Last updated on December 9th, 2024 at 10:29 am
Are you looking for long-term investments in cryptocurrency?
Although cryptocurrency has become a safe haven for many with a market cap of $2.3 trillion, selecting the right crypto demands a meticulous approach considering the amount of fad in the industry.
We’ll be discussing the 11 top cryptocurrency assets for long-term investment if you are looking to invest for long-term.
Factors That Affect The Choice Of Crypto
There are a lot of factors investors need to look for while selecting cryptocurrency for long-term investments; we’ll be considering some of them here:
Market Capitalization
Market capitalization is recognized as the most vital indicator for cryptocurrency investment because the higher the market cap, the more dominant it’s considered to be.
Performance and track record
It’s important to consider the historical performance of an asset and whether it could survive the bear market to make suitable decisions for the long haul.
Case study of Blockchain technology
Crypto assets that are built on blockchain tend to be more sustainable. Applications like smart contracts and DeFi contribute to making it more attractive for the long term.
Wider adoption
Cryptocurrencies that are widely accepted tend to perform better and last longer. Strong marketing can be helpful to the adoption of crypto assets.
11 Top Cryptocurrency Assets For Long Term
Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a world-renowned cryptocurrency and was launched in 2009. Digital gold, as it is fondly called, has a market cap of $70000. Investors need to be pragmatic to decide if Bitcoin has a place in their portfolio because Bitcoin can be risky at times with high volatility.
A diversified portfolio comes in handy to reduce overall risk, although Bitcoin historically offers the potential for high returns. According to Forbes, in 2018, Bitcoin fell 75% from an all-time high by plunging below $5000 from around $6000.
This has seen the largest digital assets struggling through the bear market, with many analysts considering whether it could break from this weakness.
Ethereum
Ethereum is a popular decentralized blockchain protocol that securely establishes peer-to-peer to execute and verify smart contracts. Ethereum has provided competition for other crypto assets with a market cap of $351 billion and a daily trading volume of $6 billion.
Ethereum was co-founded by Vitalik Buterin along with others to secure funds for projects in an online public crowd sale, while the project team raised $18.3 million in Bitcoin, and the price of Ethereum in the initial coin offering was $0.311 with more than 60 million Ether sold.
Chainlink
It’s a decentralized Oracle network that creates smart contracts on real-world events. Chainlink, formerly Smart Contract Ltd., was founded in 2019 by Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis. Chainlink Network has experienced a sporadic rise since it went live on the Ethereum mainnet on 1st June 2019 by expanding to support blockchain and Layer 2 protocol.
Chainlink functionalities are divided into two sections:
- The Chainlink Network
- The Chainlink Token
Chainlink Network addresses programmatic issues through a decentralized Oracle network (DON) to fetch, aggregate, validate, and deliver real-world data on-chain.
Chainlink Token is an ERC-677 token used to incentivize the operation of Chainlink DON. This token is bridged across multiple blockchains to enable native blockchain Oracle integration.
Cardano
Cardano is a top blockchain digital asset that offers decentralized applications (dApps) multi-asset ledgers and smart contracts for seamless transactions.
The emergence of Cardano has caused an all-around improvement in smart contract capabilities, throughput, and reduction in cost while enhancing transaction validation through Vasil’s hard fork.
Cardano was founded by Charles Hoskinson in 2015 to verify transactions by splitting the chains into epochs to run multiple scalable transactions simultaneously.
Solana
It’s an open-sourced blockchain technology that provides DeFi solutions. Although the idea of Solana was conceived in 2017 but was officially launched in 2020 by the Solana Foundation to facilitate decentralized application creation,.
Solana combines proof of history consensus and proof of stake consensus to improve scalability. Solana proof-of-history is responsible for transaction processing, while proof-to-stake monitors tools for PoH processes and validates each sequence of blocks.
