How to Pick the Best Crypto: Cryptocurrency Ratings

Many users literally don’t know how to start with crypto and how to pick the best. There are many types of cryptocurrencies (according to Coinmarketcap — more than 5500); each has its technological features and market history.

To understand and find the best and reliable cryptocurrency, users and investors often turn to rankings: by actual price, by total market capitalization, by trade volume, etc. There are many aggregator sites for this purpose, such as Coingecko and Coinmarketcap, as well as Binance Info, etc.

But two rankings try to take into account technological and financial indicators simultaneously. This is the rating of the cryptocurrency unit of the rating agency Weiss Ratings and the rating of the center for the development of the China information technology industry (CCID).

Weiss Ratings is a well-known American provider of investment product data, which began operations in 1971. only in April 2020, this agency assigned Bitcoin a rating of A- (excellent) in anticipation of halving (about what is it and how it can affect the price Bitcoin in the future read in our previous article).

The rating of the Weiss Ratings agency’s cryptocurrency unit was released for the first time in January 2018. Since then, it is updated every week and presents a consolidated report on 123 cryptocurrencies and tokens. Weiss Ratings’ overall goal is to help avoid the hype and help lead investors to identify the cryptocurrencies with the best chances of surviving and succeeding in the long term.

The Weiss Crypto Ratings model is built with five basic layers that take data from the project’s technology, adoption, risk, and momentum. These layers then filter the information through in-house software models identifying each component in relation to the potential success or failure of the overall company.

A weekly updated rating compares digital assets by criteria such as an indicator of technological development and the level of distribution of cryptocurrencies for long-term investors and a risk/return indicator for the short term.

The ranking result is a gradation of cryptocurrencies on its own scale:

• A = excellent;
• B = good;
• C = fair;
• D = weak;
• E = very weak.

A plus or minus sign indicates the upper third or lower third of a grade range, respectively. Also, an F grade is assigned to cryptocurrencies that have failed or are subject to credible allegations of fraud.

An alternative to the Weiss Crypto Ratings rating is a regularly updated study from the China Information Technology Industry Development Center (CCID).

CCID Research Institute was founded in 1995. This institution specializes in technology research and development, software testing, and policy development for various industries. In August 2017, CCID opened a blockchain-specific research unit.

The rating initiative of the Chinese authorities became known in May 2018 during a seminar organized by CCID. The goal was to create an independent rating system like Moody’s or Standard & Poor, but only for the blockchain industry.

As a result, projects included in the rating are evaluated in three main categories: basic technology, applicability, and creativity. The rating is updated every month, however, due to the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, the updating of some projects has slowed, and the overall index has not changed much over the past months.

The CCID rating in the cryptocurrency community has caused a lot of disputes: many disagree with the fact that EOS and Tron are at the top of the list, as well as with the very low positions of Bitcoin and Tezos.

As a result, both existing ratings are criticized in the community for their prepossession for some projects. Therefore, while you work with them, you should conduct your own additional analysis and study each project.