Bitcoin and Ethereum are unarguably two of the most popular and top cryptocurrencies in the space. They have dominated a larger share of the market valuation and market share, but things have started to change in recent years. Altcoins or alternate coins have now started to gain investors’ attention for all the right reasons. Although Ethereum is an altcoin, it outpaces other altcoins in the space in terms of market valuation; hence, we’re keeping Ethereum away from the point of consideration in this article. We want to focus on cryptocurrencies beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum that have tremendous growth potential and have picked up pace over the years.
If you own either Bitcoin or Ethereum, you can get excellent trade rates. You can also convert 1 Bitcoin and 1 Ethereum to INR or whatever portion you own to your fiat currency for some good profits. But the real burning question is, for how long can you solely depend on these two cryptocurrencies? The market has started showing signs of change, and the new trend is inclined towards cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin and Ethereum. If you’re a crypto investor willing to make 2022 your year, consider going beyond these crypto coins, and shift your focus on the following digital currencies and technologies.
Polkadot (DOT)
For the uninitiated, Polkadot is an open-source blockchain platform that lets data and value be sent across networks that were previously incompatible, like Bitcoin and Ethereum. This shared multichain network is unique because it can simultaneously process various transactions on different blockchain networks, making it scalable and faster. The platform uses DOT as its native currency for governance and staking.
Due to its features allowing developers to communicate across blockchain networks, Polkadot has attracted several developers who are running more than 500 projects on the Polkadot network. This number is expected to grow, and with every increase in the number of users, the platform’s and its currency’s value will continue increasing.
At present, Polkadot is used to execute use cases like identity verification, file storage, facilitating transactions, etc. Its developers have promised more feature releases in the future, so investors can expect to see some price jumps in the long term.
Ripple (XRP)
Ripple Labs is a company that created the XRP ledger using blockchain technology. If you’re related to the financial world, you would have heard of financial institutions using Ripple’s XRP ledger to facilitate cross-border fund transfers. This platform makes international funds transfer faster, easier, secure, and affordable. It aims to take the place of SWIFT in the coming years.
At present, many notable financial institutions worldwide are using Ripple because of the platform’s ease of use, scalability, and affordability. Ripple has recently invested in the NFT space by putting its bet on Mintable, an NFT marketplace. It has also created a fund of approximately $ 250 million for creators to promote innovation. All this had led to the cryptocurrency’s price surging even more.
If you haven’t invested in Ripple already, you should consider including it in your portfolio after conducting your own research. A quick look at the price charts will show you how excellent the currency has been performing. Its early investors had already made huge profits by selling Ripple at high surge points and converting the sold Ripple to INR.
Chainlink (LINK)
If you like adding utility-driven digital currencies to your portfolio, investing in Chain Link should be on your consideration list. For those who don’t know, it is a decentralized blockchain oracle network created on Ethereum. The prime aim of Chain Link is to facilitate tamper-proof data transfer from off-chain sources to on-chain smart contracts. As Chain Link is primarily being used for Defi securities, one can expect its demand and acceptance to increase with the growing popularity of Defi platforms.
Experts predict that Chainlink’s price will increase in the future, and it is likely to be a lucrative investment for many. The Chainlink platform uses LINK as its native cryptocurrency, which is available for trade on many top exchange platforms around the world. You can even find it as a supported cryptocurrency in your current exchange platform, so once you have made your mind, you can make an easy purchase without any hassle.
Solana (SOL)
Solana is a modern-day, decentralized blockchain platform that aims to provide blazing fast-speed transactions at affordable prices. Due to its speed and transaction costs, many developers use Solana to host their decentralized apps. The platform employs several novel approaches, and proof of history is one of them.
Many even consider Solana an Ethereum killer, as it processes much higher transactions than Ethereum at any given point of time and for a fraction of the transaction cost charged by top, popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. This platform is being considered well-suited for high-throughput Defi solutions. It uses less processing power than Ethereum without affecting the processes on its network.
At present, you can find over 500 dApps on the network created by independent developers, and most of them are related to Finance services like borrowing and lending. Some dApps even go beyond finance and cover NFT trades, play-to-earn games, and more. As these applications need SOL, Solana’s native cryptocurrency, to transact, its price has increased beyond measure. So if you’re serious about long-term investing in the cryptocurrency space, you should consider adding Solana to your crypto portfolio.
If you’re a crypto investor willing to make 2022 your year, open an account and consider going beyond these crypto coins, and shift your focus on the following digital currencies and technologies
Conclusion
A diversified portfolio often acts as a hedge against a sudden market crash and can save you to a certain extent. While Bitcoin and Ethereum are excellent cryptocurrencies to have in one’s portfolio, it is now time to go beyond these mainstream coins and invest in those with massive growth potential. To make your work a little easier, we’ve listed the above four cryptocurrencies having huge potential. Still, you can always conduct more research, adding more options to the above-shared list. The more options you have to consider, compare, and analyze, the better.