This is a guest post from Dimitris Tsapis. The views expressed are his own and do not reflect the opinions of the editors of other writers of BTC Geek. This is not investment advice. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile and could lose money. Never invest more than you can afford to lose
Editors Note: We do not agree with some of the picks, like XRP. However, we strongly believe in having diverse opinions on this blog, and include writers whose views we don’t fully agree with.
In the last few years, the cryptocurrency market has seen many new coins enter the space. With more than 1600 cryptocurrencies to invest in 2019, choosing the best coins becomes a complicated task.
Most of these new coins promise high returns for early investors and try to revolutionize the market, one way or another.
But do they have the potential? Will they perform as they claim?
Sure enough, many of these coins have made their investors very rich, since their price appreciated more than 100-fold over a relatively short timeframe.
But let’s not forget the older coins as well. Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin created many “overnight millionaires” back in the early days of crypto.
So how can we estimate which coins have the best opportunity to increase in value over the next bull-run?
How can we find true gems when practically everyone can create a new cryptocurrency? This question is especially relevant to invest in cryptocurrencies in 2019 as opposed to say 2017 when we had a massive bull run. In 2019, things have settled down and we’re more in the accumulation phase as opposed to a massive bull market.
In this article, we will analyze the factors that determine the best cryptocurrencies to invest in. We will also make a somewhat risky guess for our top contenders. Let’s get started.
A Closer Look at Cryptocurrency Investing
Investments of all kinds should be made after performing in-depth research and patient market observation. This is especially true with cryptocurrencies since they tend to follow historical patterns.
Therefore, before you invest in a cryptocurrency, make sure you train yourself to become emotionally detached from “trendy” coins and other external influences.
After all, the investment decision is yours only, as are the profits and losses that come with it.
Start by focusing your attention on what matters most. And by that, I don’t mean YouTube videos from self-proclaimed experts. Nor do I mean sponsored posts with heavy promotion.
Your goal should be to get information from reliable resources and form an opinion based on a coin’s future potential and technological development.
This step is very important. In-depth research will help you put emotions on the side and create a strategy to achieve your investment objectives.
Start by asking yourself the following questions:
- What is the amount I want to invest?
- Am I in it for the long term potential or short term gains?
- What is my goal profit? At which price am I going to sell?
- How strong is my emotional intelligence and patience?
- How easily am I influenced by others?
Cryptocurrency investing is pretty similar to other investment markets. Some people will buy and sell their assets often, while others implement a more “long-term” approach, hoping to make more profits.
While the first option is often preferred in bear markets, it is the latter option that has proven to give investors the most optimal returns over time.
Take a look at the top cryptocurrencies for instance. Bitcoin and Ethereum didn’t reach their peak price overnight. It took a lot of patience and belief from investors not to sell throughout all this time.
On the other hand, exponential profits can also occur in the short term. Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) are a great example. Most of them saw immediate growth after their release into the market.
But, as with everything that seems too good to be true, so with ICOs, one needs to do his due diligence before buying unknown coins. Very often, coins like that have nothing to offer to the space and are simply created to generate profit for the founders.
When looking for a coin that has the potential of performing great, what we look for is:
- Relative price stability during the latest bear market
- Big upside potential in case of a new bull market
That being said, let’s look at the best cryptocurrencies to invest in for 2019.
Bitcoin
The term “Bitcoin is king” has not been given to the cryptocurrency without a reason.
Not only is it the first and only decentralized cryptocurrency, it is also the most popular one, having reached a peak price of $19750 during the latest bull run of 2017.
Here is why we think Bitcoin is one of the best cryptocurrencies to invest in:
- Rich historical data for its price fluctuations
- It has the highest market cap of all coins
- It is the most popular cryptocurrency and the only truly decentralized one
- Most merchants that accept cryptocurrencies, opt for Bitcoin
- Due to its market dominance, it determines the direction of the market
Bitcoin presents a really good investment opportunity, especially for those who are looking to make a long term investment.
The future of Blockchain technology has yet to come, and the price of Bitcoin will likely follow.
Ripple
XRP is currently the third large cryptocurrency by market cap. Created in 2012 by Ripple Labs, the token has seen some impressive gains starting from $0.006$ in March 2017 to its all-time high of $3.65 in January 2018.
Even though the recent market conditions were not favorable, XRP should not be overlooked. And here is why:
- The team invests a lot of money and time in marketing and PR
- Has a large fan base
- Currently placed third by market cap
- XRP is not only a store of value but also a reliable payment method
To add the last point, this means that transactions can be confirmed instantly when other coins are struggling with scalability issues.
