Best blockchains: Layer 1 cryptocurrencies
The leading Layer 1 blockchains ranked by market capitalisation
Layer 1 (L1) are the base blockchains that handle their own security and transaction processing — they include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and BNB Chain. These are the largest and most established cryptocurrencies on the market. Below you will find the leading Layer 1 blockchains ranked by market capitalisation, with the current price and the 24-hour and 7-day change.
Ranking of the best blockchains (Layer 1)
The table ranks Layer 1 blockchains by market capitalisation — big names like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and BNB at the top, smaller projects further down. For each one you will find the price and how it has performed over the day, week and year. You can expand the rest of the list beneath the table.
Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. Understand the risks.
USD
| # | Coin | Price | 24h | 7d | 1 year | Market cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Bitcoin BTC | $83,194 | 0.79% | 0.49% | 31.90% | $1.67tn |
| 2 |  Ethereum ETH | $2,583 | 1.20% | 3.99% | 42.35% | $315.43bn |
| 3 |  BNB BNB | $773.48 | 0.98% | 0.25% | 41.15% | $103.00bn |
| 4 |  XRP XRP | $1.43 | 2.34% | 4.54% | 50.44% | $90.01bn |
| 5 |  Solana SOL | $116.61 | 1.46% | 1.64% | 47.52% | $68.72bn |
| 6 |  TRON TRX | $0.3359 | 1.13% | 0.62% | 0.37% | $31.91bn |
| 7 |  Zcash ZEC | $1,320 | 0.46% | 7.08% | 934.85% | $22.42bn |
| 8 |  Hyperliquid HYPE | $88.37 | 2.72% | 1.89% | 94.02% | $19.66bn |
| 9 |  Monero XMR | $559.69 | 0.15% | 2.47% | 75.37% | $10.53bn |
| 10 |  Cardano ADA | $0.2577 | 1.79% | 3.57% | 69.10% | $9.68bn |
| 11 |  NEAR Protocol NEAR | $5.41 | 8.69% | 0.23% | 77.40% | $7.09bn |
| 12 |  Bitcoin Cash BCH | $300.76 | 1.80% | 2.27% | 48.41% | $6.05bn |
| 13 |  Litecoin LTC | $66.07 | 2.55% | 1.95% | 44.01% | $5.13bn |
| 14 |  Avalanche AVAX | $11.11 | 0.72% | 1.99% | 60.82% | $4.93bn |
| 15 |  Canton CC | $0.1190 | 2.67% | 6.19% | — | $4.74bn |
| 16 |  Sui SUI | $1.14 | 0.65% | 3.95% | 67.49% | $4.71bn |
| 17 |  Hedera HBAR | $0.0936 | 2.76% | 10.77% | 57.87% | $4.12bn |
| 18 | .webp){kind=small} Gram (prev. Toncoin) GRAM | $1.44 | 2.08% | 4.77% | 48.42% | $4.05bn |
| 19 |  Bittensor TAO | $292.96 | 0.61% | 3.16% | 11.51% | $3.32bn |
| 20 |  Cronos CRO | $0.0629 | 1.98% | 7.13% | 68.14% | $3.12bn |
| 21 |  MemeCore M | $1.05 | 0.40% | 0.18% | 48.54% | $2.40bn |
| 22 |  Internet Computer ICP | $3.22 | 0.49% | 3.61% | 28.13% | $1.80bn |
| 23 |  Ethereum Classic ETC | $8.51 | 0.30% | 4.87% | 55.84% | $1.35bn |
| 24 |  Kaspa KAS | $0.0401 | 3.01% | 8.17% | 46.75% | $1.11bn |
| 25 |  Algorand ALGO | $0.1191 | 0.78% | 5.49% | 46.19% | $1.08bn |
| 26 |  Pi Network PI | $0.0816 | 2.84% | 12.97% | 66.99% | $917.65m |
