From Logan Randall: The insecurities that come with cryptocurrency are still at large. To give perspective as to how many people understand the possibilities of online currency, U.S. Senator Thomas Carper said, “Virtual currencies, perhaps most notably Bitcoin, have captured the imagination of some, struck fear among others, and confused the heck out of the rest of us.”
Ever since Bitcoin has risen in value (roughly $2,500 for 1 bitcoin as of 06/2017) more currencies have entered the digital market. Watching this from an investment angle, some of these currencies are a potential gold mine.
Bitcoin, back when it was released in ‘09, was at a worth of 5,000 Bitcoin for $27 USD. Today, 5,000 bitcoin is roughly $12.5 million USD. There is a particularly similar trend in other virtual currencies that have potential to live up to the same value, if not surpass the value of Bitcoin entirely. The wise investor who is considering purchasing new virtual currency would be keen to watch out for the new players in the game.
Tezos
Tezos is a soon-to-be member of the blockchain, boasting that they are more secure and avoid some of the political and technological problems that Bitcoin faced in its earlier stages. The developing team is stacked, holding prior positions at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, The Wall Street Journal, and Accenture. Billionaire and investor Tim Draper is investing in Tezos. He says, “Over time, I actually feel that some of these tokens are going to improve the world, and I want to make sure those tokens get promoted as well. I think Tezos is one of those tokens.”
The first fundraiser will begin July 1st, 2017. Buyers can get 5,000 Tezos for 1 bitcoin. The minimum investment is 0.1 Bitcoin.
Ethereum
Ether was founded in 2015, and is currently ranked #2 in the virtual market capitalizations. Big name companies like Microsoft, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and J.P. Morgan Chase are all investors of the Ethereum blockchain, giving Ether’s reputation as a preferred network for digital software applications. Ether is growing exponentially, while bitcoin stays stagnant (for now). This is due to Bitcoin’s network being congested with transactions, it can’t handle the amount of transactions per second. In turn, many developers have moved to the Ethereum blockchain to avoid these crowded transactions and high fees.
Zcash
Zcash immediately set itself apart from other cryptocurrencies by creating a completely anonymous blockchain. The public ledger reveals no information about the parties involved or the amounts transacted; no other cryptocurrency provides complete privacy and anonymity. Zcash is one of the highest valued cryptocurrencies today, currently trading around $279.
Dash
Dash has jumped from $14.42 in 2016 to $154.86 today. Behind Bitcoin and Ethereum, Dash is the third most valuable cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Dash is attractive in the sense that it utilizes a program called InstaSend, which allows transactions to be verified without the longer confirmation times of other virtual currencies.
The cryptocurrency market is a crowded and complex machine. Investors should look at this opportunity as experimental and extremely high risk. The digital economy, however, shouldn’t be understated. More and more people are investing their real-world money in virtual assets, while businesses of all sizes have begun to accept cryptocurrencies in exchange for goods and services both online and in-store. Even insurance agencies are seeing the potential for blockchain technology. Now might be the time to start trading, and it’s still possible to find coins that have not reached their full potential yet and still have room to rise in value