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  • 7 Killer Cryptos to Buy for January | by Bit Media Buzz | Feb, 2022

    7 Killer Cryptos to Buy for January | by Bit Media Buzz | Feb, 2022

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    It’s been a rough start to 2022 for crypto investors. Bitcoin (CCC:BTC-USD) has witnessed meaningful correction and altcoin have followed.

    Unrest in Kazakhstan has resulted in Bitcoin network power slumps and that’s one reason for the correction. Further, the Federal Reserve has signaled tapering and rate hikes are coming in 2022. Relative tightening of liquidity is another reason for some weakness in the crypto world.

    However, volatility is nothing new in the crypto space. In the past, Bitcoin has witnessed sharp correction. It has been followed by a strong reversal rally. I also believe that we are at a point where Bitcoin dominance is likely to decline on a relative basis.

    Altcoin dominance will increase and the out-performers will be coins that have a strong use case. In uncertain times, meme coins or low utility coins are likely to be the worst hit.

    Overall, real interest rates are likely to remain negative in most parts of the world. Even if contractionary monetary policies are pursued. This will continue to encourage investment and speculation in risky asset classes.

    I therefore believe that the recent correction is a good opportunity to accumulate some quality altcoins.

    Let’s discuss seven cryptos that are positioned for a strong rally in the near-term. These altcoins are also likely to remain in an uptrend in the coming quarters.

    • Binance Coin (CCC:BNB-USD)
    • Zignaly (CCC:ZIG-USD)
    • MarketMove (CCC:MOVE-USD)
    • MarhabaDeFi (CCC:MRHB-USD)
    • Torum (CCC:XTM-USD)
    • Fetch.ai (CCC:FET-USD)
    • Rari Governance Token (CCC:RGT-USD)

    Source: Robert Paternoster / Shutterstock.com

    In October 2017, BNB coin was trading at three cents. The coin touched all-time highs of $686 in May 2021. This serves as a good example of the value creation that’s likely to come by holding fundamentally strong projects.

    After being a star performer in 2021, BNB coin has been in a downtrend in the recent past. At current levels of $487, it’s worth buying for short-term and long-term gains.

    As an overview, Binance is the top centralized cryptocurrency exchange in the world. The exchange currently has 355 listed coins as compared to 139 coins listed on Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN). For investors who are bullish on continued adoption growth of cryptocurrencies, BNB coin is a core portfolio hold.

    Last month, Binance partnered with Dubai World Trade Centre. The partnership will set up an international virtual asset ecosystem. In December 2021, Binance also acquired 18% stake in Singapore based regulated private exchange, Hg Exchange.

    It seems that Binance has ample financial flexibility to pursue acquisition driven growth. Further, Binance Labs has been investing in attractive projects in the crypto world. Once bullish sentiments are back, it would not take long for BNB coin to surge.

    Source: Shutterstock

    I had talked about Zignaly in October 2021 as a project that has a strong use case. From November 2021 lows of two cents, ZIG coin is already higher by over 280%. As a matter of fact, the coin had touched highs of 18 cents in the recent rally. I believe that ZIG coin is worth accumulation with the market sentiment driving the coin lower.

    The recent market volatility and downside has further underscored the importance of Zignaly project in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The idea of Zignaly is to follow trading experts for profits. The platform has already gained significant traction with 350,000 users and $120 million in assets under management.

    It’s worth mentioning here that Zignaly profit-sharing and trading has an edge over copy trading. In the latter, the user is always one-step behind the trader. However, in profit-sharing, the user is a co-investor with the trader. Zignaly claims that the top 20 traders on the platform delivered 270% annual profits. Therefore, just by profit sharing with these traders, investors can make meaningful gains.

    I particularly like the project as there are thousands of new investors taking a plunge into cryptocurrencies on a daily basis. It makes sense to test the waters with an expert before pursuing individual trading.

    Source: Shutterstock

    In the last two-weeks, Bitcoin has trended lower. However, during the same period, MOVE token has been in an uptrend.

    MarketMove is another project that I have talked about in the past. However, the project is undergoing a complete revamp with Move X slated to be launched in the second week of January 2022. This is a key reason for MOVE token to trend higher.

    MarketMove project started with a focus on artificial intelligence (AI)-driven Safety Audit of projects. Further, the project aimed at bringing features like stop-loss and limit orders in decentralized finance.

    However, with the coming launch of Move X, the project vision seems to have widened. While the whitepaper is still to be unveiled, Move X swap will be cross-chain and allow investors the best swap rates, which will be powered by artificial intelligence. Therefore, the idea is not just to provide a platform to exchange assets (across chains), but to exchange at the best possible rates.

    Additionally, Move X intends to differentiate itself from other DeFi projects by being a complete suite of high-end tools. As an example, the project aims to provide investors with suggestions on how to earn using staking and farming across blockchains.

    Overall, MarketMove project is just two quarters old. It seems that the team has a vision of making the project a one-stop shop for all DeFi needs. In my view, some exposure to the project can be considered for potential multi-fold returns.

