Kategorie: Crypto Analysis

2021 has largely been the year of crypto. The industry has generally reported outstanding growth. But despite this, some projects or coins have just blown everyone else out of the water. Here are some highlights:

• Overal returns in the cryptocurrency have outpaced other asset classes by huge margins  

• Although it may seem like it’s too late to buy into these high growth coins, it’s really not. 

• More growth could still come from the crypto space in 2022 and beyond. 

Well, here are our picks of coins that have performed exemplary this year but still offer enough upside for more growth.

Solana (SOL)

Solana (SOL) has often been dubbed the Ethereum killer. The project is designed to give developers an alternative to Ethereum and has been growing. New projects are launching on Solana, and the network is promising users low fees, better speeds, and overall blockchain efficiency. 

Data source: Tradingview.com 

Solana (SOL) has been the standout performer in 2021, gaining over 12000%. But there is so much to come from this token in the coming years. In fact, some experts believe that SOL will hit $1000 by 2027. At the time of writing, the coin was selling at $175.

Cardano (ADA)

Cardano (ADA) has also been one of the main performers of the year. The coin right now ranks among the top ten cryptos in the world by market cap. At the time of writing, it was trading at around $1.37. ADA has actually lost momentum as we head towards the end of the year. 

After an explosive start into 2021, the coin was well on course towards gains of over 1500%. But the crypto market correction that we saw in November and December has eaten into those gains. As a result, ADA will return around 675%. It’s still a decent return, but more so, it means that the coin could still surge further in the future.

The post These are some of the best performing coins in 2021 – But it’s still not too late to buy appeared first on Coin Journal.

Interest in Layer 1 blockchain projects has been rising by the day, and it’s not hard to see why. These projects are going to be huge in the future, but here are some highlights:

• Layer 1 chains address the scalability problems of blockchain technology.

• They also give users better fees, speeds, and efficiency. 

• Although we have seen an uptick in new Layer-1 blockchain projects, there are a few that have truly stood out. 

Here are our top three picks of the best Layer-1 blockchain projects to buy at the start of 2022.

Polygon (MATIC)

Previously known as the Matic Network, Polygon (MATIC) is a structured Ethereum scaling project designed to bring efficient, low-cost, and fast blockchain infrastructure. 

Data Source: Tradingview.com 

At the time of writing, its native token MATIC was selling at $2.62. Polygon (MATIC) is up 13000% this year, and more could still come from the coin in 2022 as investor sentiment towards Layer-1 blockchains grows.

Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum (ETH) is the king of Layer -1 blockchains. Yes, the platform has seen stiff competition from other newer options, but it still remains a solid investment simply because of its vast infrastructure. 

Over 4000 projects have launched on the Ethereum network, and besides, ETH is the second largest crypto after Bitcoin. It’s therefore worth it, and at the time of writing, ETH was trading at around $3794. Although it’s a bit lower from its 2021 highs, ETH is still up 405% for the year.

Solana (SOL)

Solana (SOL) is perhaps one of the most promising alternatives to Ethereum. The network is promising better speeds, low costs, and cross-chain interoperability. So, far it has earned a lot of respect and growing support in the crypto space.

Solana is also seeing an uptick in the number of projects launching on the network. This year alone, its native token SOL has grown by a whopping 12000%. At the time of writing, the coin was trading at $176.

The post The best Layer-1 blockchain projects to buy at the start of the year appeared first on Coin Journal.

Swipe (SXP) has been surging in 24-hour intraday trading today. After dipping in December to lows of $1.37, the coin has rebounded sharply. At the time of writing, Swipe (SXP) was trading at around $2.06. This is nearly 52% up from its lows. Swipe (SXP) is also looking poised for a sustained bullish uptrend. Here are some highlights so far:

• The recent surge was triggered by news that Binance was going to acquire the remaining outstanding shares in the project.

• Despite this, Swipe (SXP) was already rallying after consolidating around the $1.37.

• The token is now well above its 20- and 50-day exponential moving averages, suggesting a bullish outlook.

Data Source: Tradingview.com 

Swipe (SXP) – price action and analysis

Swipe (SXP) reported immense interest from investors after the Binance news. Although the price action showed a 30% increase in 24 hours, we also saw a huge uptick in trade volume. In fact, the 24-hour trading volume was up by nearly 1231% at the time of writing. This is an indication of increased buying as investors look to cash in on this bullish run. 

Besides, SXP has now surged past its 20- and 50-day exponential moving averages. It is still however below the 100 and 200 EMAs which could pose some downside risk. But buoyed by the Binance news, STX will rally, and the key will be to cross over its mid-November resistance of $2.9.

Why you should buy Swipe (SXP)

Swipe (SXP) has always been a decent investment because it is backed by very good underlying fundamentals. 

The entrance of Binance, a large ticket investor and perhaps one of the most credible names in crypto means that SXP is poised for better fortunes in the long run. This is the best time to buy into the project and hold the token.

