If we look at what has been the performance of cryptomonedas in 2017 we can notice that they had a more than magnificent year, with growth ranging from 2.000% for Bitcoin to more than 30.000% for cryptomonedas as Ripple. Maybe they haven't had the best year so far in 2018, but that doesn't imply that the rest of the year and next year things can get better.
A recurring question among all beginners is: what kind of currency should we invest in? It is an answer that even experts are looking for, so we will try here to cover what is the best place to place our money.
If you've ever wondered should I invest in Bitcoin? Should I invest in Ethereum? you've come to the right place. The guide is about crypto currencies that have the best outlook for 2019, but starting today.
It won't be exactly a short article, but if you stay at the end you'll have a better idea where to do it. With hundreds of crypto currencies on the market, answering this question is not difficult at all, but let's start to see what options we have.
THE MARKET SO FAR
The first thing I have to talk to you about is how the market is right now. Everything was positive at the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018, but the outlook has changed a lot after having a bearish market for several months.
The first crypto currency will all know that it was Bitcoin, invented in 2009. This marked the beginning of virtual currencies, although it took several years for people to finally start talking about it, in 2013.
Since then, the market has experienced great growth, some of which are very difficult to ignore because of the enormous volatility they maintained. There are more than 1,500 crypto currencies, many of which have been created in recent years.
In 2017, the crypt market really exploded. We could see the total capitalization of the crypt skyrocketed by 4,000%, an unthinkable figure compared to the S&P 500 in the same year which was just over 20%. In March 2017 the market was only worth $21 billion, to end up over $450 billion.
The market is no longer just Bitcoin, there are big competitors. These crypto currencies have entered the sector, such as Ethereum Litecoin and Ripple, offering great results, some far superior to that of the first crypto currency.
Everyone has opinions about the future of crypto coins. Some believe that they will not last long and that we will soon see them disappear, while others consider that they have come to stay and that they are an instrument that can radically change the financial system as we know it.
It is difficult to predict what will happen tomorrow, and much more within a year, not to say that it is impossible, but one thing is certain and that is that the crypto currencies every day increase in popularity. One of the reasons for this is the technology that allows its existence, the blockchain technology. This makes possible many things, such as digital coins, but also endless applications.
There is a huge possibility that blockchain technology is as big as the internet, because it is secure, does not require third parties and is decentralized. And while we cannot learn to invest in blockchain, we can learn to invest in the crypto currencies that use those chains of blocks (blockchain).
The best crypto coins to invest in 2019
Bitcoin (BTC)
There are few people who have not heard about Bitcoin so far. It is the most valuable crypto currency, i.e. it has the largest market capitalization, with 40% of the market share. At the same time it is the oldest, dominating during all these years. So if Bitcoin continues to grow at the rate it has in recent years, it may be a good idea to invest in it.
Every day the price of Bitcoin varies significantly, this is because there is great volatility (ie that prices rise and fall over the course of the day greatly). If we look at her chart we notice the big changes in her price over the years.
In 2013, more precisely on July 9, it cost about $76, and from there it rose to $20,000 in December 2017. After that we saw it fall to $6,000 in just two months. A real madness. But in spite of everything, it remains very positive.
Seeing how much the price can change in such a short time, how do we decide when is the best time to invest in Bitcoin?
The reality is that you can't, no financial genius can predict when something will go up or down with the precision that most people are looking for. The strategy that a good investor should follow is to first find the cryptomone that he believes has growth prospects, then invest and finally sit back and wait. Otherwise you will probably end up losing all your money.
Investing in Bitcoin
If you are willing to invest in Bitcoin the most advisable is to keep abreast of the latest news and trends of this cryptomontage. In this way you can have a more accurate picture of what is happening. But don't think that technical analyses can be useful, they usually only confuse us.
Buying when it falls can be a good idea, as we will enter the market at a low time and offer better returns. Unfortunately, it is impossible to determine which is the lowest point, as it can always keep falling. But if Bitcoin really has growth potential then in the long run it will go up.
We can't buy and think that in a couple of months or weeks we'll get rich, that doesn't exist. People who have found great fortunes overnight with Bitcoin is because they really trusted from the first moment, keeping their crypto currencies despite a market correction. Many enthusiasts consider this to be a way to cleanse themselves of speculators, as they are often afraid to sell and do not return.
Bitcoin is an excellent currency for beginners, it is easy to buy in any exchange and has the advantage of being the most important today. In addition, if tomorrow we decide to buy what is called altcoins is always easier if we have BTC to exchange for it.
It all depends on what we think is the future of Bitcoin. If you believe in it then you should invest, otherwise better stay away. Because at the first fall of the market (and they are not short) you can end up selling and materializing the loss. If you keep them, you will be able to share in the profits.
Ethereum (ETH)
As the end of 2017 approached, Ethereum's price slightly surpassed the $720 barrier, bringing its total market capitalization to nearly $70 billion. However, this trend continued and continued to rise in 2018 until finally reaching its historic high of around $1,423 on January 4. With this, Ethereum finally achieved a capitalization of $138 billion.
Only in 2017 did Ethereum achieve a return of 3.000%, and thus became the second most valuable crypto currency behind Bitcoin.
If you're wondering if you should invest in Ethereum, or if the price has gone up enough, the reality is that no one can answer that question for you. What we can analyze is the information we have and then you can decide if Ethereum is a cryptomontage you want in your purse.
In the graph below we can see how the last year has grown, despite the fact that in 2018 has lost a lot of value.
Let's look at some aspects that have helped to increase the price of ETH in the past:
- In May 2016 Ethereum received an investment of $150 million. This caused the price to jump from $1 in January 2016 to about $15 in May 2016.