    Source: Shutterstock

    MRHB is another token in the crypto space that has survived the recent carnage. On Dec. 27, the token was trading at four cents. It’s already higher by over 200% at 13 cents.

    So, what’s the differentiating factor?

    MarhabaDeFi claims to be the first project in the decentralized world that builds a shariah-compliant suite of crypto financial solutions. According to CoinGecko, the project is focused on “Islamic Finance liquidity pool which is currently over $3 trillion in size, growing, and serves over 1,000,000 people globally”

    Liquidity Harvester is one feature of MarhabaDeFi. It’s for income generation across a vast range of sharia compliant pools that will deliver APY in the range of 5% to 25%. The project also has a cross-chain DEX Aggregator that splits large orders across various decentralized exchanges to reduce the slippage. The launch of interest-free crypto financing is also on the cards in 2022.

    With a lot happening in the NFT space, MarhabaDeFi has introduced Souq NFT. This is a NFT collection and creation platform. It also includes listing and auction marketplace.

    Overall, MRHB token looks attractive with a diversified offering in an unexplored area of Islamic finance merging with the crypto world. It’s not surprising that the coin has been trending higher even as broad markets decline.

    Source: Shutterstock

    XTM coin has been in a correction mode in the recent past. However, it’s worth noting that XTM is still higher by 700% from lows of October 2021. The coin has therefore witnessed a meaningful rally. I believe that the correction provides a good entry point for long-term investors.

    As an overview, Torum is the first social media platform that’s specifically designed for cryptocurrency users. According to the website, the social media platform already has 203,361 users. With a global reach, it’s likely that Torum users will continue to increase.

    Further, there are few factors that are likely to support user growth as the project visibility increases.

    First and foremost, the platform rewards users for activities that include posting, liking posts and for creating threads on specific topics. Users are rewarded XTM coins. This provides an incentive to remain active on the social media platform.

    Furthermore, Torum is expanding beyond just social media. The project already serves as a news aggregator in the crypto space. Additionally, NFT Marketplace and NFT Launchpad are catalysts for sustained user growth in the social media platform. Besides the launchpad, the Torum DeFi also provides investors with liquidity farming and cross-chain swapping.

    Another interesting upcoming feature of the project is Torumgram. This will connect Telegram with Torum, “essentially allowing the community to use Telegram directly on Torum.”

    Source: Shutterstock

    Fetch.ai project is another name that comes with a strong use case. The project aims to bring the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence to the decentralized world.

    FET token has been an out-performer in the last 12-months. Even after the recent decline, the token is higher by 550% over this period.

    In terms of the use case, Fetch.ai has applications in areas that include smart city, decentralized delivery agents and autonomous AI travel agents, among others. Last year, the project developed a decentralized marketplace for global manufacturer, Festo.

    In particular, the smart city project promises significant reduction in carbon footprint. With rising environmental concerns, this can be a game-changer. Fetch.ai estimates that the “implementation of smart-city infrastructure will result in 34,000 tonnes Co2 emission reduction annually.”

    In March 2021, Fetch.ai also received institutional investment of $5 million. This will help in building and accelerating the company’s AI application. Among the project partners, there are big names like Bosch and Blockchain for Europe.

    Overall, FET token looks attractive below 50 cents and is worth considering for the medium to long-term.

    Source: Shutterstock

    As the world of decentralized finance swells, RGT token is worth holding for the long-term.

    The token had touched all-time highs of $64.6 in November 2021. After a meaningful correction, the token currently trades at $26.88. With a limited supply of 12.5 million tokens, I am bullish on RGT touching new highs once the sentiments reverse for cryptocurrencies.

    As an overview, Rari Capital is involved in lending, borrowing and yield generation in the DeFi space. For Rari, growth has been stellar in the last 12-months.

    Currently, the community has more than 10,000 members with a total value locked of $1.1 billion. Rari Capital provides more than 100 DeFi opportunities.

    It’s worth noting that even with a potential rate hike in 2022, real interest rates will remain negative. Rari allows investors to deposit crypto-assets and earn a robust yield. It’s therefore very likely that the total value locked in DeFi opportunities in the project will continue to swell.

    This will translate into upside for the governance token that looks undervalued. To put things into perspective, the project currently has fully diluted valuation to total value locked ratio of 0.33.

    On the date of publication, Faisal Humayun did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

    Faisal Humayun is a senior research analyst with 12 years of industry experience in the field of credit research, equity research and financial modelling. Faisal has authored over 1,500 stock specific articles with focus on the technology, energy and commodities sector.

    The post 7 Killer Cryptos to Buy for January appeared first on InvestorPlace.

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  • Is Ethereum the Ethereum Killer?

    Is Ethereum the Ethereum Killer?

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    “It was Ethereum, in Metamask, with the gas fees.”

    There is often talk of Solana being an Ethereum killer, but what if the culprit is not the latest trendy smart contract platform; what if the wounds are self-inflicted and Ethereum will ultimately be done in by Ethereum itself, which is to say, by its own shortcomings?