Ripple
Ripple is an open-source decentralized technology that offers speed, low cost, and scalability in transactions. XRP was launched in 2012, and it was taken by David Schwartz, Jed McCaleb, and Arthur Britto as an efficient competitor to Bitcoin.
XRP validates transactions through federated consensus protocol. This is the coming together of the validator for the XRP transaction. It has over 150 validators on the ledger across the globe.
Polkadot
Polkadot is an advanced multichain protocol that builds networks across blockchains through interoperability with other blockchains. Polkadot is fundamental to the decentralization of Web 3.
The Polkadot protocol connects public and private chains to share information and transactions through the Polkadot Relay Chain. Polkadot native token (DOT) serves three core values:
- Staking for operations and security
- Facilitation of network governance
- Connection of token and parachain through bonding.
Dogecoin
Dogecoin is an advanced, accessible digital asset that was created by Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer. Dogecoin has gained so much admiration, notably from the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, who considered it his favorite coin.
Dogecoin incentivizes quality engagement among communities. Due to its strategic partnership with Elon Musk and low transaction fees, top traditional companies are adopting the Dogecoin payment. Here are some companies that accept Dogecoin payments:
- Tesla
- AMC Theaters
- GameStop
- airbaltic
- Dallas Mavericks
- Newegg
- Twitch
- EasyDNS
Uniswap
Uniswap is one of the best trading protocols that facilitate automated DeFi transactions. The emergence of Uniswap automated trading aims to improve the efficiency of trading against traditional exchanges.
Uniswap has its native tokens for users on its protocol to shape their future and profitability. This project has great similarities with Ethereum, which corroborates the assertion by its founder Hayden Adams that Vitalik Buterin influenced his decision.
Binance Coin
Binance is one of the top exchanges with a market cap of $88 billion and BNB worth $597.62. Investors can buy BNB from some top cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance, Zedcex Exchange, Bluebit, Bitget, and LBank. Read this article for more information about other cryptocurrency exchanges where you can buy BNB.
Tether
Tether is a blockchain platform to disrupt traditional financial systems via modern asset usage. The Tether token is built on several top blockchains, such as Avalanche, Algorand, Tezos, Tron, etc., for the issuance and redemption of its assets. Read this article for more information on top blockchains that co-exist with the Tether token.
Tether token (formerly Realcoin) was launched in 2014 by Brock Pierce, Reeve Collins, and Craig Sellers. According to Tether, its token is fully backed to ensure that an equivalent of tokens distributed are reserved.
Conclusion
Investors should always exercise due diligence when venturing into digital assets, as this market is still in its nascent stages and characterized by rapid changes, high volatility, and significant risks. While the potential for substantial returns exists, so too does the likelihood of financial loss, particularly for those unfamiliar with the intricacies of this evolving sector.
Engaging a qualified financial consultant can provide invaluable insights into navigating this complex landscape. These professionals can help investors assess their risk tolerance, develop a diversified portfolio, and identify opportunities that align with their long-term financial goals. Moreover, financial consultants stay informed about regulatory developments and emerging trends, enabling them to guide clients in making well-informed decisions and avoiding potential pitfalls, such as fraudulent schemes or poorly managed projects.
Ultimately, seeking expert advice ensures that investments in digital assets are approached with a strategic mindset, prioritizing both caution and informed decision-making to protect and grow one’s financial future.
What’s the difference between trading Crypto and Stock?
Crypto differs from stock, it doesn’t grant one ownership after purchase, unlike stock. Stock is traded within a specified while crypto 24/7.
What are Altcoins?
Altcoins are other digital assets outside Bitcoin that can be traded such as Ethereum, Solana, Polkadot, etc.
Why Is Bitcoin Valuable?
Bitcoin capitalizes on the scarcity strategy to make itself valuable with a limited maximum supply of 21 Million coins.
Why are Crypto Assets important?
Although crypto emerged intending to help us with the challenges of traditional currencies it has now begun to influence how we do business.