January's Top Large Cap Crypto? Not Bitcoin or Ether...

January turned out to be a difficult month for the cryptocurrency markets.

Bitcoin, the world's largest currency by market capitalization, dropped close to 30 percent, meaning its market capitalization shaved off billions after a torrid end to 2017. Meanwhile, excitement seemed to fade as the total value of all cryptocurrencies taken together topped out at $830 billion on Jan. 7, ending the month below $500 billion.

However, amid the gloom and doom, a few small-cap tokens managed to put on a good show.

For instance, names like VeChain, NEO, Populous and Stellar dominated the list of gainers among the top 25 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization (as of Jan. 31).