    Or alternatively, is this all melodramatic FUD from people who put their money on the wrong horse and are bitter about it? Is it actually the case that ETH, like Gloria Gaynor, will not crumble, nor lay down and die, because it knows how to love, and how to stay alive?

    What’s the Problem?

    The major sticking point with Ethereum is the transaction costs, known as gas fees. Anytime you want to do anything at all on the Ethereum blockchain, you have to pay for computational power on the network. These fees used to seem reasonable, but as the price of ETH has risen and the network gets busier, the costs become, in fiat terms, ludicrously high.

    On top of that, the network is frequently congested, leading to long delays, battles to get transactions through first, failed transactions and, on the whole, a user experience that would, in a more orthodox and established industry, be considered a full-on disaster.

    What this all boils down to is scalability.

    What’s the Solution?

    Sidechains and Layer 2

    Sidechains and layer 2 solutions, such as Immutable X, Polygon, Optimism, and Arbitrum, comprise of other networks building compatible protocols alongside or on top of Ethereum. All being well, these allow you to work within the Ethereum ecosystem but with reduced transaction fees, improved speeds and on the whole, scalability.

    Sounds good, but these solutions come with their own set of issues. There is no direct on-ramp to these protocols, so you have to buy ETH, move it from an ETH wallet to a sidechain/layer 2 wallet, and then all the way back again in reverse if you want to cash out. Though you are still paying some gas fees along the way, and there is an additional level of friction.

    Bearing in mind that getting started with ETH and, say, buying NFTs, is already a slightly weird and complicated process. This seems like fixing one problem (the fees) while exacerbating others (friction and complexity).

    Eth 2.0

    Ethereum 2.0 is Ethereum, but better. To get very marginally more technical, it switches Ethereum from a Proof of Work consensus mechanism to a Proof of Stake consensus mechanism, and it introduces a technique

    Sam White
    Sam White

    known as sharding.

    From a user or investor perspective, the upshot of these changes should be to drastically ease congestion on the network, reduce transaction costs and times, and allow Ethereum to scale up and meet demand.

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    The problem is that it is unknown when Ethereum 2.0 will be fully operational. It could be relatively soon, possibly sometime in early 2022, but no one seems certain. In the meantime, we can simply hold on and wait, but that risks losing some of the momentum and public interest that is building up around decentralization, blockchain technology, and digital assets.

    What’s the Alternative?

    There are several competitors, not layer 2 solutions for Ethereum, but entirely separate blockchains and ecosystems, that are attracting the development and users and have tremendous potential.

    Cardano

    Cardano is a meticulous and well-thought-out protocol. The main criticism of Cardano is that it’s a little too meticulous, progressing slowly and with not enough actual working products. However, that has changed as smart contracts are now operational, a host of DeFi platforms are gearing up for action, and a buoyant NFT community continues to grow.

    Solana

    As with Ethereum, Solana has gained attention through its NFTs, which are achieving high trade volumes without the gas fees. There is plenty of development going on, and the coin price has made huge gains. A criticism of Solana is that, unlike Ethereum, it is not adequately decentralized.

    Avalanche

    Rapidly becoming known for its speed and utility, Avalanche’s price has soared as it offers a powerful alternative to Ethereum for the deployment of smart contract-based dApps (decentralized applications) that avoid excessive transaction fees. It is a relatively new platform, but Avalanche is looking extremely well positioned.

    For more alternatives, you might want to look into Tezos and Binance Smart Chain, and there are other less well-known competitors too.

    All that said, it’s worth noting that this doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game in which one ultimate victor devours the others in a brutal crypto blood-frenzy, although that might be entertaining. A key concept for the future is multi-chain functionality. The idea is that blockchains will become interoperable, and rather than facing off tribally on Twitter, we can all get along nicely.

    Ethereum Has the Advantage, but Where Next?

    Let’s be realistic here. Ethereum is not about to keel over just yet. What it has on its side is first-mover advantage and user adoption, meaning that it is heavily insulated by the network effects it has earned over several years.

    If anyone says that Ethereum does not function, then the question you can fire back in its defence is, “then why are so many people using it?” And it is true, for something that supposedly does not work, it sure is doing a lot of work.

    And yet. What is also true is that if you’re hoping to onboard a lot of new people into the worlds of NFTs, DeFi, metaverses, or just Web 3.0 in general, then with those gas fees? Forget it. The wonders of Ethereum will remain a niche interest for the crypto rich who got on board early. And, in terms of developer activity, don’t be fooled into thinking that other networks are not gaining momentum now.

    What is more, Ethereum’s issues come at a moment (inevitably, being scalability issues) when interest in things like NFTs, the metaverse and blockchain gaming are sky-high. Plus, we can realistically expect a growing influx of newcomers.

    Timing is everything, and it would be an interesting history that got written if Ethereum dominated while the space was in its obscure nascent phase, making a few people very rich in the process, only to be superseded by alternative protocols when crypto went mainstream.



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