Meet the Cryptocurrency That's Up 201,000% This Year

With just over a week left to go before the calendar shifts to 2018, I believe it's pretty safe to say that cryptocurrencies absolutely whooped traditional equities this year. Whereas the stock market has historically returned 7% a year, inclusive of dividend reinvestment and adjusted for inflation, and the S&P 500 has handily surpassed that level this year, cryptocurrencies as a whole have left stocks eating their virtual dust.

When the year began, the combined value of all investable cryptocurrencies was just $17.7 billion, with bitcoin making up the vast majority of this market cap. But as of Dec. 19, the combined market cap of the more than 1,360 cryptocurrencies hit as high as $642 billion. That's a better than 3,500% increase in cryptocurrency market value in less than a year, which is a bigger increase than some investors will see throughout their lifetimes.

Image source: Getty Images.

Source: Fool.com