The year 2022 will be remembered as one of the most brutal bear markets in cryptocurrency history. With major projects collapsing, exchanges failing, and investor confidence shaken, very few digital assets managed to end the year in positive territory. Yet, amidst the widespread downturn, some tokens defied the odds—delivering impressive gains—while others suffered near-total wipeouts.
This deep dive explores the top five biggest gainers and losers in the crypto market during 2022, analyzing their performance, key events, and underlying fundamentals. Whether you're assessing past trends for future insights or evaluating long-term resilience in volatile markets, this overview delivers valuable context.
📈 Top 5 Biggest Gainers in 2022
Despite the overall market decline, a handful of cryptocurrencies demonstrated strong resilience or even notable growth. Here’s a look at the standout performers.
1. Trust Wallet Token (TWT): +87.52%
According to data from CoinMarketCap, Trust Wallet Token (TWT) was the top gainer of 2022, rising over 87% despite the broader downturn. The momentum built significantly in the second half of the year, with TWT briefly surging 308% at its peak.
A major catalyst came in November following the collapse of FTX. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) tweeted a public recommendation for users to switch to self-custody wallets—a move widely interpreted as a nod to Trust Wallet. This triggered a massive rally, with TWT jumping 70% in a single month.
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However, the gains didn’t last. By December, the price had pulled back sharply, reflecting market fatigue and profit-taking. Still, TWT’s performance highlighted growing awareness around wallet security and user control in decentralized finance.
2. GMX: +84.6%
GMX, a decentralized perpetual contract platform built on Arbitrum and Avalanche, mirrored TWT’s trajectory with a remarkable 84.6% annual gain. Its rise began in June, fueled by increasing adoption during the bear market as traders sought leveraged exposure without relying on centralized exchanges.
GMX became a focal point in DeFi discussions throughout 2022. As shown by DefiLlama, it ranked as the #1 protocol on Arbitrum by Total Value Locked (TVL), which quadrupled compared to the start of the year.
The platform’s native token rewards traders and liquidity providers, creating a sustainable yield model even in low-volatility environments. This unique incentive structure helped GMX stand out when most DeFi protocols were bleeding users and capital.
3. OKB: -10.46%
While technically in negative territory, OKB, the native token of OKX exchange, showed strong relative performance. After a harsh first half that saw an over 57% drop, OKB recovered significantly in the second half, finishing the year down just 10.46%—a stark contrast to many peers that lost 70–90%.
Notably, OKB’s monthly chart revealed consistent upward momentum post-June, with prices climbing 114% from that point onward. A curious spike occurred in mid-December when Elon Musk briefly followed OKX’s Twitter account—triggering a short-lived rally before he unfollowed shortly after.
This event underscored how social sentiment and high-profile attention can still move markets, even in bearish conditions.
4. TRON (TRX): -28.62%
TRON maintained relative stability compared to other major blockchains, ending 2022 with a -28.62% decline—better than average amid widespread carnage.
The network benefited from strategic moves by founder Justin Sun, particularly his acquisition of Huobi Global and swift response to the FTX crisis. In November, Sun announced a withdrawal support plan for affected FTX users holding TRON-based assets, reinforcing TRON’s reputation as a fast and low-cost settlement layer.
Despite these efforts, TRX failed to generate sustained bullish momentum. The broader stagnation in stablecoin transfers and dApp activity limited its upside potential.
5. Monero (XMR): -41.84%
Privacy coin Monero (XMR) had a volatile year, marked by sharp drops in January and June, followed by a strong July rebound before settling into sideways movement.
A key milestone occurred on June 8, 2022: Monero reached its final block reward issuance under its original emission schedule. To ensure network sustainability without miner incentives from block rewards, the team introduced “Tail Emission”—a permanent minimal block reward (0.6 XMR per block) to maintain miner participation and chain security.
This shift meant Monero now relies more heavily on transaction fees and community-driven development to stay secure—an experimental but necessary evolution for privacy-focused networks.
