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Gemini ranks Bitcoin Cash, Polkadot and Cardano among 2026's biggest altcoin losers
A Gemini ranking of ten major altcoins shows year-to-date losses ranging from about 31% to nearly 62%, with ADA, XRP and DOGE among the hardest hit.
Key takeaways
What happened
Gemini has published a ranking of ten established cryptocurrencies that have suffered the deepest declines so far in 2026, with Bitcoin Cash occupying the top spot. The U.S. exchange shared the list on X, and both U.Today and The Crypto Basic reported on it. Bitcoin Cash's year-to-date loss stands at 61.76%, well ahead of the rest of the group.
Polkadot is second with a 53.03% drop, while Cardano is third at 48.04%. XRP follows at 43.43% and Dogecoin at 42.38%. The remaining entries are Sui at 42.08%, Hedera at 38.13%, Solana at 34.02%, Avalanche at 33.40% and Kaspa at 30.75%. The Crypto Basic calculated that the ten assets have lost about 42.7% on average, illustrating how broad the pullback has been.
Although the ranking places ADA, XRP and DOGE in the headline group, the reports stress that each has distinct pressures. Cardano's DeFi ecosystem held less than $50 million in total value locked as of Nov. 9, according to U.Today. Ripple has continued to expand in institutional payments, stablecoins and tokenization, but The Crypto Basic noted that XRP spot and perpetual futures activity have fallen sharply. Dogecoin remains exposed to fading interest in meme tokens, and Bitwise's September shutdown of its Dogecoin ETF underscored weak institutional demand.
First $1.34Latest $1.06-21.1% over the period
Points are daily observations, not closing prices.
Why it matters
The list matters because it shows weakness spreading across different parts of the crypto market. Ten assets, including payment-focused projects and smart-contract platforms, all posted losses of at least 30% in 2026. For market participants, that breadth points to common pressures rather than isolated project setbacks. U.Today attributed the underperformance to thinning liquidity, reduced speculative appetite, limited institutional interest and broader macroeconomic conditions. The reports also show that ecosystem progress does not always translate into token strength: Ripple's payments and tokenization work has not generated sustained buying for XRP, while Cardano's limited DeFi activity has accompanied its price decline.
What the data shows
At the time of the reports, Cardano traded near $0.175 and had underperformed XRP by 4.61 percentage points in Gemini's comparison. XRP changed hands around $1.05, down roughly 25% over 30 days and within a $1.04-$1.10 range over the prior 24 hours. The Crypto Basic's Nov. 10 Price Desk recorded XRP's daily RSI at 26.69 as it hit a new 60-session low. XRP spot volume had fallen 53.5%, while perpetual futures volume was down 44%. Cardano funding turned negative even as most Binance ADA accounts stayed long, alongside shrinking open interest and long liquidations. Polkadot traded near $0.84, about 98% below its 2021 peak, and Bitcoin Cash near $230, more than 94% below its historical high. Kaspa, the least-negative name on the list, still fell 30.75%.
Background
Bitcoin Cash's decline is a reversal from 2025, when it gained about 38%. Selling pressure intensified in May and June 2026, with two consecutive monthly drops above 30%. A September rebound followed CME Group's announcement of Bitcoin Cash futures, but it did not halt the downtrend. Dogecoin's institutional story has also struggled to develop; Bitwise said in September that it was closing its Dogecoin ETF after the product failed to attract investor interest. For Cardano, U.Today pointed to limited DeFi activity as an additional drag beyond the market-wide factors.
What to watch
The Crypto Basic noted that the percentages are year-to-date snapshots and will continue to change as prices move through the rest of 2026. The reports do not forecast a turning point. They do identify several variables worth tracking: whether altcoin liquidity and speculative interest recover, whether a Dogecoin ETF can gain traction, and whether Cardano's DeFi activity or Ripple's payments and tokenization efforts begin to affect demand. Bitcoin Cash's September futures launch is also a reminder that a single product announcement may not reverse a broader downtrend.
Questions readers ask
Which asset had the biggest 2026 loss in Gemini's ranking?
Bitcoin Cash, with a 61.76% year-to-date decline.
Where do ADA, XRP and DOGE appear?
Cardano is third at 48.04%, XRP fourth at 43.43% and Dogecoin fifth at 42.38%.
What explains the losses?
The reports cite weaker liquidity, reduced speculative interest, lackluster institutional demand and macro conditions, plus project-specific issues such as Cardano's low DeFi TVL, XRP's falling trading volumes and Dogecoin's ETF closure.
