Tips on investing in Blockchain, plus top promising cryptocurrencies in 2020.
21.01.2020, 15:20First off, bear in mind that blockchain technology and its potential applications is still an emerging arena, with many unknown (regulatory) factors and potential potholes in the road ahead.
In spite of this, it’s now extremely easy to throw money into a wide array of cryptocurrencies, still mostly via the leading exchanges Coinbase and Binance. But now there are mobile apps or wallets, websites and exchanges which will turn your fiat cash into crypto with alarming ease.
It’s easy to get carried away by crypto’s potential, by prices flashing green across the board, by feeling like you’re the early bird sensing big worms, or feeling like you’re missing out on huge gains. In fact many people making any money in cryptocurrency are probably the ones who lost a whole lot in 2018. Or they are seeing huge gains that are simply unsustainable. At what point do you sell and take profits? The burning question, and experienced crypto-hardened hands are better at realising how the market ‘breathes’ right now. Yes, sometimes they can time the market swings well, entering and exiting before price corrections inevitably occur. But in a space where breaking news throws sudden spanners in the works, it might be best to just mutter “lucky for them” and remain calm and rational.
Slow and steady
Steady growth (based on solid foundations) is a much more healthy climate to live in. Yes, that may be a slow and boring approach, but this is money we’re talking about, and not many people have enough to throw away. ‘Going long’, or planting carefully, and planting in different areas of the garden, is still the wisest strategy. Or, if you feel more sure about projects like Bitcoin, ‘dollar cost averaging’ may allow you to accumulate at different price levels.
It’s always essential to DYOR (Do Your Own Research) and keep track of progress. For busy people, it can benefit to think long-term, use patience and place money when prices are low on sound projects, coming back a year later. Sounds ideal right? The reality is different: investors (and traders) rarely do this. They only put money in when prices are climbing or have climbed. Sure, they may make a little and then sell out, but they miss out when new gains return and prices climb higher.
Then there are the tons of new projects now promising to take your crypto and grow it for you. Compounding, staking, quant trading… That’s another subject, and could be an option with some projects. But we should bear in mind that many cryptos are supposed to have some utility inherent, and not just remain ‘assets’. Examples? Well, there are many users buying Ethereum and EOS because they want to collect rare, virtual trading cards, collect tokenised artwork, go online gambling or use de-fi (decentralised finance) options. There are people buying Stellar Lumens or XRP because they’re sending money abroad. There are people buying BAT so they can reward content creators online. These are projects or dapps (decentralised apps) wherein you must spend the relevant crypto in order to benefit from something. There are platforms (like Ethereum, EOS and TRON) where the idea is to experiment with web3, inject some into dapps that will one day outlive centralised servers and be as easy-to-use. Some of these are fun and popular, and some are more useful and could see value arrive, if they can maintain. For example, users are already buying up web3 domain addresses on Ethereum. The ecosystem is growing because the developers are there, real utility is being encouraged, and the foundations and community are both strong.
Cryptocurrency Projects in 2020
With all these points in mind, it’s possible to make some predictions and invest in some promising projects.
1. Bitcoin - safe, trustless payments remain its killer dapp. Its name and brand are also deeply embedded across the crypto-verse, along with its price in the market. In short, it’s here to stay, and it’s still the gold standard in decentralisation. It’s also seeing some (if slow, as ever) developments. Also, it’s getting more scarce, and more valuable. Sorry about the environment, but even this negative aspect may be worked on and improved in the future.
2. Ethereum - still one of the most exciting projects with the most development and other projects that depend upon it. Experimental ‘de-fi’ are dapps that are encouraging more and more ‘hodlers’. (A good website to explore these projects is defiprime.com). But… Ethereum is still slow. Going forward, we have the prospect of Ethereum 2.0 (plus other solutions) that aim to improve the network over time, including a vital change to its underlying protocol. Solutions are underway, and making progress. Note: Here at GrabFreeMoney.com you’re able to get free Ethereum by collecting our points for finishing our mini-tasks.
3. Cosmos (ATOM) and 4. Chainlink (LINK) - these two different and very technical projects are, in a nutshell, making progress with attempts to solving current issues involving interoperability between blockchains and decentralised ‘oracles’ that aim to draw trusted, real-world data onto blockchains. They could both contribute substantially to blockchain development, and their tokens can also be ‘staked’, allowing for some long-term passive income opportunity.
5. Enjin (ENJ) - blockchain gaming and the tokenising of assets are set to be big magnets to the cryptocurrency space and the Enjin token is very well positioned.
6. Binance (BNB) - having continued to expand and refine its working products (exchanges), it is well positioned for increased growth and acquisitions that benefit its long-term presence. This of course is provided new regulatory developments or security issues don’t interrupt the prices, but Binance have learned from these previously.
7. Tezos (XTZ) - still at an early-stage, this is a highly adaptable blockchain and platform, but with some big investment and potential. This is provided it can maintain growth and attract utility, gaining some ground against Ethereum’s large head-start.