Last week, my 77-year-old, great aunt Majda, the sweetest lady I know, came up to me. She enthusiastically and happily told me how she saw a documentary about Bitcoin last night. And what an impact it made, she was wowed. Money that isn’t physical? Created by normal people and not by greedy bankers? Her shiny eyes made it clear, she now has a burning desire to jump right in. And you know what? She should, you’re never too old.
The event, as pleasant as it was, made something else clear. If Majda, a 77-year-old, honest, working-class woman, from a small Slovenian village in which she still lives, knows about Bitcoin. Then surely your mother, the neighbor, and even the milkman know, in other words, everybody does. It’s going mainstream.
Fortunately, for people seeking adventure and a great opportunity, not without risk, of course, there’s a big, wide cryptocurrency world to explore. Hidden gems are still not known by the general public. And in order to invest in them, you need to get off the official highways (like Coinbase or Kraken) and start exploring unknown, serpentine roads of small and shady exchanges that are filled with diverse risks: from scammers to poor security standards.
Fortunately, Coinbase appetite for new coins seems to be growing, and they are much quicker to add new tokens on their platform nowadays. This means you can stay in the safe Coinbase environment and still have a chance to buy into new projects with high upside.
Here is a collection of the ones I find more promising and I believe could boom in value this year, just like we saw with Bitcoin. Enjoy.
What you'll learn 👉
Aave (AAVE)
Aave is a decentralized lending system that allows users to lend, borrow and earn interest all without a middle man.
Running on the Ethereum blockchain, Aave is a system of smart contracts that enables these assets to be managed by a distributed network of computers running as its software.
So there’s no more need to trust an institution or person to manage your funds. It’s game-changing. This is what crypto should be about, empowering us, the people, to be autonomous and independent.
The protocol on which it runs called the Made protocol is completely open-source. So it has been audited and secured so that users cannot be taken advantage of. And not only that, but it is also a fact that it’s among the most secure protocols out there.
We’re already seeing massive utility on the protocol, almost 8 billion dollars have as of now gone through it. This will be huge especially in underdeveloped parts of the world. Where banks often don’t function properly. And has a huge opportunity to help these millions who couldn’t even dream about financial freedom, to finally reach it.
Algorand (ALGO)
The Algo is an interesting crypto that runs on the Algorand blockchain. It has the goal to participate in the creation of what they call the “new economy”, so as they define open, borderless, and without entry barriers. And this new global economy needs a cryptocurrency to run, that cryptocurrency could be The Algo.
How will it manage to do so? Well first of all it’s extremely fast, and Algo can be sent in less than 4 seconds and a half, and it’s designed for a large scale meaning that even if millions are using the network at the same time it won’t slow down a bit.
The supply is fixed and all 10bn have been minted on launch day June 19th, 2019, so there’s no need to worry about inflation as you should with FIAT currencies.
Algorand is one of the best staking coins and you can learn more about Algo staking here.
Cosmos (ATOM)
Cosmos is a project you really should be paying attention to. It is best described with the term “Internet of Blockchains”, so similarly to the internet we all know and love it has the goal to allow the communication and exchange of data and information, seamlessly between different blockchains. And doing so will turn the friction we see today between competing cryptocurrencies into a force for good.
So in other words works as a sort of bridge between different blockchains. Because once you think about it each cryptocurrency operated more or less as an island until now. This is not the best, because it blocks the industry from lobbying the government for more pro-crypto laws as an example.
Thanks to Cosmos’ competitors, different blockchains, can now coexist. Just like most other industries. Let’s say the automobile industry, Ford and Mercedes can both coexist in the same market; they just appeal to different types of customers. The same could be true for crypto in the not too distant future.
Band Protocol (BAND)
Band Protocol has the vision to create a network that incentivizes users to give out data from the “real” world to decentralized applications also called dapps that run on blockchains.
Sounds a little complicated? Well here’s an example, let’s assume there’s a dapp developer that wants to allow its users to insert a wager on the future price of oil, the program would have to be able to determine the program on this future date.
So to ensure that this smart contract works as it should. The Band Protocol incentivizes some of its users, known as validators to verify and check external data. In other words, it’s an intermediary between the blockchain and the internet data source.
