The crypto market began the year with a drop in the price of the main currencies, mainly due to concerns about the omicron variant rise and the possible impacts on the economy.
In the first week of January, bitcoin was already at US$ 42,000. However, by the end of the month, the leading currency was below US$ 35,000, reaching its lowest value since July 2021. In addition to concerns about Covid, other factors – such as the threat of restrictions on cryptoassets in Russia – influenced this fall.
The downward movement left the market on alert, and several currencies, such as the ether (Ethereum), also fell in the month. However, in early February, this movement reversed. On February 4, bitcoin was back above US$ 40,000, and at the time of this article’s writing (February 8), the currency was quoted at US$ 43,500. The recovery boosted the market, and other cryptoassets were also valued.
In the last 30 days (ended February 8), the best performing currencies among the most consistent projects in the market were FTX’s FTT, up 25.04%, and ADA (Cardano), up 0.58%. In the last seven days (between February 1st and 8th), ADA was the best performer, up 10.37%. The FTT token, on the other hand, appreciated 4.34%.
FTT
Created in May 2019, FTT is the backbone of the FTX ecosystem. At the time of this writing, it was quoted at US$ 46.05 and the trading volume in the last 24 hours had been US$ 168 million.
FTX, created by Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang, is one of the largest cryptoasset exchanges in the world and is backed by Alameda Research, a leading cryptocurrency trading firm and liquidity provider.
ADA
Quoted (as of February 8) at US$ 1.16, ADA had a trading volume of over US$ 2 billion in the previous 24 hours.
Founded in 2017, Cardano is a proof-of-stake blockchain that calls itself open and inclusive. Created by Charles Hoskinson, who was also one of the creators of Ethereum, ADA is considered the third generation of cryptocurrencies, behind bitcoin and ether.
 What are the best cryptocurrencies to invest in 2021?
There is no correct answer to this question. The best cryptocurrencies to invest in are the ones that represent a project that will solve some problems related to the cryptocurrency market.
In such a context, new blockchains, such as Solana, and decentralized exchanges such as Serum, have proposed to provide innovative solutions, either to improve the security, speed, and scalability of blockchains or to provide fully decentralized financial services.
What is the best cryptocurrency exchange?
The cryptocurrency brokerage market is becoming increasingly competitive. There are several platforms for buying and selling cryptocurrencies. Since they are not regulated, the user should look for the most reliable platforms with the highest liquidity. In Brazil, the largest exchanges are Foxbit, Mercado Bitcoin, Binance, and NovaDax.
However, other overseas platforms offer a much more comprehensive range of financial services, such as FTX, which accepts deposits directly in reais, and Bittrex, which has BRZ listed.
How to invest in cryptocurrencies
There are some ways to invest in cryptocurrencies, and they change according to the degree of complexity. Here are some alternatives:
- Buying Shares of Cryptocurrency Funds
- Buying directly from an exchange
- Through mining.
How to store cryptocurrencies
The two main ways to store your crypto-assets are through a wallet, either hot (connected to the internet) or cold (not connected to the network), or by keeping the assets on the exchange itself. However, the investor does not have access to his private key in the latter case and is at risk if the exchange faces any problems.