📉 Top 5 Biggest Losers in 2022
On the flip side, some projects experienced catastrophic declines—some due to technical failures, others from systemic fraud or loss of confidence.
1. Terra Classic (LUNC): -99.99%
No discussion of 2022’s crypto crashes is complete without mentioning Terra Classic (LUNC). Once valued at $89 per token and ranked as the 9th largest cryptocurrency by market cap, LUNC imploded in May following the collapse of its algorithmic stablecoin UST.
The death spiral wiped out nearly all value, leaving LUNC trading around $0.0001449 by year-end—a loss of 99.99%. Despite this devastation, LUNC retained a surprising market cap ranking near #40 due to its large circulating supply and speculative community efforts to revive it through forks and burn mechanisms.
2. FTX Token (FTT): -98.12%
FTT, the exchange token of FTX, held up relatively well until November 2022—down about 40% and still trading near $26. But once allegations against Sam Bankman-Fried surfaced and liquidity concerns mounted, FTT collapsed.
After FTX filed for bankruptcy, FTT’s price plummeted over 98%, with severely diminished liquidity. Although Bahamian authorities reported holding substantial user assets in trust, the token’s utility evaporated overnight—a cautionary tale about centralized exchange tokens and concentration risk.
3. Solana (SOL): -94.42%
Solana faced dual pressures: macro bearish sentiment and repeated network outages that eroded developer and user trust. Once hailed as an Ethereum competitor with blazing speed and low fees, SOL fell from over $100 to below $10.
Its Total Value Locked (TVL) crashed from $6.68 billion to just $200 million, and much of the NFT and DeFi ecosystem migrated elsewhere. While some, including Vitalik Buterin, suggested that Solana could rebound now that speculative actors have exited, recovery remains uncertain.
4. Convex Finance (CVX): -93.6%
Convex Finance suffered from multiple setbacks in 2022: a critical bug in its vote-locking contract in March and a DNS hijacking incident in June. These events damaged trust and triggered sell-offs.
CVX dropped from $22 to $4 between May and June alone, closing the year near $3—a 93.6% loss.
5. The Sandbox (SAND): -93.59%
Metaverse tokens were among the hardest hit. The Sandbox (SAND) saw NFT sales and land transactions dry up across virtual worlds like Decentraland and Voxels.
SAND posted only three months of minor gains all year, ultimately losing over 93% of its value as investor interest in immersive digital real estate faded post-hype.
🔍 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: Why did TWT perform so well in 2022?
A: TWT surged due to increased demand for self-custody wallets after the FTX collapse, amplified by CZ’s public endorsement of Trust Wallet.
Q: Is GMX still relevant after 2022?
A: Yes—GMX remains a leading DeFi derivatives protocol with strong fundamentals on Arbitrum and Avalanche, offering sustainable yields through dynamic fee models.
Q: Can LUNC ever recover its former value?
A: Highly unlikely—the original Terra chain is considered compromised, and while community-led revivals exist, they lack the ecosystem support of pre-collapse levels.
Q: What caused Solana’s network outages?
A: High transaction volume spikes overwhelmed validator nodes, exposing scalability and decentralization trade-offs despite fast processing speeds.
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Q: Are privacy coins like Monero still viable?
A: Yes—Monero continues to innovate with features like Tail Emission and improved fungibility protocols, maintaining relevance among privacy advocates.
Q: Should I invest in exchange tokens like OKB today?
A: Exchange tokens offer utility such as fee discounts and staking rewards; OKB has shown resilience during crises, suggesting stronger fundamentals than most competitors.
Final Thoughts
The 2022 bear market separated hype from substance. Projects with real use cases—like TWT and GMX—found ways to thrive, while those reliant on speculation or flawed designs—like LUNC and FTT—collapsed dramatically.
As we look ahead, lessons from this turbulent year remain vital: diversification matters, decentralization is key, and user control over assets is non-negotiable.
Whether you're analyzing past trends or preparing for future cycles, understanding these movements helps build smarter investment strategies.
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