I've seen a lot of talk about investing in the crypto market over the last few weeks given how it's becoming mainstream now. So thought I would put together a few thoughts that may help noobs decide where and how to invest.
I've been in the game for a while now, and have spent thousands of hours on researching cryptocurrency white papers, teams, use cases, and future growth potential.
Please don't take the following as investment advice per se (I am not a financial advisor), but as potentially useful information to guide your own research before investing.
My picks for coins that are likely to do very well in 2018 (these are all under the radar right now):
In no particular order:
1.
ETHOS: this is a game changer. Ethos will be a Coinbase killer. They are launching a new universal wallet (coming out in Q1 2018) what will enable anyone to buy any cryptocurrency (not just the coinbase ones) with fiat money, and also let people cash out. On top of that, there will be a price predictions platform, social networking, and a building tool for apps. They will also let newbies instantly invest in diversified baskets of crpyocurrencies (eg. big caps, privacy coins etc) with 1-click type functionality. Very solid team (ex BlackRock COO, who is very active in replying to questions on their telegram chat). Currently hovering around 1.90$ - predictions for next year range from $20 to $100. I see this as driving the next stage of crypto adoption (past Bitcoin to the Alt coins). Imagine logging into Ethos on your phone, looking at price predictions for a coin ranked by the community, being able to invest with one click, and then when you want cash out with one click.
Coinbase will be made redundant by this. And if you imagine how big Coinbase is now (number 1 downloaded iphone app in the United States) - you can see what kind of potential Ethos has next year. Now is the time to get in, before the herd comes.
https://www.ethos.io/
Note: you can buy Ethos by trading your bitcoin for it on exchanges like Binance. But be aware that on Binance Ethos is still under it's old name, Bitquence (ticker symbol BQX).
2.
POWER LEDGER: this is a monster. RIchard Branson and Elon Musk are investors. They are using the blockchain to let people actually sell and trade solar energy (this is a big deal in Australia, where it has launched. A lot of people have solar energy meters which they don't fully use. This lets them actually sell their excess energy to anyone in the grid automatically, circumventing the power companies. With green energy being the next big thing, this has potential to take over the world). Their team leader, Jemma Green, is a bit of a superstar. She also just became Mayor of Perth - so political power in addition to their huge plans.
Edit: Chucking in a few alternative options to get the juices flowing, both of these are at ICO (initial coin offering) stage -
edit: adding Bit Degree as third choice
3. Bit Degree
(not yet on the market will be released in late Jan early Feb so look out!)
Huge, experienced team backed by ex-founder of Electronic Arts. Looking to revolutionalise the outdated education system, and introduce gamification to online learning via the blockchain.
https://www.bitdegree.org/en/token#what-are-we
4. Singularity Net (the first ever global decentralised AI/robotics marketplace - letting people monetize AIs and letting AIs talk to each other to fill in capability gaps to respond to business and user demand/needs. Skynet basically. Led by the chief AI scientist from Hansen Robotics, the guy who made 'Sofia'.
5. INTERNET NODE TOKEN (INT)
The IOTA of China. Criminally undervalued at the moment, with the potential for 100x gains in the future. Most people in the West are not even aware this thing exists yet. If you look at the market cap for IOTA, you can see how big this thing can get.
Superstar team, with heavy heavy expertise in Internet of Things application technology, big partnerships (IBM, Microsoft) and a massive use case - the IoT industry is set to be one of the biggest on Earth over the next few years.
Investor types/styles:
You can take the following approaches with investing in this market (or most liquid markets):
1. Day trading (trying to make money off daily volatility/price fluctuations in the market. This is a highly risky and stressful strategy. Most day traders lose money as the market is almost impossible to time, and you are up against trading bots and whales).
2. Swing trading (trying to make money off weekly/monthly trends based on price movements, market news. etc. Still risky, but safer than day trading if you know what you are doing. Decent profit potential, but you need to be heavily into this space, constantly reading up on market and coin news, and familiar with analytical tools
3. Holding (HODLing) - Long term investing. The best tactic by far. This involves finding coins with solid fundamentals, teams, and use cases (ie does the project solve a real world need) - and then holding onto the coin for at least 1-3 years. The market will go up and down, but HODLERs don't worry about that as they have taken an educated risk, and just hold onto their investment through the ups and downs. HODLERs have confidence in their picks based on research, and they don't panic sell because they have only invested what they are willing to lose. This tactic has proven time and again to give much much better returns than day trading or swing trading. The long term returns in this market, and the future potential...is jaw dropping. But you need to HODL to really benefit.
Anyways, hope this is useful for those looking into the crypto market. Remember to do your own research, and happy HODLing.