As a result, many financial institutions have already started making transactions with XRP. Banks like JP Morgan, Saudi Arabia Central Bank, American Express, and China LianLian International are already using the system, increasing investors’ confidence and trust in the token’s future.
Ethereum
Ethereum is the first smart contract platform to have ever been created, enabling decentralized applications to become a reality. In its 2 years of existence, it managed to lead the ICO movement that saw many new coins enter the market.
Ethereum is one of the cryptocurrencies that has been around longer than its competitors.
The coin is currently sitting in the second position by market capitalization, with a total market cap of $17 Billion.
With generally good market sentiment and consistent transparency from its founder, Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum has managed to improve its community trust during the latest bear market.
So why is it a good cryptocurrency to invest it?
- More than 2000 dApps are created on the Ethereum platform.
- The coin is placed as the second most valuable cryptocurrency by market cap ($17B)
- ETH has an advantage when it comes to user adoption due to its smart contract platform
- 2% of ETH supply is “locked” due to open finance markets (crypto loans)
And these are just to name a few. If you dig deeper, you will come to realize that many financial institutions are starting to implement smart contracts, which in turn makes ETH a very useful token.
Adding to that, we believe that the best cryptocurrencies will be those who help improve the space. And Ethereum is doing just that. Its ecosystem helps anyone create decentralized apps and new cryptocurrencies, hoping to improve the blockchain industry as a whole.
Litecoin
Using Bitcoin’s source-code, it is a fork of Bitcoin with some technical changes to the code, making it one of the fastest cryptocurrencies. Its mission is also to be a global, peer to peer currency.
Litecoin is known for its strong fan base and the numerous acronyms it has received as being the silver to Bitcoin’s gold.
Created in 2011, Litecoin is one of the oldest and most popular cryptocurrencies in 2019. It’s creator, Charlie Lee, is a well-known computer scientist who also happens to work as the Director of Engineering in Coinbase.
And while he publicly stated that he sold all of Litecoin close to the peak of the latest bull market, Charlie is still heavily supporting and promoting Litecoin to the public.
So what makes it a great investment?
- Litecoin is a top 5 coin by market capitalization, currently sitting at a $4.5 Billion market cap.
- It has a high trading volume as it is listed on the world’s biggest exchanges.
- It has high community trust and a rather high media interest.
- It follows the same “halving” protocol as Bitcoin, currently rewarding miners 25 Litecoin per block.
Binance Coin
Unlike Bitcoin and Litecoin which aim to be used as currencies, the Binance coin is a utility token. Which means its value comes from how useful it is (and how much demand there is for its utility) within the Binance ecosystem.
Binance has proven to be very strong in the current market conditions. In fact, if you had invested in BNB at the beginning of the latest bear market, you would have made the biggest returns to date.
Let’s see why BNB is a great investment choice:
- BNB is the token of the most popular cryptocurrency exchange worldwide, Binance.
- The coin’s price has appreciated 3x (in BTC value) since the peak of the latest bull market.
- Changpen Zhao (Binance CEO) has achieved positive publicity through Twitter.
- Even with the 7000 BTC hack that Binance suffered, the coin’s price remained stable.
- Binance is leading mainstream adoption by investing in numerous Blockchain projects.
- Binance is launching a decentralized exchange, Binance DEX, which is estimated to increase the utility of BNB.
Apart from the above, the coin has large liquidity, due to its utility on Binance exchange.
Therefore, if you are looking to diversify your portfolio, we strongly suggest Binance coin as one of your top options.
A final word
Investing, in all its forms, always comes with a certain amount of risk. The options above are simply an educated guess based on our experience in the space and the information we have available.
To sum up, here are the cryptocurrencies we strongly believe in:
– Bitcoin (BTC)
– Ripple (XRP)
– Ethereum (ETH)
– Litecoin (LTC)
– Binance coin (BNB)
When looking for the best cryptocurrency to invest in, it is important to gain a lot of different perspectives and conduct thorough research on the fundamentals of your coins’ options.
The best way to get started is by checking your current portfolio and start reading upon the coins you are currently holding. How experienced is their team? What are the key characteristics that will help this coin grow?
Good luck with your future investments and remember to only invest what you can afford to lose. We are not financial advisors and can only give you our personal opinion when it comes to the cryptocurrency market.
Dimitris Tsapis is writing content for Paybis, one of Europe’s top cryptocurrency exchanges, where you can buy bitcoin and other digital currencies fast and easy.