The post Swipe (SXP) is up over 30% today – Here is why you should buy it now appeared first on Coin Journal.

 Layer-2 blockchains are third-party protocols operating on layer-1 blockchains to help solve any of the blockchain trilemma- decentralisation, security, and scalability. They serve as add-ons for the parent blockchain. They can be sidechains, plasma chains, state channels, or rollups. Popular examples are Bitcoin Lightning Network and Ethereum Plasma. The following list consists of top layer-2 coins that you can invest in.

Polygon (MATIC)

 If you are confused about Polygon (MATIC), you possibly remember it as the Matic Network. Polygon was developed in 2017 in India by Jaynti Kanani, Anurag Arjun, Mihailo Bjelic, and Sandeep Nailwal. The Matic Network was rebranded as Polygon in February 2021, about a year after its launch. Polygon was developed to help solve the scalability problem the Ethereum blockchain faces and bring about mass adoption. In essence, the network plans to improve the speed and cut the cost and technicalities of the Ethereum blockchain by providing multiple tools. It also aims to bridge various blockchains on the Ethereum blockchain. Due to being at the forefront of most development in the crypto space- smart contracts, dApps, NFTs, and so on, the Ethereum blockchain has become relatively expensive and clogged. As such, the Polygon network is proffering a scaling solution to this problem by serving as a layer-2 network (an add-on layer) to Ethereum. This would help the blockchain increase and become more secure, efficient, and useful. Polygon is a multi-level network with numerous sidechains. These sidechains are built using the Polygon software development kit (SDK) written in Golang. The SDK is highly flexible, extensible, modular, and compatible with Ethereum. Plasma chains, zero-knowledge (zk-) rollups, and optimistic rollups are the methods that can be used to scale the sidechains when developing them. Sidechains are special blockchains that support numerous DeFi protocols while attached to the main blockchain. This feature makes Polygon likened to Cosmos, Polkadot, and Avalanche. Each sidechain is predicted to run about 70,000 transactions per block.

Like other blockchains, the Polygon platform can be used to make payments, create lending platforms, and develop games, among others. Asides from that, it provides other solutions like Hermez, Avail, Nightfall, Miden, and Zero. Nightfall, Miden, and Zero are still in development. Polygon operates on a proof-of-stake model, which allows users to use their tokens to verify transactions and participate in governance. MATIC is the native cryptocurrency of the Polygon network. It is used in settling and paying for transactions between users in the network. The token helps drive development on the network by serving as rewards to users who provide computational resources and services. As an investor, owning and staking MATIC tokens allows you to vote on network upgrades and fixes. However, your vote is proportional to the amount of MATIC in your wallet. Due to the limited supply of MATIC tokens (10 billion), its value might be positively influenced. With its attributes of providing a solution to the scalability problem of Ethereum and allowing developers to build more user-friendly dApps, its adoption might increase; and with increased adoption and use-cases comes an increase in value. Sushiswap (a DEX exchange), Quick swap, Chain games, Curve, and Ocean Protocol, are all built on the Polygon platform. Although its market cap is reasonably high ($17.6b), it will make a great investment as it is currently trading at $2.57. It is ranked 14th on Coingecko. To buy Polygon (MATIC), head to Binance, Coinbase Exchange, MEXC Global, or Digifinex.

 Loopring (LRC)

 Loopring (LRC) is an Ethereum layer-2 scaling platform that consists of an open-source zk-rollup protocol. It is the first platform to use a zk-rollup protocol on the Ethereum blockchain. Daniel Wang developed it in 2017. Loopring consists of smart contracts and 1zero knowledge circuits. These are useful in developing automated market makers, payment apps, and decentralized exchanges that have high-throughput. Also, it can be used to develop protocols, infrastructures, and user-friendly DeFi. Besides that, the platform has a secure native exchange where trading can be done very fast without central authority and gas fees. It can bundle transactions together for efficiency because of the zk-rollup proofs.

Additionally, this allows it to run certain computations off the Ethereum blockchain. It performs operations like trading, providing liquidity, swapping, and making payments relying on the security of the Ethereum blockchain. Loopring features an on-chain data availability (OCDA) protocol that makes its transactions faster. Also, it has a system of order rings, order miners, and order sharing that provides instant liquidity. It boasts of about 1000x the throughput of the ETH blockchain with a reduced transaction cost that is about 1/100th that of Ethereum. When compared to the ETH blockchain, it verifies transactions faster with less cost due to requiring fewer data. It only uses a smart contract when validating the final cryptographic proof. It requires less computation because it doesn’t pull data from the main network. The loopring protocol can help drive increased adoption of the Ethereum blockchain as it will increase efficiency. LRC is the native token of the platform. It is used in powering the platform’s operations. To create an exchange on loopring, you need to lock over 250,000 LRC, allowing you to use the on-chain data proofs. Moreover, to run an exchange that won’t have this feature, you need about 1 million LRC. Your deposit would be confiscated and redistributed to users who lock theirs if you manage your exchange poorly. LRC serves as a reward token for zk-rollup operators and liquidity providers. Also, it can be staked to earn from the trading fees paid to the network. Seventy percent of the trading fees are allocated to users who stake their tokens, 20% is kept for the platform’s decentralised autonomous organisation, which monitors how the pool’s funds are spent. The remaining 10% is burnt. This burning event reduces the amount in supply and consequently helps drive the price upward. It has a total supply of 1.4 billion, with 1.2 billion currently in circulation. It is ranked 64th with a market cap of $2.5b. It is currently trading at $2.04 and reached an all-time high of $3.75 in November 2021. It is listed on Binance, Coinsbit, Kraken, and the likes.

