These are the only 8 major altcoins to see gains this year amid a crypto bear market

• Amid an ongoing bear market in bitcoin, altcoins have been whiplashed so far in 2022.
• With less liquidity and more volatility, alternative cryptocurrencies can deliver investors massive losses or gains in a short period of time.
• These are the eight best performing altcoins year-to-date, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Bitcoin's bear market has sucked the life out of many popular cryptocurrencies, with the total crypto market capitalization falling from $3 trillion to just over $2 trillion today. But some crypto coins are bucking the downtrend and moving higher.

With over 18,000 cryptocurrencies in existence and counting, there are more than triple the number of crypto coins than there are US exchange-listed stocks. That massive amount of supply makes it nearly impossible to keep track of all the big movers in the crypto sector outside of well known coins like bitcoin, ether, and dogecoin.

The surge in new crypto coins came amid a massive bull market for the sector in 2021, but a more than 40% decline in bitcoin from its November high is challenging the space, especially in smaller coins that saw extraordinary gains last year like solana, cardano, and polkadot.

With less liquidity and more volatility, these alternative cryptocurrencies can deliver investors massive losses or gains in a short period of time. Shiba inu is down 65% from its recent high, but is still up big over the past year. Meanwhile, squid game token fell 99% in a single day after delivering swift gains of 75,000%.

Keeping an eye on the winners and losers in the altcoin space can help investors identify which coins are beginning to gain and lose traction within the crypto community.

These are the eight best performing altcoins with a market value of more than $1 billion year-to-date, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

8. Terra

Symbol: LUNA
Market Value: $33.8 billion
Year-To-Date Performance: 4.0%

7. XRP

Symbol: XRP
Market Value: $43.2 billion
Year-To-Date Performance: 5.6%

6. FTX Token

Symbol: FTT
Market Value: $7.2 billion
Year-To-Date Performance: 30.7%

5. Ethereum Classic

Symbol: ETC
Market Value: $6.4 billion
Year-To-Date Performance: 37.5%

4. Zcash

Symbol: ZEC
Market Value: $2.9 billion
Year-To-Date Performance: 37.6%

3. THORChain

Symbol: RUNE
Market Value: $3.5 billion
Year-To-Date Performance: 43.6%

2. UNUS SED LEO

Symbol: LEO
Market Value: $5.8 billion
Year-To-Date Performance: 60.9%

1. Waves

Symbol: WAVES
Market Value: $3.7 billion
Year-To-Date Performance: 125.5%