In addition to their market capitalisation, cryptocurrencies are also special when it comes to innovation and advancement.
And when the market is down (like it currently is), the best way to figure out the crypto projects whose developers are building in the shadows can be a good way to stay on top of things and keep informed.
One of the best ways to spot crypto projects who remain busy despite the market's condition is by Examining its GitHub repository.
GitHub is a platform where developers communicate, share code, and track changes they have made in the past.
This article will highlight 10 of these crypto projects, and give you a feel for how busy they have been so far.
According to data from ProofofGitHub, as of May 2023. The top 10 cryptocurrencies shown above indicate how dedicated each of their community is to increasing the reach and use cases of the blockchain industry, as well as the safety of user funds.
Let's take deep dives into these cryptocurrencies and see what's been going on with them under the hood.
Polkadot and Kusama are the market leaders by far, with an impressive 609.7 GitHub commits (number of code uploads) over the week.
Polkadot and Kusama are separate and very different networks but were created using very similar codebases.
However, while Polkadot is slower and more traditional with a focus on dependability and stability, Kusama is ferocious and quick – perfect for risk-taking experiments and early-stage deployment.
Kusama was released as an early version of the same code Polkadot uses, which means they share the same underlying architecture. This explains why they often occur together.
ProofOfGitHub's data shows that these two are the market leaders in terms of development activity. However, both of these cryptocurrencies are conditions that are not so impressive in terms of price.
For example, CoinMarketCap data shows that Polkadot is trading at $5.45. The cryptocurrency has remained right around this zone since breaking below $6.1 and has had trouble breaking up again.
Polkadot is up by 1.36% over the last day and by 3% over the last seven.
Kusama, on the other hand, is trading at around $26, and is slightly stronger in terms of price, than Polkadot.
The cryptocurrency is up by 1.12% over the last 24 hours and by 3.4% over the last seven days.
A close second to Polkadot and Kusama is Cardano with 512 commits over the last week.
Cardano has been in the news on several occasions over the last week. One of these occasions is Charles Hoskinson, openly declaring war on CBDCs.
In a new video update, the Cardano founder voiced valid concerns about the dangers of CBDCs, and how they are a direct threat to everything crypto stands for.
Hoskinson highlighted the dangers of CBDCs being linked to government regulation, and how these cryptocurrencies can be used to control and silence people.
He expressed concern about future situations in which governments might have the power to arbitrarily freeze someone's money or limit their ability to buy certain things.
Keep in mind that Ripple Labs (issuers of XRP) recently released a platform that makes it super easy for Governments, banks and other related entities to create and release CBDCs.
Over the last week, according to data from DeFiLlama, the Total Value Locked (TVL) in Cardano's DeFi ecosystem rose to a whopping 446 million ADA, setting a new record.
A new memecoin on the Cardano network, SNEK also became highly popular in May, adding about $100 million worth of liquidity to the Cardano ecosystem.
Cardano's price action has not been very impressive either, owing to the direction of the general crypto market.
CoinMarketCap data shows that the cryptocurrency is trading at $0.378. Cardano is up by 0.34% over the last day and by 2.8% over the last 7, with a $13 billion valuation.
The third in line is Hedera. This came after 1 billion Hedera tokens (equivalent to $65 million) were unlocked on June 1st.
So far, there has been massive speculation about a possible dip in the price of HBAR.
CoinMarketCap calculates that HBAR is trading at around $0.34.
Right after Hedera, we have Cosmos with 341 commits over the last week.
According to the news over the last week, Customers of Coinbase can now trade Osmosis (OSMO), a DeFi altcoin that runs on Cosmos (ATOM).
Coinbase, the most prominent US cryptocurrency exchange now supports the alternative coin under its "Experimental Label," which it created for riskier, lower liquidity coins.
CoinMarketCap data shows that Cosmos currently trades at $10.8. The cryptocurrency is up by 1.5% over the last 24 hours and by 3.11% over the last seven days.
The ChainLink developers have made 321 commits over the last week, coming in at 20 fewer commits than Cosmos.
In recent news over the last week, ChainLink, via a tweet, announced a partnership with GMX.
The Oracle network will provide more reliable real-time market data to GMX's decentralized exchange. Chainlink's oracles will also be employed to interface with the decentralized exchange (DEX)'s price feeds.
CoinMarketCap data shows that Chainlink is trading at $6.59. LINK is up by 1.22% over the last day and by 1.11% over the last seven.
Following Chainlink very closely, is Internet Computer, with 315 commits so far.
Internet Computer has been relatively silent in the news so far.
However, CoinMarketCap data shows that, unlike the other cryptocurrencies on this list, ICP is bearish over most timeframes.
At the time of writing, ICP is trading at about $4.9. The cryptocurrency has taken a 0.39% beating over the last 24 hours and has dipped by 4.6% over the last seven days.
Status is one of the lesser-known cryptocurrencies on the market. However, its developers have kept busy regardless.
Right after ICP is Status, with 28 commits over the last week.
Status has been relatively silent on the news, but CoinMarketCap shows that the cryptocurrency is trading at about $0.023.
The cryptocurrency is up by 1.22% over the last 24 hours but isn't doing so well over the last 7 days.
This is another lesser-known protocol with 267 GitHub commits over the last week.
The Vega Protocol is a decentralized network for trading financial assets like derivatives.
Derivatives are contracts that derive their value from the performance of other assets like stocks, commodities, currencies, or cryptocurrencies.
This launch will offer support for futures markets and will allow users to profit from the market's price fluctuations.
The native cryptocurrency of the Vega Protocol is VEGA, and CoinMarketCap data shows that the price action of the cryptocurrency is pretty impressive in comparison.
VEGA is trading at about $.62 at the time of writing. However, the cryptocurrency is also up by 6.9% over the last day at the time of writing, and by 7% over the last seven.
Coming after VEGA is MANA with 265 commits over the last week.
The Metaverse has been in the news a lot as of late, and as the metaverse token that MANA is, it only makes sense that the development activity on Decentraland spikes.
CoinMarketCaP data shows that MANA is bearish over the last 24 hours and the last seven days.
The cryptocurrency is trading at $0.4778 and has declined by 1.23% over the last day. MANA is also down by 0.85% over the last seven days and has been showing bearish conditions so far.
The tenth crypto on the list, is IOTA, with 260 commits over the last week.
In recent news, the ongoing IOTA 2.0 node software has received its first monthly upgrade from the IOTA team.
The report reveals why the GoShimmer node software's Minimum Viable Product (MVP), which was released in January, was cancelled.
For context, GoShimmer is a prototype software that explores how to implement IOTA 2.0, the next version of the IOTA network
The IOTA team has stated that core implementation is the top priority, and any additional construction that serves as a diversion would therefore be abandoned.
This explains why the development activity on the cryptocurrency has spiked.
CoinMarketCap data shows that IOTA is trading at $0.02 at the time of writing, and has been performing very well over the weekly timeframe.
IOTA is up by 2.37% over the last week and by an impressive 13% over the last seven days.
Disclaimer: Voice of Crypto aims to deliver accurate and up-to-date information, but it will not be responsible for any missing facts or inaccurate information. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile financial assets, so research and make your own financial decisions.