| 27 |  Filecoin FIL | $1.07 | 3.03% | 1.72% | 53.64% | $894.36m |
| 28 |  Midnight NIGHT | $0.0467 | 5.10% | 16.23% | — | $776.11m |
| 29 |  Injective INJ | $7.47 | 0.71% | 0.21% | 40.44% | $746.80m |
| 30 |  Stable STABLE | $0.0266 | 4.52% | 5.69% | — | $717.93m |
| 31 |  VeChain VET | $0.00798501 | 3.51% | 9.69% | 64.94% | $686.70m |
| 32 |  Aptos APT | $0.7742 | 0.79% | 2.47% | 85.58% | $674.38m |
| 33 |  XDC Network XDC | $0.0322 | 4.40% | 7.79% | 55.74% | $642.31m |
| 34 |  Flare FLR | $0.00695013 | 2.80% | 5.45% | 70.36% | $605.39m |
| 35 |  Beldex BDX | $0.0735 | 0.07% | 1.63% | 12.14% | $578.31m |
| 36 |  Celestia TIA | $0.4839 | 7.56% | 7.13% | 67.65% | $473.70m |
| 37 |  Sei SEI | $0.0693 | 0.92% | 7.01% | 76.05% | $466.43m |
| 38 |  Pearl PRL | $1.35 | 20.95% | 12.39% | — | $457.78m |
| 39 |  Plasma XPL | $0.0879 | 1.27% | 7.59% | 90.27% | $398.48m |
| 40 |  Tezos XTZ | $0.3105 | 2.81% | 1.52% | 54.72% | $341.02m |
| 41 |  Kite KITE | $0.1333 | 4.26% | 7.51% | — | $318.73m |
| 42 |  Gnosis GNO | $120.73 | 1.19% | 0.86% | 20.36% | $318.63m |
| 43 |  Decred DCR | $17.79 | 1.32% | 3.62% | 0.90% | $313.72m |
| 44 |  Provenance Blockchain HASH | $0.00530384 | 2.25% | 18.38% | 84.47% | $311.73m |
| 45 |  Monad MON | $0.0257 | 5.83% | 20.49% | — | $304.30m |
| 46 |  Arweave AR | $4.25 | 1.01% | 3.57% | 27.69% | $279.09m |
| 47 |  APEX AP3X | $0.1750 | 856.10% | 761.88% | — | $264.74m |
| 48 |  IOTA IOTA | $0.0536 | 2.96% | 0.10% | 71.27% | $250.83m |
| 49 |  Kaia KAIA | $0.0385 | 0.14% | 10.27% | 73.06% | $247.76m |
| 50 |  THORChain RUNE | $0.7182 | 1.26% | 10.05% | 38.29% | $235.90m |
| 51 |  Theta Network THETA | $0.2160 | 3.57% | 3.56% | 70.56% | $216.00m |
| 52 |  Onyxcoin XCN | $0.00443275 | 2.12% | 2.30% | 59.32% | $175.46m |
| 53 |  Chiliz CHZ | $0.0157 | 1.26% | 3.41% | 62.51% | $166.14m |
| 54 |  Vaulta A | $0.0989 | 1.60% | 0.63% | 75.31% | $165.36m |
| 55 |  Sonic S | $0.0408 | 1.94% | 1.12% | 86.40% | $158.46m |
| 56 |  BDTCOIN BDTC | $16.45 | 4.11% | 6.13% | 88.11% | $156.40m |
| 57 |  eCash XEC | $0.00000761 | 0.41% | 8.15% | 57.62% | $153.04m |
| 58 |  AIOZ Network AIOZ | $0.1125 | 4.41% | 1.90% | 60.01% | $144.41m |
| 59 |  Ultima ULTIMA | $1,631 | 1.21% | 0.60% | 66.57% | $138.16m |
| 60 |  MultiversX EGLD | $4.17 | 0.25% | 8.66% | 69.13% | $128.81m |
| 61 |  Ozone Chain OZO | $0.1308 | 0.16% | 0.31% | 0.91% | $125.72m |
| 62 |  Mina Protocol MINA | $0.0961 | 11.51% | 34.37% | 41.65% | $124.44m |
| 63 |  Plume PLUME | $0.0183 | 1.10% | 3.59% | 83.04% | $120.77m |
| 64 |  GALA GALA | $0.00233172 | 0.37% | 0.14% | 84.91% | $117.76m |
| 65 |  Ontology Gas ONG | $0.2407 | 139.46% | 294.90% | 28.00% | $114.24m |
| 66 |  dYdX DYDX | $0.1341 | 0.37% | 7.25% | 77.64% | $113.49m |
