My Top 5 Crypto Safe Bets and One Risky One
Do you want to make a bunch of money all at once? You’ve come to the wrong place. Here are my incredibly safe picks for the rest of the year, with one risky one.
Oh, don’t we all want to become crypto billionaires? Winklevoss, Armstrong, Larson each came in at a different point along the crypto gold rush timeline, and they all made bank from their timing and innovation. But, what can you and I do even to begin to touch the greatness these people achieved?
First, stop dreaming about becoming a billionaire. It’s recently come to my attention that absolutely nothing happens if I sit around and dream (really hard). I don’t understand why? Was I lied to? Not really. It just feels good to imagine how it would appear to never worry about finances ever again. However, it’s a waste of mine and your time. So, let’s talk about growing wealth the way most people should: smartly.
This article will discuss why I believe these five cryptocurrencies are a safe bet moving forward and mention one risky one because you need to have some fun.
Let’s get it.
Bitcoin (BTC)
I bet you didn’t see this one coming. Look at me dropping knowledge bombs. BTC recently broke the 50K mark and, as of this writing, sits around 51K with a 57K spike earlier in the day. Add that other countries are warming up to Bitcoin and Nigerian citizens weathering an 18% inflation increase on top of the Nigerian government’s attempted ban on crypto failing. We see proof that community-supported crypto maintains viability during economic instability. And that’s not all.
Remember when it took ten minutes for BTC transactions? As of July 2021, Lightning added over 23,000 nodes to BTC’s network, and now we see up to seven transactions per second thanks to two beautiful geniuses, Joseph Poon and Thaddeus Dryja!
There are so many more wins for Bitcoin to list here, but suffice to say, if BTC weathers the congressional Fall session, Bitcoin is a great place to put your money.
Ethereum (ETH)
I remember when The Linux Guys talked about Ethereum years ago, and I even thought about buying in. I didn’t. But, it’s not too late. Getting in on ETH is an excellent investment, and here’s why: it’s blockchain adoption. There’s a lot of underlying benefit with the Ethereum blockchain, that adoption will secure its popularity further than ever before.
Many new technologies use smart contracts to do business, and we are at the tip of the iceberg of their application. NFTs are booming, and they owe their birth to smart contracts via Ethereum’s blockchain. It even caught the interest of fat cat crypto naysayers like JP Morgan. They might hate the decentralization, but they’ll embrace those smart contracts and blockchain functionality.
Ethereum blew up in 2020, and it’s holding that strength, even reaching $4,297.96 back on May 12th, 2021. It’s broken $4k once this month and is set to do it again. We are getting close to a crest where the upper $3k range will be in the rearview mirror. So, if you think ETH is a good investment, you’re right.
Now, let’s talk about my favorite.
Ripple (XRP)
During the first year of the pandemic, news heads put a to of light on essential workers. They are the working class that keeps the cogs of the country moving while we huddle in our houses, hoping this awful virus will go away. I want you to think of XRP in that way: the silent unsung hero of crypto. The working class crypto. XRP is an incredibly versatile coin facilitating international transactions 24/7 instantly. Remember slow as molasses currency conversion? Me either, because XRP wiped it out of my memory. XRP is capable of keeping up with the most ruthless of processing systems such as VISA. VISA can process 1700 transactions per second with an alleged capacity of 65K per second! No problem. XRP can scale like Spider-man on the empire state building.
XRP is the payment processing backbone for fast global payments and transactions, including lower transaction fees than BTC. So there’s no wonder it’s an attractive option for the movement of international money interests. Moreover, XRP sees slow and steady growth with lower relative volatility than other coins. With its recent victory over the SEC, we should see increased confidence in it moving forward.
As of this writing, XRP has a low barrier to entry with a current price of $1.39 per unit. It’s been a good year for XRP, starting at $.23. An earlier investment would have netted you a 6x return by now. Take a look at this one.
Cardano (ADA)
If Ethereum was an attempt to build a better Bitcoin, Cardano is an attempt at a better Ethereum. In fact, the co-founder of Ethereum created ADA. The goal was to strengthen the implementation of the stages of Cardano’s launch. So, every phase of any ADA innovation is backed by peer-reviewed scientific research.
Cardano is proof-of-stake to remain energy efficient, fast, and maintain low transaction fees backed by heavy research to solidify its growth. Due to this, ADA grew from $.02 at its birth to $2.84 as of this writing. That’s ridiculous! However, ADA had the formula for success from the get-go, and all it took was the ability for one man to rethink the weaknesses of ADA’s predecessor to create a solid launch.
Put Cardano on your radar.
Polkadot (DOT)
Polkadot is a new blockchain tech allowing users to build custom blockchains called parachains that connect the DOT’s main chain. DOT’s main chain offers the same security and flexibility as Ethereum, but with the bonus of user-created chains. In addition, these chains allow for greater privacy of any transaction details. The creators built DOT intending it to work seamlessly with Web 3.0 (decentralized internet).
“Parachains — Parachains are custom blockchains that use the relay chain’s computing resources to confirm that transactions are accurate.” — Kraken
Decentralization is the core of every crypto endeavor, and DOT knows it. Although 2020 was a good year, Polkadot struggled in 2021 and saw typical cryptocurrency volatility trends. Still, Polkadot is a solid entry in the cryptocurrency field, and I would keep an eye on it.
Bonus Round!
Gemini Dollar (GUSD)
I know. I lied. Do you think I want to be responsible for your portfolio’s downfall? No. I’m supposed to be the guy who knows things. And, although I can’t predict the future with any of the cryptocurrencies I’ve mentioned, I use the tools granted me like everyone else. And my tools tell me you need some stability anchored to the rollercoaster ride of crypto’s ebbs and flows. Therefore, I give you GUSD. Gemini Dollar is a stablecoin, and that is an attractive way to provide some surety to your investments. However, I recommend it because of its fantastic APY of 8.05% as of this writing!
That’s it! What? Do you want a crazy investment suggestion? Okay, fine.
Axie Infinity (AXE)
Axie Infinity is a game that brings together the best of Pokémon and other games, allowing players to battle with Axies against either computer-controlled opponents or real-life people. Choose from over 300 Axies with different skills to fight your opponents. The Axies in the game are NFTs.
NFTs or non-fungible tokens are new tokens that make each Axie an original and unique digital object. You can breed them like Pokemon, and each newly born Axie is a minted NFT. So, have fun with it.
Conclusion
The cryptocurrency market is a little wild compared to traditional markets, but there are some solid players within that ecosystem. BTC, ETH, XRP, ADA, and DOT should give you some solid ground to lean on if you’re nervous about what to invest in, and even more so with the stablecoin GUSD. However, don’t forget to explore a risky investment or two at your discretion.
These are my picks for the rest of the year, barring any new disruptive kids on the block. These are all coins lining my portfolio, but I admit I haven’t tried Axie Infinite yet. But NFTs, fascinate me, so it’s on the menu.
What will you invest in?
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