People on the outside of Bitcoin, looking in, tend to have a distorted view of Bitcoin’s merit and value as an investment. Earlier this year, some complained that Bitcoin’s price had become too stagnant, probably after being conditioned to think of it as some form of monetary nitroglycerin.

Mt. Gox’s collapse and corresponding market correction ended almost two years ago. Mike Hearn’s effect on the market hasn’t been felt in several months. It is time to let all of that anomaly go.

Furthermore, it is time to look at a new champion that no one saw coming in 2016. Digital currencies are changing the rules of the investment game forever.

We’ll have a new Champion

No one saw the newbie, Ethereum, taking the digital currency world by storm to start 2016. A world of promise and great ideas, it wasn’t exactly the cat’s pajamas back on New Year’s Day, trading for less than one dollar at the time ($0.96 to be exact, according to Coinmarket).

Yet, at the end of January, it was already building momentum, and greatly doubling in price. By winter’s end it was almost at $15 and was approaching $20 by the start of the summer. With the implosion of the DAO concept, the red-hot Ethereum love affair has cooled significantly, but has still remained well over $10, currently at $11.50. That’s a 1195% value increase so far in 2016.

As you’ll see, it is safe to assume no other fiat or digital currency, with a minimum market cap of $100 mln, will match or exceed it in 2016 for top-performer.

Now that the fork has taken place, and the invested funds are returning to their original owners, things have leveled off for young Ethereum, with many lessons learned. Kind of like Iggy Azalea’s social media trials after her first mega-single “Fancy,” some mistakes were made, and it’s time to rebuild the brand and move forward.

The fact that values have remained stable is encouraging, but Ethereum is not designed to be a mainstream investment option like Bitcoin. Ethereum has plenty of skills besides trade value, and at its current price, there is plenty of room for future growth. It’s market capitalization value is currently just under $1 bln.

Bitcoin is back to doing what it is supposed to do, and that appreciates over time, due to a finite supply supported by increasing demand over time. Last month, we covered Bitcoin’s yearly performance in regards to inflation rate, but now, we focus on Bitcoin’s market price/value. Bitcoin is having another banner year, following up on being the world’s best-performing currency in 2015.

At the close of 2014, Bitcoin was selling for $315.19 and was still in the throws of bottoming-out after the collapse of Mt. Gox. On January 14th, 2015, it dropped below $200, but it has been gaining pretty much ever since, ending the year at $427.23, a net gain of 35.55% for the year.