| 67 | .webp){kind=small} Gravity (by Galxe) G | $0.0146 | 93.40% | 260.90% | 24.90% | $105.51m |
| 68 |  VeThor VTHO | $0.00100468 | 37.85% | 131.70% | 48.80% | $105.02m |
| 69 |  peaq PEAQ | $0.0406 | 2.30% | 3.05% | 67.05% | $104.22m |
| 70 |  ZetaChain ZETA | $0.0638 | 48.30% | 72.18% | 65.85% | $102.55m |
| 71 |  Chia XCH | $6.75 | 1.78% | 16.66% | 53.94% | $102.02m |
| 72 |  Keeta KTA | $0.1837 | 0.13% | 38.41% | 83.99% | $101.73m |
| 73 |  aelf ELF | $0.1247 | 16.45% | 40.26% | 73.32% | $101.68m |
| 74 |  ZIGChain ZIG | $0.0707 | 5.17% | 28.42% | 51.48% | $101.10m |
| 75 |  Creditcoin CTC | $0.1918 | 4.87% | 32.98% | 75.93% | $100.65m |
| 76 |  Ronin RON | $0.1303 | 50.52% | 19.25% | 79.46% | $100.55m |
| 77 |  UCHAIN UCN | $852.88 | 27.37% | 52.14% | — | $100.46m |
| 78 |  Enjin Coin ENJ | $0.0510 | 2.25% | 8.90% | 42.38% | $100.29m |
| 79 |  Irys IRYS | $0.0500 | 10.69% | 37.94% | — | $100.08m |
| 80 |  Concordium CCD | $0.00837954 | 2.92% | 20.62% | 181.12% | $100.02m |
| 81 |  Pharos PROS | $0.7372 | 7.05% | 5.61% | — | $99.97m |
| 82 |  Nexus NEX | $0.00000167 | 1.75% | 6.56% | — | $99.94m |
| 83 |  INI INI | $0.1133 | 13.85% | 10.37% | — | $99.69m |
| 84 |  Casper Network CSPR | $0.00739039 | 21.77% | 6.23% | 47.77% | $99.57m |
| 85 |  0G 0G | $0.4644 | 3.04% | 3.94% | — | $99.54m |
| 86 |  Xphere XP | $0.0360 | 3.77% | 30.68% | 139.27% | $99.53m |
| 87 |  ALEO ALEO | $0.1177 | 6.30% | 1.97% | 66.17% | $99.42m |
| 88 |  SKALE SKL | $0.0163 | 17.64% | 20.65% | 77.93% | $99.42m |
| 89 |  MANTRA MANTRA | $0.0207 | 9.91% | — | — | $99.39m |
| 90 |  Zano ZANO | $6.44 | 5.51% | 21.67% | 46.33% | $99.35m |
| 91 |  DUSK DUSK | $0.1986 | 32.43% | 60.57% | 18.76% | $99.33m |
| 92 |  Nano XNO | $0.7438 | 3.44% | 5.01% | 43.84% | $99.32m |
| 93 |  Flow FLOW | $0.0603 | 5.59% | 62.24% | 84.07% | $99.30m |
| 94 |  Kava KAVA | $0.0917 | 1.21% | 5.58% | 80.80% | $99.28m |
| 95 |  Core CORE | $0.0926 | 4.58% | 5.24% | 83.09% | $99.27m |
| 96 |  Data Network DATA | $0.2779 | 7.00% | 1.30% | 94.50% | $99.27m |
| 97 |  Oasis ROSE | $0.0131 | 3.34% | 8.72% | 58.65% | $99.26m |
| 98 |  Movement MOVE | $0.0292 | 41.03% | 17.51% | 94.69% | $99.24m |
| 99 |  DigiByte DGB | $0.00537404 | 31.00% | 31.50% | 39.80% | $99.18m |
| 100 |  CoinEx CET | $0.0378 | 6.45% | 13.61% | 61.14% | $99.13m |
| 101 |  Nexpace NXPC | $0.3470 | 3.00% | 4.03% | 72.14% | $99.12m |
| 102 |  Qubic QUBIC | $0.00000069 | 27.78% | 70.50% | 57.20% | $99.06m |
| 103 |  Berachain BERA | $0.3594 | 0.43% | 3.95% | 85.60% | $99.04m |
| 104 |  Fogo FOGO | $0.0261 | 0.22% | 6.56% | — | $99.03m |
| 105 |  Astar ASTR | $0.0116 | 1.27% | 14.65% | 76.44% | $99.02m |
| 106 |  WEMIX WEMIX | $0.1982 | 1.14% | 2.79% | 71.89% | $99.02m |
| 107 |  AtomOne ATONE | $0.8396 | 24.58% | 23.27% | — | $99.01m |
What are Layer 1 blockchains?
