While 2022 was a poor show for digital currencies, the sector has witnessed massive growth overall. The current bear market triggered drops in cryptocurrencies’ prices and caused some project’s downfall. Still, it also brought the front page of the best alt coins worthy of being added to an investment portfolio.
Cryptocurrencies are complex and high-risk assets to invest in, and your portfolio is unlikely to be protected if the market goes down. Therefore, many experts recommend to only add them to your portfolio if you can afford to lose the funds you spent.
However, due to their increased volatility, cryptocurrencies are also fantastic commodities to diversify a portfolio with because they can trigger immense earnings. You can optimize your risk-adjusted return by holding between 3 to 9 cryptocurrencies at a time.
If you’re willing to take the risk but don’t know if you should buy Ethereum, Bitcoin, Dogecoin, or another token, this article can help you figure out what coins are worth your attention.
Let’s uncover the best alt coins most likely to perform well at the end of this year.
Ethereum
Ethereum has maintained its position as the second-largest digital currency by market capitalization over the last few years. It will remain a top addition to any investment portfolio in the following months. It’s the most popular alternative cryptocurrency and has attracted the public’s attention for several reasons.
For one, Ethereum, in comparison to Bitcoin, offers a wide range of real-life applications.
Furthermore, Crypto experts believe it’ll grow in value because it recently unlocked staked ether and plans to introduce sharding to improve the ecosystem’s scalability and throughput.
And remember that in September 2022, it transitioned from the Proof-of-Work to the Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism, making it more eco-friendly. The merge reduced Ethereum’s energy consumption by about 99.95%.
All of these reasons will positively impact its value and make crypto enthusiasts turn their attention towards it.
Polygon
While Ethereum was created to solve Bitcoin’s shortcomings, Polygon was developed to alleviate the numerous problems affecting the Ethereum blockchain, such as high gas fees and low transaction speed.
Prior to February 2021, Polygon was known as the Matic network. But they decided to keep the ticker name MATIC for its native token.
MATIC is an ERC-20 coin and can be used for staking and transactions.
The blockchain is often compared to Ethereum because it similarly allows developers to create decentralized apps. However, it differs from the well-known platform because it has lower transaction fees and increased security.
How do they do this? Polygon processes transactions on side chains, allowing it to handle up to 65,000 transactions per second. Ethereum, on the other hand, can only process around 17 transactions per second.
Additionally, Polygon’s transaction fees are only a few cents versus Ethereum’s average user fee of around $15.
Ripple
The next best alt coin to watch is Ripple, an established project with over 20 years in the crypto world.
It was developed as a global payments network that enabled private and organizational investors to transact without worrying about borders.
XRP is the cryptocurrency designed for use on the Ripple network. It runs on the XRP Ledger blockchain.
Ripple is faster and cheaper than most traditional bank transactions and cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin.
Regardless of the parties’ location, the average XRP transaction on Ripple takes 3 to 5 seconds.
Additionally, Ripple offers affordable transaction fees, each costing a fraction of a cent. The network is listed among the largest because it handles over 1,500 transactions every second.
Dogecoin
No one believed that a meme coin would last more than a few months, but Dogecoin proved them all wrong. It has been one of the best digital currencies to invest in the last few years, and it will probably remain a worthy addition to an investment portfolio.
You can purchase it at a discounted price, and the industry trends show that it’ll regain its value when the market turns bullish.
And let’s not forget that it has one of the most significant numbers of coin holders in the sector. Due to the constant appraisal from Elon Musk, Dogecoin has been one of the investors’ favorites.
But, Dogecoin must find real-life applications to stay relevant and meet high growth predictions.
If you’re looking to invest long-term, Dogecoin should be on your best alt coins radar at the end of this year.
Cardano
Cardano is younger than the other cryptocurrencies on this list, but its proof-of-stake consensus mechanism made waves on the scene.
The validation process is superior to the others because it lowers energy usage and boosts transaction time, so it transforms Cardano into one of the most competitive blockchains in the sector.
Cardano and other ecosystems that rely on the proof-of-stake consensus solve the verification issues Bitcoin deals with.
And remember that Cardano is similar to Ethereum and Polygon because it enables the development of decentralized applications, smart contracts, and other digital assets.
ADA, its native token, dropped as low as $0.017 in the early stages after its launch in 2017. It rallied to $3.10 in September of 2021. During the 2022 and 2023 bear market, it fell to around $0.22, the recent low.
However, the current low price could be an opportunity to increase ADA holdings for an explosive growth stage in the next crypto bull market. Some analysts have predicted long-term growth between $10 and $45.
Solana
This altcoin was created to power decentralized finance, decentralized apps, and smart contracts. It’s unique in the industry because it runs on a combination of proof-of-stake and proof-of-history algorithms. It processes transactions quicker than other blockchains and guarantees security.
Similarly to other alternative coins, Solana was developed to solve Ethereum’s scalability issues. Because it’s successful in its pursuit, it gained popularity among developers who want to create decentralized apps.
The latest long-term forecast predicts Solana’s price will hit $25 by the middle of 2024 and $50 by the middle of 2032.
RobotEra
RobotEra is another new project built on the blockchain. It enables users to immerse themselves in the metaverse through virtual robot avatars.
This project differs from the others because it works as a metaverse game that allows players to create unique avatars backed by non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
TARO is the token that powers the multiverse.
Players can use TARO to purchase robots and land in the RobotEra universe through NFTs and sell them on online marketplaces when they find it suitable.
The game also provides them access to a building tool they can use to construct real estate online. RobotEra promotes the idea that it’s different from other games because gamers face no limitations when building real estate.
Assuming the continued adoption of automation and AI, RobotEra is poised for growth. TARO’s most optimistic prediction for 2025 is $10.50. A more pessimistic scenario bottoms out at $4.00. Taing in
Uniswap
If you’re familiar with the crypto world, you know that the leading decentralized finance projects are based on the Ethereum network. Uniswap is one of the decentralized exchanges that powers ERC-20 token transactions.
However, this isn’t what makes it special, but the fact that it was the first platform to bring the automated market maker technology to life.
It benefits crypto holders because they can trade digital currencies without being matched with a seller. They deposit the funds into a liquidity pool, and the system does the rest based on factors like volume and demand.
Uniswap is a complex network because it also offers decentralized finance services like yield farming and staking. It also facilitates crypto borrowing at affordable rates.
UNI, its native token, is sold at affordable rates.
2025 predictions show a high of $19.64, with an ROI of 374.4%
Conclusion
In this article, we’ve revealed the best alt coins to watch at this year’s end.
With cryptocurrencies being sold at competitive prices, now is the ideal moment to diversify your investment portfolio.
Keep in mind, though, to only add as much as you can afford to lose. Spreading out your bets over multiple coins will further reduce your risk.