See Which Tokens Surprisingly Outperformed the Most Hyped Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin

For all the attention paid to Bitcoin this year, the world's most valuable cryptocurrency token was not the digital currency that posted the best trading volume and appreciation. That honor goes to Dogecoin, a token that started off as a playful project based on a meme gone viral on the Reddit social network.

According to CoinMetrics, Dogecoin achieved an amazing 392% price appreciation during the second quarter of 2021. It should be noted that this includes the market correction that took place on May 19, which is when Bitcoin suffered a major downturn, and which has translated into a 39% loss for the quarter.

Ethereum was another token that experienced a major value appreciation during Q2. By the time CoinMetrics completed its quarterly report, Ether had posted a 297% gain for the period. The Ethereum blockchain network remains the most popular, stable, and reliable, but it has slowed down in terms of transaction clearing speed and overall fees. The Ethereum network also faces challenges in the areas of scalability and privacy.

Yet another top performing token for Q2 is Iota, which grew in value by 200%, the third largest gain for any cryptocurrency regardless of market capitalization. One of the challenges that Iota faces is the fact that it is focused on developing a platform that supports microtransactions. Microtransactions is a concept that is focused on the digital payments space, but Iota claims that its platform can handle any kind of small transactions.

A cryptocurrency with an amazing year-to-date performance is Dash, which posted a 244% price increase in Q2. The project is headed by a core team that has focused on providing a secure, decentralized, fast, and private payment network that can be used to transfer digital assets. This cryptocurrency offers a platform that can be used for anything from buying a coffee to purchasing an entire home. Its focus is on business use cases, and it has been able to achieve circulation in markets such as Venezuela, where it competes against Bitcoin and the United States dollar.

It remains to be seen whether Bitcoin will be able to increase circulation during the third quarter now that it is legal tender in El Salvador.