the coin is down roughly two-thirds from its peak last October, but Shiba Inu is one of the most closely followed among crypto investors, and is therefore an indicator for the broader sector. If Shiba Inu does recover this year, it likely bodes well for the broader crypto sector.

If it's Elon Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, it's probably worth paying attention to.

Dogecoin, the original meme coin, captured a ton of attention early last year as it rocketed as much as 12,000% from the start of the year to its peak in April with the help of Musk and a big push from traders on Reddit, Twitter, and other platforms who made a number of memes to encourage the rally.

While Dogecoin has quieted since, Musk continues to be a fan of the coin, and he said in January that it could be used to by some Tesla merchandise.

Like with Shiba Inu, another rally in Dogecoin this year would likely be bullish for the broader cryptocurrency sector.

ALSO READ: Can Dogecoin Hit $1 in 2022?

If 2021 was the year that crypto went mainstream, 2022 is shaping to be the year of crypto advertising. Coinbase is blanketing airwaves with ads, and Matt Damon is pitching Crypto.com (CRYPTO: CRO), a cryptocurrency exchange that has its own currency. CRO is designed to be used for payments and has the added bonus of being easily converted into stablecoins, making it a good candidate for growth.

You can also earn rewards on Crypto.com by holding CRO, including lower trading fees and higher staking interest. As a comprehensive trading platform and currency, CRO offers a unique example of how a cryptocurrency could power an exchange.

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Like Crypto.com, Terra (CRYPTO: LUNA) offers another unique entry point into cryptocurrency, and Luna, its native token, skyrocketed 13,000% last year.

Terra has stablecoins in several national currencies, and it's become popular in South Korea, where it started. To ensure the stability of Terra coins, Luna acts as an offset, absorbing the volatility in supply and demand for Terra. When the price of Terra is too high, Luna is burned and Terra is minted, and the opposite happens when the price of Terra is too low. As Terra is used more, Luna's price goes up also. Therefore, Luna is a good indicator for the broader adoption of cryptocurrency payments and stands to benefit if crypto payments become more widespread.

If there's a cryptocurrency that could displace Ethereum as the foundation of NFT marketplaces and similar transactions, it's Solana (CRYPTO: SOL).

Solana uses a proof-of-history model that allows it to process 50,000 transactions per second, and its faster speed and higher block size allows Solana to charge much lower gas fees than Ethereum.

Still, a recent hack stealing $320 million has raised questions, and its ownership also seems to be more concentrated within the hands of institutional investors.

Whether Solana can rise to these challenges will determine its fate in 2022.

ALSO READ: Is Solana Still a Buy After Jumping 11,000%?

After Facebook renamed itself Meta Platforms and said it was focused on developing the metaverse, virtual worlds have gotten a lot of attention. And Decentraland (CRYPTO: MANA) appears to be the biggest at the moment.

According to CoinMarketCap, it's the 30th biggest cryptocurrency, with a market cap around $6 billion. Users need to use MANA, its native coin, inside Decentraland to purchase virtual goods and do other transactions, so it's worth buying the currency if you believe in the future of the metaverse as its value should go up as more people join the platform.

Decentraland is only available on desktop, so the technology still has a long way to go to get the VR headset-enabled version of the metaverse that most people imagine, but it should eventually reach that point.

Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) is currently the seventh-most-valuable cryptocurrency in the world, and it's another rumored Ethereum killer. Cardano's blockchain isn't quite as developed as Solana's, but it has some attractive features, including peer review for upgrades, which should make the upgrades more secure, though it also slows down its development.

Cardano is working on projects like the Hydra upgrade, which is expected to improve transaction speed to 1 million transactions per second and could help drive adoption and digital wallet growth. The success of Hydra could propel Cardano to further heights this year.

Avalanche (CRYPTO: AVAX) calls itself the fastest smart-contracts platform in crypto and uses low costs and speed as a selling point for the network. It's also positioning itself as the best way to build Ethereum decentralized applications (dapps).

The network now hosts more than 320 dapps, and shares jumped more than 3,000% last year. As a newer cryptocurrency, launched in 2020, there are some areas that could be improved, like its wallet, but its speed makes it stand out from the pack and it's likely to gain further adoption this year.

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A number of the names mentioned were virtually unheard of at the start of 2021, and it wouldn't be surprising to see some new cryptocurrencies emerge in 2022.

Alternatively, we could be in a crypto bubble, and declining prices for digital tokens could lead to a crash, though prices have mostly rebounded from the January dip.

Whatever happens, the 10 coins named here are likely to have an impact this year. If you're looking to learn more about crypto, these coins are a good place to start.

Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Jeremy Bowman owns Ethereum and Meta Platforms, Inc. The Motley Fool owns and recommends Bitcoin, Coinbase Global, Inc., Ethereum, Meta Platforms, Inc., Terra, Tesla, and Twitter. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.