A growing number of investors are turning to crypto coins as an investment option due to the sky-rocketing crypto prices. Experts believe that if everything goes well for crypto, the price of 1 bitcoin will touch the $1 million mark by the year 2030.
But when it comes to investing, there are hundreds of options available in the market today, from Bitcoin and Ethereum to Binance and Solana, making it extremely difficult to choose, especially if you are new to the crypto arena. Therefore, our team has compiled a list of the 12 best cryptocurrencies which we think may offer you good returns with stability in the future. Though we highly encourage youn to do deatil research before investing any money into this. Before going to the best crypto investment options, let’s define some cryptocurrency terms.
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What is DEFI?
Defi or decentralized finance refers to a new-age digital banking facility offering peer-to-peer financial services based on blockchain technology (mostly ethereum crypto).
Defi offers you trustless banking. It eliminates extra fees, as well as the need for financial middlemen, like brokers, and banks, that are part and parcel of traditional banking services. Colony Lab, Aave, and Fantom are some of the most popular Defi platforms.
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What is NFT?
Non-fungible tokens or NFTs are digital cryptographic assets that exist on a blockchain and have unique identifiers that make them distinctive.
In contrast to fungible tokens like cryptocurrencies, they cannot be exchanged at equivalent value. They are widely used to tokenize real-world assets like artwork, music, video, and real estate. This simplifies the process of buying and selling those items and also reduces the risk of fraud.
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What is Metaverse?
Metaverse is a virtual reality space where you can interact with a computer-generated environment and other users as avatars.
In the metaverse, the users (we) use avatars to represent themselves and interact with each- other. In Metaverse you can shop with digital currency (crypto coin), play realistic games, and virtually travel anywhere you want using your virtual reality gadgets.
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What are layer 1, Layer 2, and layer 3 crypto networks?
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Layer 1 network:
Layer 1 is the core of the main blockchain architecture, it can finalize and validate a transaction by itself. It features a very slow speed of 5 transactions per second. The most popular layer 1 network is the Bitcoin network.
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Layer 2 network:
Layer 2 is a secondary framework that is built on the layer 1 network. Layer 2 protocols are used to ramp up crypto transaction speed, and solve problems faced by major blockchain networks. Matic is a very popular layer 2 network coin.
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Layer 3 network:
Layer 3 of a blockchain network consists of different applications like Defi, various games, and other distributed storage apps. Helium and Polkadot are some of the most popular layer 3 network coins.
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What is proof of work?
Proof of work is an algorithm used by blockchain technologies to verify and add new blocks of transactions to the crypto block chain network. In the traditional system, financial institutions do the authentication job, but in blockchains, there is no involvement of third parties, therefore they use the proof of work protocol to accomplish the job.
Some of the popular cryptocurrencies that use a proof of work algorithm are Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.
Pros and cons of proof of work protocol:
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What is proof of stake?
Proof of stake is a conscious mechanism used by cryptocurrencies to process transactions and add new blocks in blockchains. It is an upgraded version of the proof of work protocol that uses lower computing power and also reduces transaction costs. Polkadot, and Chainlink are some of the coins that use this protocol.
Pros and cons of proof of stake protocol:
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What is proof of history?
The Proof of history protocol is used to lighten the load on network protocol by encoding the time into the blockchain. The proof of history protocol was first introduced by the cryptocurrency Solana. It was designed to improve the transaction speed and security of the block chain networks.
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What are the best cryptocurrencies to invest in?
Here are our 12 favorite coins that we believe will provide you with better long-term returns.
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Bitcoin:
Bitcoin is a virtual currency with the capability of performing instant payments using peer-to-peer technology. It was developed in 2009 by an anonymous individual known as Satoshi Nakamoto. Since then it has become one of the most popular crypto currencies in the world. It has a gigantic market cap of 91% and a sky-touching demand which makes it the undisputed champion of the crypto market.
| When it started | 2009 |
| How many bitcoin are in circulation? | 91.07% (as of 18/08/2022) |
| Fees per transaction | $1.40 |
| How long does a bitcoin transaction take? | 2 min – 6.02 hr, mostly it takes 7 mins – 3:44 hrs, avg time 78 mins |
| Which problem it is solving and base technology | Blockchain, level 1 network, Proof of Work |
| Its competitor | Etherium, Polkadot, BNB |
| Reputation of the creator | An anonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto |
While thousands of competitors have emerged over the years, bitcoin dominance continues in terms of usage and economic value. To date, no company has been able to match the market cap or the price of bitcoin.
