5 Cryptocurrencies to Watch This Year and Why

Unless you've been living on a desert island for the last decade, you'll have seen the meteoric price rise of many cryptocurrencies. Perhaps you've even invested in some more well-established names such as Bitcoin or Ethereum.

The explosive price growth has attracted more significant numbers of new coins aiming for similar rises. There are dozens of cryptocurrencies released every week, and there are now around 9,800 coins to choose from. It has become progressively more challenging for new and even seasoned crypto investors to decipher where they should put their money.

Six Cryptocurrencies to Watch

Like any volatile asset class such as FANG stocks, droves of day-traders have quit their 9-5 jobs hoping to reap short-term profits. Still, for the most part, investors tend to view cryptocurrencies as long-term investments. That said, such investors aren't immune to big price swings, and long-term buy and hold in the crypto space has spawned the HODL investor – Hold On For Dear Life.

Bitcoin (BTC)

Bitcoin, the king of cryptocurrency, is not only the first but also the most traded and valuable crypto in the world today. This crypto also benefits from the largest market cap of above $860 billion, ensuring investors' liquidity. There are also more practical reasons for investing in Bitcoin; Demand for this cryptocurrency comes from the many businesses that now accept Bitcoin as payment.

Solana (SOL)

Solana is one of the top competitors of Ethereum. In 2021, it started at as low as $1, and now, it is trading at $100. Solana is also the fourth most prominent and promising cryptocurrency having a market cap of $54 billion. It has millions of dollars locked in its blockchain, and thus it is a vast blockchain for decentralized finance. It is also synonymous with its high transaction speed of 65,000tps, smart contracts, and Dapps.

Polygon (MATIC)

A development team created Polygon to contribute to the Ethereum blockchain platform. It is helping decentralized application developers avoid high gas fees. The high gas fees of Ethereum are making it difficult to upgrade it to Eth2, so its co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, wanted support for layer two solutions.

Swipe Up

for more finance, business, and real estate advice

Read More

5 Cryptocurrencies to Watch This Year and Why

How to Make Money With Bitcoin (and Other Cryptocurrency)