 These coins provide a specific solution to the layer-1 blockchain they are serving, and as long as they keep doing this, they will keep having value.

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Litecoin (LTC) has the potential to make you rich in 2022

Investing in cryptocurrency is slowly gaining traction in the modern world. Though it is still a relatively new venture, cryptocurrency investments have turned a few savvy investors into millionaires. It is always wise to diversify your portfolio to spread your risks when it comes to crypto investments.

There are so many digital currencies now other than Bitcoin and Ethereum. Most investors are unaware of the many altcoins or alternative coins they can add to their packages. Litecoin is one of these coins you can consider adding to your investment. Since it is not as common as bitcoin and ether, you may not know about it too. However, if you are looking for a coin to diversify your portfolio, here are a few reasons you should buy a few Litecoins.

Litecoin is faster than Bitcoin

If you are already into cryptocurrencies, you probably know how transactions happen on the blockchain. Peer-to-peer money transfer is the main reason why most digital coins exist. It means that individuals can send money to each other without needing a third party or intermediaries like a bank or money transfer agency. Bitcoin has been facilitating such transfers hence its popularity, but transactions on its platform are slow and expensive. Developers saw the need to create alternative coins to counter bitcoin’s slow transaction rates. Litecoin is among the many such coins that have managed to increase the speed of transactions, thus attracting many users. Users can process transactions on its platform four times faster than on the bitcoin blockchain. Litecoin might not be the fastest now, but it shows some promising technological developments making it a worthwhile investment. A project that keeps on innovating and evolving is a good investment.

Litecoin has a big market capitalisation

Market capitalisation is the total value of a particular commodity at one point in time. In the case of digital currencies, you calculate this value by multiplying the total number of coins in circulation with its current price. Litecoin is currently trading at about $147 at writing this article, with a circulation of more than 69.3 million coins. Thus, its market cap is approximately $10.1 billion, placing it at number 20 in the cryptocurrency circles. A high market cap indicates that a coin is stable enough to withstand sudden market shocks. The high market cap provides the currency with a cushion that protects it when it becomes highly volatile. It also means that a few whale investors cannot drive the price according to their whims. You can consider having a few of these coins for the long term, knowing that their price will remain relatively stable.

Litecoin is highly liquid

The liquidity of a digital coin is one vital factor that you cannot overlook when choosing a coin to buy. Liquidity is the ease with which you can convert an asset or a commodity into liquid cash. It is critical to invest in a coin that you can sell easily when you need to get liquid cash. It is especially important if you are entering into a short term trade and want to make quick profits with price changes. Litecoin is one of the most liquid coins in the digital coins market. If you want to determine a coin’s liquidity, you can check its 24-hour volume. This volume is the number of coins investors have bought or sold in the last 24 hours. In the case of litecoin, this volume was more than 7.8 million coins, worth more than $1.1 billion. It shows that you could have moved as many as 100,000 units in just 24 hours.

Litecoin has a strong team of developers

There are so many digital currencies at the moment. Research shows that they could now be more than 10,000 coins in the industry today. Most of these coins are temporary pump and dump projects that you should avoid. A good development team means that the coin is a serious project with future prospects. It also means that it is well adaptable to technological advancements to sustain its presence in the market.

That said, litecoin is among the serious projects in this industry. It has a team of experienced and skilled developers to ensure its continuity. The main developer was an engineer at Google and Coinbase. He is backed up by a team that has seen litecoin surpass bitcoin in terms of speed and efficiency. The team was the first to use the Segregated Witness update and also featured Lightning Network. Such developments make a coin worth investing in, knowing that it could be something big and valuable in the future.

Large corporations are using Bitcoin

When large corporations accept using a digital coin, they have identified some useful features in that coin. These corporations infuse confidence in investors and stir up the coin’s value as its demand increases. Litecoin is now working with UFC (Ultimate Fighting Champion), gaming giant Atari and Overstock.com. These companies allow their clients to pay for goods and services using Litecoins. Having such an acceptance has catalysed the growth of this digital currency. It has spurred its demand making its value grow in the last few years. Blockchain technology is slowly changing the gaming industry, and litecoin is part and parcel of this growth. It would, therefore, be wise to invest in such a future.

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