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Ethereum:
Ethereum is an open-sourced de-centralized blockchain technology that is best known for its native token ethar. The feature that makes ethereum blockchain so popular, is that anyone can build any secured digital technology using the advanced ethereum platform.
| When it started | 2015 |
| Total circulation of ethereum cryptocurrency | 122 Million (as of 18/08/2022) |
| Fees per transaction | $0.7522 |
| How long does ethereum transaction take? | 4 hrs., avg time 5 mins |
| Which problem it is solving and base technology | Blockchain technology, layer 1 network, proof of work |
| Its competitor | Solana, Binance coin, Chainlink, Polkadot |
| Reputation of the creator | Vitalik Buterin |
As mentioned before, it is one of the most popular blockchain technologies. Over the years we have witnessed a rapid growth in the etherium coin price and day by day it is becoming more and more useful which makes us believe that the price of ethereum currency will continue to rise in the future.
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Binance Coin:
In 2017 when the binance coin was first launched, it can only be used for trading and paying fees on the crypto exchange binance. Since then its usage has been hugely expanded and now you can use it for trading, and travel arrangements, you can also exchange it for other cryptos like Ethereum or Bitcoin.
| When it started | 2017 |
| Total circulation of binance crypto | 80.67% (as of 18/08/2022) |
| Fees Per Transaction | $0.25 |
| Transaction time | Usually 30 mins – up to 24 hrs |
| Which problem it is solving and base technology | Ethereum blockchain and uses ERC20 tokens which can store and hold value, layer 1 network and from May 2022 it has integrated the layer-2 scaling solution Optimism, proof of stake |
| Its competitor | Polkadot, Solana, Cardano, Chainlink, Matic, ethereum |
| Reputation of the creator | Changpeng Zhao (https://www.linkedin.com/in/cpzhao/) |
Because of its extensive functionality and the fact that it is a native crypto token of one of the largest crypto exchange Binance, binance coins are considered a very good investment option.
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Solana Coin:
Solana crypto(sol) was first introduced in 2020 to power Defi (Decentralized finance), DApps (Decentralized apps), and the smart contract system. It works on the Proof of stake and proof of history protocol which helps minimize the processing time of cryptocurrency transactions.
| When it started | 2020 |
| Total circulation of solana crypto | 348 million (as of 18/08/2022) |
| Fees per transaction | $0.00025 |
| How fast are solana transactions? | 5 mins – 1 hr |
| Which problem it is solving and base technology | 256-bit secure hash algorithm (SHA-256), proof of stake, proof of history, layer 1 |
| Its competitor | Bitgert BRC20, Bitcoin, Solana, Cardano, Matic |
| Reputation of the creator | Anatoly Yakovenko |
Solana is aimed towards improving the transaction speed and scalability of the coin network. It is based on technologies like proof of history which makes it very unique.
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Polkadot:
Polkadot is a unique blockchain technology that has the ability to connect different chains together. The polkadot network also allows exchanging data and processing transactions between two parallel blockchains while keeping the security intact.
| When it started | 2020 |
| Total circulation of polkadot crypto | 1.11B (as of 18/08/2022) |
| Fees per transaction | $0 |
| How long do polkadot transactions take? | Usually instant |
| Which problem it is solving and base technology | Hybrid consensus models where block production and finality each have their own protocol called GRANDPA |
| Its competitor | Solana, Cardano |
| Reputation of the creator | Robert Habermeier, Dr. Gavin Wood, Peter Czaban |
The polkadot coin was created by the same creator who founded Ethereum. The feature that makes Polkadot unique is that it has no hard limit on the total polkadot supply.
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Chainlink:
The chain link technology platform has the ability to connect non-blockchain platforms with blockchain platforms.
| When it started | 2014 |
| Total circulation of chainlink crypto | 47% (as of 18/08/2022) |
| Transaction time | 5 – 7.5 mins |
| Which problem it is solving and base technology | Blockchain technology, hybrid smart contracts, proof of stake, layer 1 and layer 2 |
| Its competitor | Ethereum, Polkadot, Solana |
| Reputation of the creator | Sergey Nazarov, Steve Ellis, Dr. Ari Juels |
The thing that makes chain link crypto our favorite is its collaboration with Google. Google is currently using its protocol to connect its users to cloud services.
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Uniswap:
As the name implies, uniswap coin is an Ethereum token that aims to power the uniswap platform, which is a software-based liquidity provider that simplifies the exchange of ethereum tokens.
| When it started | 2018 |
| Total circulation of uniswap crypto | 74.56% (as of 18/08/2022) |
| Uniswap transaction fees | 0.3% of trading tokens |
| How long do uniswap transactions take? | Max 20 mins |
| Which problem it is solving and base technology | Automated liquidity protocol powered by a constant product formula and implemented in a system of non-upgradeable smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain, layer 2 network |
| Its competitor | 1inch, Binance, SushiSwap |
| Reputation of the creator | Hayden Adams (https://www.linkedin.com/in/haydenadams/) |
With the v3 factors introduced, uniswap price is likely to skyrocket, especially since Uniswap is already the largest Ethereum DEX.
