Gemini Reveals 2026’s Worst Performing Cryptocurrencies

The full ranking, by year-to-date loss:

1. Bitcoin Cash (BCH): 61.76%
2. Polkadot (DOT): 53.03%
3. Cardano (ADA): 48.04%
4. XRP: 43.43%
5. Dogecoin (DOGE): 42.38%
6. Sui: 42.08%
7. Hedera: 38.13%
8. Solana: 34.02%
9. Avalanche: 33.40%
10. Kaspa: 30.75%

The spread matters as much as the numbers. Payment tokens, meme coins, smart contract platforms and newer tier-two chains all appear on the list, which points to weakness across the altcoin market rather than trouble in any single protocol or token class.

Where Cardano, XRP and Dogecoin Lost Their Footing

Cardano’s slide shows up in on-chain activity as well as price. As of November 9, total value locked (TVL) in Cardano’s DeFi ecosystem had fallen below $50 million. A network that once aimed to rival Ethereum in programmable blockchains now shows signs of developers and users moving elsewhere.

XRP’s problem is different, though it points the same way. The Ripple-affiliated token has weathered institutional expansion in payments and tokenization without picking up lasting retail demand. XRP spot trading volume fell 53.5%, and perpetual futures volume dropped 44%. Enterprise partnerships have not been enough to hold the price when fewer people are trading.

Dogecoin lost an institutional route in September, when Bitwise shut down its Dogecoin ETF because investors showed little interest. That leaves the token leaning on speculative retail attention, which has visibly faded.

Bitcoin Cash Gave Back More Than It Gained

Bitcoin Cash launched in 2017 as a Bitcoin fork built for faster, cheaper transactions. It rose roughly 38% in 2025, then reversed hard in 2026, with monthly losses above 30% in both May and June. A brief rebound followed in September after CME Group announced Bitcoin Cash futures, but it did not last. At around $230, BCH now trades more than 94% below its all-time high.

The broader picture is a stack of pressures arriving together: thinner liquidity, fading speculative interest, limited institutional demand and a difficult macroeconomic backdrop. They feed each other. Falling prices force liquidations and push institutions out, which drags prices down further.

Hashlytics Take

Look at what the list has in common. XRP has enterprise payment partnerships and tokenization work. Dogecoin had an ETF. Bitcoin Cash got CME futures. Each of these is the kind of institutional plumbing the industry pitched as the next demand driver, and none of them held up the price. Infrastructure that lets institutions buy a token does not create the reason to buy it. Until altcoins can show real usage, as Cardano’s sub-$50 million TVL shows they currently cannot, access products will keep arriving to markets with no one on the other side.