2017 saw a surge in the investment in cryptocurrency markets, and there is no sign that 2018 will be any different. The few investors who had the foresight to invest in bitcoin in its early days and held on to the cryptocurrency are now tremendously wealthy. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency in the world has performed extremely well in the past few years. This has led to most of the investors who invested early on and held on to their BTC becoming millionaires.
Now, thanks to the bitcoin’s price explosion and more digital currencies flooding the market, more investors are seeking for the next cryptocurrency to invest in and get rich off it. If you are just getting started on investing in cryptocurrency in 2018, here are 6 of the best cryptocurrencies to Invest in 2018:
1. Bitcoin
Market Capitalization: 201.1 Billion
Bitcoin is the original golden child of cryptocurrency. It had a great year in 2017 with its value rising to over 1,000%. This success has made it the most attractive asset for financial institutions and government organizations globally. Going into 2018, Bitcoin is still highly recommended. And although the big run-up in the price of Bitcoins makes it the inherently riskier investment, the increasing volume, and more regulation-compliant market participants, the chances are that 2018 could be the year big money investors start investing into Bitcoin, driving its value further up.
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2. Ripple
Market Capitalization: $95.5 Billion
If you are worried that you missed the early wagon in case of Bitcoin, Ripple might just be your redemption. Ripple is a relatively low priced crypto that has shown a steady peak rate of 408% in the last three months. In fact, it was the most profiting cryptocurrency in 2017.
Ripple is a transaction protocol for international payments. This cryptocurrency helps in transmitting payments internationally at a small fee. Ripple is not only a digital currency but a system where any currency, even bitcoin, can be traded. It offers people across the globe a fast, free, decentralized transaction infrastructure that is free of the delays and transaction fee levied by middlemen. It connects banks, digital asset exchanges, payment providers and corporates to provide a frictionless experience when sending money globally. Ripple’s recent strategic partnership with the American Express has not only confirmed it as a reliable financial service but also boosted an increase in its trading.
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3. IOTA
Market Capitalization: $9.8 Billion
According to some industry observers, IOTA has one of the biggest potentials for human life change. It is predicted to become one of the fastest growing markets in the coming years. IOTA enables a machine to machine economy that powers the internet of things (IoT) infrastructure. It is fundamentally different from other cryptocurrencies since it does not use blockchain for its transactions. It uses the tangle instead.
IOTA came out of the data marketplace with an extensive range of large businesses participating, making its tangle (the underlying technology of IOTA) increasingly safer and scalable. The primary aim of this currency is to provide companies with a simple and inexpensive exchange of data between IoT devices.
4. Litecoin
Market Capitalization: $15.11 billion
Although Litecoin is considered similar to Bitcoin in many aspects, it is not identical. Litecoin is a peer to peer crypto that enables direct, no cost payments to any person or organization in the world. It is an entirely decentralized open-source international payment network. Essentially, Litecoin was aimed to cut the amount of time needed to confirm new transactions. It features faster transaction approval times and offers improved storage efficiency.
Charlie Lee, the creator of Litecoin’s vision was to create a currency that would allow people to transact efficiently on a daily basis and preferably become the payment of choice. The value of this cryptocurrency is derived from the user adoption. Litecoin has outperformed Bitcoin over the past few years with its appreciation values reaching 2000%. The rate of adoption is expected to increase in a somewhat exponential fashion, thanks to its low prices.
5. Monero
Market Cap: $6.1 Billion
Currently, the 6th most traded cryptocurrency, Monero is a secure, private and untraceable cryptocurrency. With Monero, you are your bank. You are in full control of your funds with all your accounts and transactions being kept private from prying eyes.
Monero started 2017 trading at about $10 and finished at around $350. Unlike bitcoin that broadcasts all its operations on a public ledger, Monero keeps its wallet addresses and transactions under wraps, making it an attractive proposition to a lot of people and lead to substantial growth. Since the start of the year, the Monero has already surged by 800%. Going forward, there is more room for growth. And although it may take longer than its competitors, its potential cannot be overlooked. This is especially because of the privacy it offers its clients. More to that, the rising demand for this currency promises significant gains in 2018.
6. Ethereum
Market Capitalization: $ 44.7 Billion
Ethereum is Bitcoin’s cut-throat competitor. It is the second biggest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin. Ethereum is a decentralized platform for applications that run precisely as they have been programmed without any possibilities of fraud, third party interference, censorship or downtime. Ethereum enables developers to create markets, store registries of debt or promises and move funds in accordance with instructions provided in the past, all without the use of banks. Its main aim is to run smart contracts and is based on a custom build blockchain.
In the past year 2017, Ethereum has seen a meteoric growth of about 48x from $ 10 to $480. Ethereum presents itself more like a platform than a currency. The number of transactions on Ethereum is significantly higher than those using Bitcoin blockchain. As the projects already using Ethereum continue to mature, and as upcoming developments like private Z-Snark’s transactions open up the possibility of more new decentralized applications, Ethereum is likely to increase its value further.
It has grown to become the top blockchain platform globally. Although it is quite far from reaching Bitcoin’s height, it stands steadily and has all the potential to succeed in 2018. Also, with the rise of decentralized applications, it can emerge to become an excellent investment in 2018.