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Helium Coin:
The helium network is a decentralized network that connects and geolocates devices without requiring power-hungry satellite hardware or expensive cellular plans.
| When it started | 2019 |
| Total circulation of helium crypto | 56% |
| Fees per transaction | $.00001 |
| Transaction time | 60 seconds |
| Which problem it is solving and base technology | Blockchain based proof of coverage, layer 2 |
| Its competitor | AT&T, T Mobile, Verizon |
| Reputation of the creator | Chris Bruce, Amir Haleem (https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirhaleem/) |
The market data of helium price shows that it has a great rising tendency and a huge long term earning potential. So if you are ready to stay invested for a long time, then Helium would be a great choice for you.
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Matic:
The Polygon protocol runs alongside the Ethereum blockchain and allows for low fees and speedy transactions. For fees, stakes, and other activities, MATIC is used as the network’s native cryptocurrency.
| When was matic launched? | 2019 |
| How many matic coins are in circulation? | 80.42% (as of 18/08/2022) |
| Fees per transaction | $0.0005 – $0.2 |
| How long do matic transactions take? | 5 mins – 3 hrs |
| Which problem it is solving and base technology | Modified proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, layer 2 |
| Its competitor | Solana, Cardano |
| Reputation of the creator | Sandeep Nailwal, Jayanti Kanani, Anurag Arjun |
Matic was developed by the same development team who made a significant contribution to the improvement of the Ethereum network. It is also backed by two of the most popular crypto exchanges Binance and coinbase.
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Cardano:
The cardano crypto is one of the biggest crypto currencies available in the market. It was designed to be a more efficient alternative to the proof of work networks. Its small footprint makes transactions cheaper and faster.
| When it started | 2017 |
| Total circulation | 75% |
| Cardano transaction fees | $0.17 (per transaction) |
| Cardano transaction time | 5 min – 10 min |
| Which problem it is solving and base technology | Decentralized proof-of-stake, layer 1 |
| Its competitor | Polkadot, BNB Chain, Solana, Chainlink, Matic |
| Reputation of the creator | Charles Hoskinson |
Cardano is one of the early adopters of the proof-of-stake protocol. The Cardano crypto platform can also be used to develop decentralized apps and smart contracts just as Ethereum does.
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Ripple:
Ripple is behind the cryptocurrency XRP. It is aimed to solve the problems related to financial service companies. It works as a trusted agent in a transaction, the advanced ripple exchange network allows you to exchange between a wide range of fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies.
| When it started | 2012 |
| Total circulation of ripple coin | 49% (as of 18/08/2022) |
| Fees Per Transaction | $0.0002 |
| Transaction time | 3-5 seconds |
| Which problem it is solving and its base technology | Uses a blockchain-based digital payment network and protocol-based consensus mechanism |
| Its competitor | Ethereum, Bitcoin, Oracle Blockchain Cloud Service, western union, IOTA, SWIFT, Wise, Mastercard, Visa |
| Reputation of the creator | Chris Larsen, Jed McCaleb |
The thing that makes ripple so popular is its low transaction fee and minimal transaction time. The ripple platform is also used by large enterprises like IndusInd Bank, Bank of America, etc.
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Basic Attention Token:
Basic attention token (bat) is a blockchain-based system that tracks consumers’ time and attention on websites. It is also used as a currency on the Brave Platform.
| When was basic attention token launched? | 2017 |
| Total circulation of bat coin | 100% |
| Which problem it is solving and its base technology | ethereum |
| Its competitor | Chrome, Mozilla |
| Reputation of the creator | Brendan Eich (https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendaneich/) |
Although experts believe that the bat token does not have much explosion potential, but as a long term investment the bat coin would be a great choice.
The future of cryptocurrency is clear, there can be no doubt. But the million dollar question is what is the best crypto currency to invest in. When it comes to investing in cryptocurrency, you should keep a few things in mind.
- The transaction speed of a particular currency.
- Fees associated with transactions.
- And last but not least, the usefulness of that currency.
Moreover, cryptocurrencies can’t make you rich overnight, so it is always advised to put 5% to 30% of your investment in crypto and keep them as a long-term investment.
Disclaimer: I am not a certified financial adviser and this is not financial advice. The purpose of this article is to inform you about financial products and strategies. Consult your financial advisor before making any financial decisions.
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