2021 is set to be an exciting year for cryptocurrencies. Investors have been sent scrambling as Bitcoin prices near an all-time high of $50,000.
Following Tesla’s (TSLA) announcement that the company would be accepting Bitcoin payments for their products, interest in the cryptocurrency has soared.
The crypto market has been heating up since 2020 following the global economic slowdown and with good reason. As governments around the world continue printing cash at an unprecedented rate, central banks in turn have been forced to slash interest rates in order to keep the economy afloat.
Due to this, investors have turned to alternative investments as a means of shoring up the value of their assets. As it is wholly unregulated and there exists a limited supply of Bitcoins, investors expect the cryptocurrency to become a new safe haven investment.
Amidst all of this excitement, some of us may be tempted to get in on the crypto gold rush. With Bitcoin valuations breaking records on a weekly basis, it looks as if there’s nowhere else to go but up. Click here to read more about how many Bitcoins are there right now in circulation: https://blog.tezro.com/how-many-bitcoins-are-there/
However, the steep asking price of Bitcoin may put some would-be investors off. Fortunately, this does not mean that one should not invest in cryptocurrencies. Far from it.
While the market may be far from mature, there are plenty of altcoins like Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple XRP that you can consider investing in.
So if you’re looking to build a cryptocurrency portfolio, why not take a look at some of the options available to you.
1. Ethereum (ETH)
The silver to Bitcoin’s gold, Ethereum is the second-most popular cryptocurrency in the world. At the time of writing, Ethereum’s market cap is estimated to be at around $100 million.
Ethereum prices have seen a significant boom in the past few months on the back of renewed interest in the crypto market. Like Bitcoin, Ethereum is a decentralized currency that is unregulated by any governments.
It is a blockchain-based platform that can be used to create smart contracts, develop software applications and transfer funds. Ethereum is widely distributed in the crypto market and is used in a variety of fintech applications.
The open-ended nature of the Ethereum platform and it’s flexibility, makes the cryptocurrency a worthwhile long-term investment.
2. Dash (DASH)
During the early days, Bitcoin was prized for its ability to keep the identities of both the sender and recipient hidden. This is a myth as there are various ways in which a person’s identity could actually be revealed when performing a transaction using Bitcoins.
Seeking to rectify these shortfalls, Evan Duffield created what was initially known as Darkcoin before renaming it to Dash (DASH). A fork of Bitcoin, Dash does not rely on miners alone to validate transactions.
Instead, it uses a combination of masternode networks and miners to verify transactions. This adds a layer of security and when combined with its “PrivateSend” feature, makes for a very secure coin.
With rising concerns of data privacy in the days to come, Dash is most definitely a coin that you should have in your portfolio.
3. Litecoin (LTC)
Described by founder Charlie Lee as being the lite version of Bitcoin, Litecoin is one of the older cryptocurrencies in the market today. Litecoin shares many characteristics with Bitcoin – it is unregulated and makes use of blockchain technology.
An advantage that Litecoin holds over Bitcoin is its ability to process transactions at a faster rate. This should theoretically give merchants more of an incentive to adopt Litecoin as a medium of exchange as cryptocurrencies become more commonplace.
Thus, making the case for investors looking to buy up Litecoin on the long-term.
4. Ripple (XRP)
Created in 2012, Ripple XRP is the collective name for the cryptocurrency, payment network, and currency exchange owned by Ripple Labs.
Specially designed to enable the instantaneous transfer of funds to anywhere around the world, Ripple has the potential to change the world. XRP is the cryptocurrency that is used to facilitate transactions on the Ripple network, hence its name.
Both the platform and cryptocurrency are used by several major payment and fintech around the world. Ripple Labs is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with the SEC which failed to reach a settlement – an event which led to a massive selloff in XRP.
While this may appear to be worrisome, Ripple’s potential as a cryptocurrency should not be ignored.
Investing in cryptocurrencies can be a tricky affair. Instead of focusing on a single cryptocurrency, diversify your portfolio and build up a selection of altcoins to reduce your risk exposure.
