2021 is almost over. It's a good time to return to a topic that repeats itself year after year. When/If Bitcoin gives up, who will be the next king of crypto? It has not happened yet and there are no clear trends for changes, but every year there are several successful cryptocurrencies with excellent prospects and high growth rates within 12 months.

Several cryptocurrencies are to be noted from the results of the outgoing year. They show steady results and are interesting to follow. This year there is a place at the top for both newcomers and fairly well-known names. Maybe one of them will become the "Bitcoin Killer”. Let's look at the most interesting currencies of those who performed best in 2021 and see why they are interesting.

Shiba Inu is probably the name most readers may have heard. Talk about it hasn't subsided in recent months when the coin soared 2260% in 1 week. However, its value is microscopic at the moment (expected to rise to $0.00009), but that's no reason to ignore the new asset. The currency that was created almost as an extension of a joke with a crypto-meme Dogecoin (DOGE) is actively gaining momentum and hardly slipping down at the end of 2021 when there is a price recession of other successful cryptocurrencies. So far, there is no talk of a "Bitcoin Killer" from Shiba Inu, but a "Dogecoin Killer" is quite imminent. We’ll recall you that DOGE was once interceded for by Elon Musk himself.

Ethereum at some point in the past solved several Bitcoin's problems, and deservedly took the place of the second-best cryptocurrency in the world. What's worth mentioning is the concept of smart contracts, which turn even the most cumbersome blockchains into something understandable, convenient, predictable, and, most importantly, manageable.

It is also worth remembering how Ethereum became a single platform for multiple cryptocurrencies and related projects. However, the system has managed to become, once again, cumbersome, and the disadvantages have greatly proliferated and exacerbated. For example, we're talking about high gas fees. Fantom is one of those projects that work simply. Its goal is to remove the worst and develop the best in Ethereum. Key problems are solved, users are happy, and growth metrics are more than deserved.

Steady growth from 2019 has continued into 2021, and more and more people are enjoying the joys of fast transactions and cheap commissions. FTM has grown from $0.09 to nearly $3 in 2021, sagging in price, but maintaining a successful outlook. Meanwhile, its annual capitalization marks a 15900% increase.

Another alternative to Ethereum. SOL has a reputation of being the fastest blockchain at the moment, with the ability to perform up to 50,000 transactions per second without any problems. This is made possible with the implementation of the new Proof of Stake (PoS) and Proof of History (PoH) protocols, which significantly reduce computational costs and change the rules of the game compared to the capabilities of outdated and limited earlier counterparts.

In addition, Solana includes many other innovations that help it stand out from its competitors. Among them is a transaction parallelization technology known as Sealevel. It enables a parallel smart contract execution environment that optimizes resources and ensures that Solana can scale horizontally between processors and SSDs.

With a capitalization growth of 13300% for 2021 and the release of the ultra-successful NFT Degenerate Apes line, we're dealing with another of the most promising projects on the market right now.

Fantom and Solana described above set ambitious goals to improve the architecture of the most successful blockchains of today. At the same time, their overall concept is within the basic blockchain architecture. To put it simply, development has certain limits to the technology that is beginning to emerge.

Crypto Polygon marks a step beyond the established limits to Level 2 and improves blockchain capabilities in a whole new plane, with a much larger set of development prospects. Developed based on Ethereum, this system demonstrates the implementation of ambitious goals. The data shows that this network is capable of scaling up to 1000000 simultaneous transactions per second with the prospect of maintaining a profitable price. The change in the price of the MATIC token from $0.02 to about $2.5 over 2021 is the best evidence of this. Annual capitalization growth is at 8,800%.

As you can see, the new "most promising" blockchains don't just carry pretty words, but concrete solutions to current technical problems. They have a full-fledged technological base to displace Bitcoin and Ethereum from the leading positions in the industry due to the speed and cheapness of application. We should not expect a quick displacement right now, but all roads in the future are open for the newcomers of 2021. The fact is noticeable right now.