🔥 During the 2021 altcoin season, many tokens delivered massive gains, outperforming even Bitcoin and Ethereum. Here's a list of the top-performing tokens in terms of ROI (Return on Investment), hype, adoption, and trend influence during the peak of that cycle:
🚀 Top Altcoin Performers in 2021:
1. Solana (SOL)
Price in Jan 2021: ~$1.5
ATH (Nov 2021): ~$260
ROI: ~170x
Why it pumped: Fast, cheap Layer-1 rival to Ethereum; heavy VC backing; massive NFT and DeFi ecosystem growth.
2. Dogecoin (DOGE)
Price in Jan 2021: ~$0.004
ATH (May 2021): ~$0.74
ROI: ~185x
Why it pumped: Elon Musk’s tweets, meme culture, retail hype, low entry barrier.
3. Shiba Inu (SHIB)
Price in Jan 2021: ~$0.00000001
ATH (Oct 2021): ~$0.000088
ROI: Over 1,000,000%+
Why it pumped: Meme hype, Dogecoin alternative, community support, exchange listings.
4. Axie Infinity (AXS)
Price in Jan 2021: ~$0.5
ATH (Nov 2021): ~$165
ROI: ~330x
Why it pumped: NFT-based play-to-earn gaming explosion, adoption in countries like the Philippines.
5. Polygon (MATIC)
Price in Jan 2021: ~$0.01
ATH (Dec 2021): ~$2.92
ROI: ~290x
Why it pumped: Ethereum scaling solution, low fees, many dApp integrations.
6. Terra (LUNA)
Price in Jan 2021: ~$0.65
ATH (Dec 2021): ~$103
ROI: ~160x
Why it pumped: Strong ecosystem (UST stablecoin), high DeFi TVL, Anchor Protocol.
> ❗ Note: Terra collapsed in 2022 — not recommended anymore, but was a top performer in 2021.
7. The Sandbox (SAND)
Price in Jan 2021: ~$0.04
ATH (Nov 2021): ~$8.4
ROI: ~210x
Why it pumped: Metaverse and NFT hype, Facebook rebranding to Meta boosted all metaverse tokens.
8. Gala Games (GALA)
Price in Jan 2021: ~$0.0015
ATH (Nov 2021): ~$0.82
ROI: ~545x
Why it pumped: Play-to-earn and metaverse narratives, new game announcements.
9. Avalanche (AVAX)
Price in Jan 2021: ~$3
ATH (Nov 2021): ~$147
ROI: ~49x
Why it pumped: Layer-1 smart contract platform; fast, low-fee blockchain.
10. Fantom (FTM)
Price in Jan 2021: ~$0.016
ATH (Oct 2021): ~$3.48
ROI: ~217x
Why it pumped: DeFi TVL explosion, Andre Cronje support, fast and scalable chain.
🏁 Summary Table:
Token Start Price (2021) ATH Price ROI (approx) Category
⭕SOL $1.5 $260 170x Layer-1
⭕DOGE $0.004 $0.74 185x Meme
⭕SHIB ~$0.00000001 $0.000088 1,000,000%+ Meme
⭕AXS $0.5 $165 330x P2E/NFT Gaming
⭕MATIC $0.01 $2.92 290x L2 Scaling
⭕LUNA $0.65 $103 160x DeFi/Stablecoin
⭕SAND $0.04 $8.4 210x Metaverse
⭕GALA $0.0015 $0.82 545x Gaming
⭕AVAX $3 $147 49x Layer-1
⭕FTM $0.016 $3.48 217x Layer-1
#Write2Earn #BinanceHODLerC #AltcoinBreakout #ETHBreakout3.5k #AltcoinSeasonLoading $BTC $SOL $SHIB