Basic Attention Token (BAT)
Advertising is a huge market, and it’s getting more and more complex by the day. In fact, BAT which stands for Basic Attention Token is the first token designed for digital advertising.
Running on the Ethereum blockchain its purpose is to build a marketplace that connects the advertisers, publishers, and users, all decentralizing. In other words, monetizing the attention of users.
It cuts off the middleman, and rewards all involved so the users, publishers, and advertisers. You, the user will get paid for giving attention to an ad and publishers will get a slice of the revenue. All this combined will hopefully change the industry forever and give advertisers a higher ROI.
On top of that, they also created native browsers integrated within the system, called Brave. This project is full of potential and certainly worth a closer look. We consider it to be one of the best cryptos to invest in 2021 and beyond. And here is our BAT prediction for 2021-2025. Also, click here to learn how to earn money with BAT.
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum is often compared side by side to Bitcoin, but don’t get confused they are two very different cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin has a hard-capped fixed supply, is globally immutable, decentralized, and most importantly aims to be the next digital gold. A value storer, to guard yourself against central banks’ manipulation of the money supply.
Ethereum on the other hand doesn’t have a fixed supply. It has an infinite supply, so it’s not the hardest form of money there is, it will inflate.
But what does it do exactly? Well, it’s a global network where anybody anywhere can build on top of without the permission of a middle man.
Ethereum is a public, open-source, blockchain-based distributed software platform that allows developers to build and deploy decentralized applications.
In other words, with Bitcoin, you can be your bank. With Ethereum, you can provide bank services like credit and lending to other people, without passing through a financial institution
Another thing to keep in mind is Etherium is getting upgraded in the next few years. This will hugely expand the network and allow for more scalability.
It is important to point out that of all the cryptocurrencies mentioned in this article, Ethereum is the least risky, best-known option on this list and has huge growth opportunities.
Read also:
- Coinbase Earn Answers | Earn Free Crypto
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- Coinbase vs. Changelly Exchange Comparison
- Coinbase vs Binance | Detailed Overview and Comparison
- Best Coinbase Alternatives – Better Exchanges than Coinbase
- Coinbase vs. Coinmama Comparison – Which Bitcoin Exchange Is Better?
- Coinbase vs eToro
- Coinbase vs Robinhood
- Gemini vs Coinbase Comparison – Fees, Limits & Trustworthiness Compared
Chainlink (LINK)
Last, but not least we have Chainlink. Which provides a network of decentralized oracles for blockchains like bitcoin to access outside information.
One of the most widely adopted oracles and on-chain data sources. It provides data from off-blockchain sources to on-blockchain smart contracts via oracles.
In simple terms, it is and will be used as a bridge between cryptocurrencies and the outside words. Essential for a lot of contractual agreements, that need information from the outside to be executed.
It could prove essential in the years to come if cryptocurrencies become more widely used in all sectors of the economy by the general public.
Read more on Chainlink price prediction and also where to store LINK coins.
Ren (REN)
Similar to Cosmos, REN aims at making the crypto market more interconnected. Just instead of information, it gives users the chance to transfer different assets among blockchains.
Just lock your crypto, let’s say Bitcoin with a smart contract, and in return receive the equivalent amount of ether on the Ethereum blockchain, where Ren operates. The Bitcoin holder will then be able, thanks to Ren to access all the DeFi products, without first converting his Bitcoins. And to be clear, the Bitcoins aren’t gone, they’re simply locked in the Ren network.
SushiSwap (SUSHI)
SushiSwap is software on the Ethereum blockchain. It has the vision to create a network of users that exchange crypto in a decentralized and secure way. Similar to Uniswap, it does this by using liquidity pools. First, you’ll have to lock up an asset into a smart contract, which will in turn allow you to swap one token for the next.
All is done without a central entity controlling the game. Its SUSHI token is one of the best DeFi coins to invest in right now.
Conclusion
So as you’ve seen there are plenty of promising and functional altcoins for all you thrill-seeking traders out there, that aren’t Bitcoin. And with Bitcoin becoming mainstream they may even yield you higher returns, multiplying your money as we all dream. But remember, with great opportunity comes great risk. The altcoin market is notoriously risky and volatile so to avoid a financial catastrophe, always do your research, trade responsibly, and never invest more than what you are willing to lose.