Layer 1 (the base layer) is the blockchain itself — it has its own network, consensus and security, and settles transactions on its own. The native token is used to pay fees, secure the network (staking or mining) and often for governance too. This group includes Bitcoin as a store of value, as well as smart-contract platforms such as Ethereum, Solana, BNB Chain, Cardano and TRON — which host tokens, DeFi, NFTs and other applications.
The main challenge facing L1 blockchains is the so-called trilemma — it is hard to achieve security, decentralisation and speed all at once. This is why Layer 2 networks have emerged (see below), along with a host of competing L1 chains nicknamed the “Ethereum killers”. The table ranks projects by market capitalisation, so the largest and most established names sit at the top.
Before you invest in Layer 1 cryptocurrencies
Layer 1 blockchains are among the largest and most established cryptocurrencies, yet they remain highly volatile. Competition is fierce and many “Ethereum killers” have fallen short of expectations over time. This page is an informational overview of market data, not investment advice. Only invest as much as you can afford to lose.
The best-known Layer 1 blockchains
Layer 1 blockchains differ in how they tackle the trilemma between security, decentralisation and speed. Bitcoin prioritises maximum security and decentralisation, while newer networks such as Solana focus on speed and low fees. Most L1s today support smart contracts, so they host tokens, DeFi and NFTs. The following projects lead the Layer 1 ranking by market capitalisation.
Bitcoin (BTC)
The very first and largest cryptocurrency. Bitcoin positions itself chiefly as a store of value (“digital gold”), and its network is by far the most secure, albeit slower and without full smart-contract functionality.
Ethereum (ETH)
The foremost smart-contract platform. Most DeFi, NFTs and tokens were built on Ethereum, and it is the foundation for the entire ecosystem of Layer 2 networks that scale it.
BNB Chain (BNB) and Solana (SOL)
Fast, low-cost L1 alternatives to Ethereum. BNB Chain is tied to the Binance exchange, while Solana stands out for its high throughput and low fees and has become home to a range of DeFi and meme projects.
XRP and Cardano (ADA)
XRP (XRP Ledger) targets fast, cheap cross-border payments. Cardano is an academically led project with an emphasis on security and gradual development.
TRON (TRX) and others
TRON has made its name mainly as a network for stablecoins and cheap transfers. Other established L1s include Avalanche, Toncoin, Sui and Hedera — each with its own approach to scaling.
Layer 1 vs Layer 2: whereas an L1 is the base blockchain with its own security, a Layer 2 is a layer on top that takes load off the L1 — it processes transactions off the main chain more cheaply and quickly and writes the result back to it (for example Arbitrum or Optimism on Ethereum). L1 and L2 thus complement each other.
Layer 1 cryptocurrencies are the backbone of the whole market, but even they carry high volatility and face tough competition. As with any investment, do your own research and be prepared for swings.
Frequently asked questions
Which are the best Layer 1 blockchains?+
The largest Layer 1 cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation include Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), BNB, Solana (SOL), XRP, Cardano (ADA) and TRON (TRX). You will find the full ranking in the table above.
What is the difference between Layer 1 and Layer 2?+
Layer 1 is the base blockchain with its own security and consensus (Bitcoin, Ethereum). Layer 2 is a network built on top of an L1 that takes load off it — it processes transactions more cheaply and quickly and writes the result back to the L1. Examples of L2s on Ethereum are Arbitrum and Optimism.
Are Layer 1 cryptocurrencies a good investment?+
L1 blockchains are the most established part of the market, but even that does not guarantee a profit — these are volatile assets and competition between platforms is intense. The list is meant for tracking the market, not as a recommendation to buy.