- However, on June 18, 2016, members of the cryptomoneda community found that Ethereum had been hacked. On that occasion $60 million in Ether was stolen. As a result the price fell from $21.52 on June 17 to $9.96 in just 24 hours.
The difference with Bitcoin is that Ethereum is not looking to be just a digital coin, it is a more ambitious blockchain project. This is because on the platform developers can create dapps, smart contracts and even their own crypto currencies.
If we have in mind a project that requires blockchain we can use Ethereum to make it happen. It is not necessary to start from scratch, as the platform gives us the tools to make the task much easier than if we had to create a completely new blockchain. Enormously facilitating this important step for the success of a project.
Ethereum is therefore a cryptomone that is well worth adding to our investment portfolio, as long as we find interesting the value it can bring to people.
Some experts such as Julian Hosp said that Ethereum could reach $200 billion in capitalization by 2018. However, despite the fact that the year is not yet over, it is a titanic task to predict what may happen with the price, but that does not mean that he is wrong. It may take some more time, but if this blockchain expert is right we could see its price exceeding $2,000.
Some technical issues remain to be resolved, such as scalability problems. But Ethereum and its co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, are working on it.
Ripple (XRP)
Ripple's crypto currency is known by all with the acronym XRP, and has been one of the fastest growing in 2017 with a growth of about 36,000%. And I was not wrong with an extra zero, it has practically climbed from $0 at the beginning of the year and finished above $2.4 in December 2017.
Unfortunately, much of that growth has disappeared in 2018, but not all of it. While the market has fallen dramatically from its all-time high, the reality is that it is still positive if we take the beginning of 2017 as a benchmark.
Even better, if you believe that Ripple has the qualities to become a crypto currency that helps traditional financial systems, and thus society, reduce the costs of cross-border transactions, you may want to add it to your purse. And all at a significant discount.
If we compare Ripple with Bitcoin's price we may find that it's worth a lot less, but that's not so important when there's a larger amount of XRP in circulation. Even if it's under $1, Ripple is the third largest crypto currency in the market.
The main competitive advantage of Ripple is that if today we are looking to make a transfer to other countries we must wait between 2 and 10 days for the whole process to be completed. Added to that we have great costs to do it. With Ripple it only takes a few seconds and the commissions are much lower.
In addition there are other positive aspects of Ripple that are well worth highlighting. On the one hand many large financial institutions such as American Express, J.P. Morgan and Santander Bank are already testing it. On the other hand, Ripple has been working with the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia, LianLian International of China and other banks around the world.
Maybe these data can help you decide whether to invest in Ripple or not. If we analyze all the information presented so far, we can say that Ripple has a great future ahead of it. However, it is necessary to keep an eye on it first and learn more about all the associations it has formed. If Ripple continues to sign contracts with large banks, its price is likely to increase enormously.
Many investors who understand the problem Ripple seeks to solve have made a lot of money in the past with this project. If Ripple repeats its great 2017 in 2019 then it could be a huge investment opportunity for many people.
Litecoin (LTC)
I can't leave Litecoin off the list of the best crypto coins to invest in. Because like Ripple, in 2017 it has obtained exorbitant results when it obtained a return of almost 8.000%.
Earlier that year its price was close to $4, but ended up topping $350 in December 2017. Unfortunately, it has followed the path of all crypto currencies in 2018 and its price is now just $59.
If we look at its price chart we can see how it had a very important growth that began in early November and peaked a month later in December. We can see a lot of similarity between the price of Bitcoin and Litecoin.
At the moment Litecoin's price gives it just over $3.4 billion in market capitalization, which has led it to lose the fifth place it held at the beginning of the year to rank seventh. Still, it enjoys the interest of investors because of its close relationship with Bitcoin. Being one of the reasons why it is in this top.
We can learn more about Litecoin in the guide I created previously in the blog, there we review all the fundamental aspects of this crypto currency. Anyway you can know that it was created in 2011 and that it is able to make transactions 4 times faster than Bitcoin. At the same time, the maximum of crypto currencies that can exist is also 4 times higher, 84 million.
An important quality of Litecoin is that it was the first to implement Lightning Network transactions in May 2017. Using this they were able to transfer 0.00000001 Litecoin from Zurich to San Francisco in just one second. Once they start using this technology the price of Litecoin could skyrocket.
Investment Strategies
Before we start investing we have to stop and think about how investors invest in other asset classes, such as stocks or real estate. They don't jump immediately to invest the moment they come up with an idea. There is a lot of in-depth analysis work going on until they come to the decision to place the money.
Before embarking on buying and selling crypto currencies, it is best to understand what our investment objectives are and how we intend to achieve them. You have to be very clear about how long you are willing to keep your position open and what is the return you expect to obtain.
I'm not talking about hoping to get in a year or 2.000%, as these are figures that are not always repeated, but know how to understand how the market works and that you can have bad months like the last and that your investment is in negative for a long time. The problem is that even if at some point it ends up taking off, the total return may not be as profitable as one would expect. It's not the same to get 50% a year as in 5 years.
It is also important to take into account the horizon of our investment. If we plan to take the money out to use it in a few months then it is a short term. If our term is extended to more than a year then it is a long-term investment. And while I think the latter is the right choice to make, let's look at both approaches.
Long-term investment
Long-term investments are those in which investors think they can get a better return over longer periods of time. Some people think it's only 6 months or even a year, but the reality is that these are usually longer than a year.
This type of investment is the most appropriate for the simple fact that in 6 months it is very difficult to predict what may happen. People think that a new technology may arrive or that new partnerships will be signed, but perhaps these will spread over time and will not end up being fulfilled within our expected range.
The best thing is to analyze those aspects that make us think that cryptomoneda has a future and finally buy without caring so much when the market will finally realize it. In the long run a good purchase ends up bearing fruit, in the short term it is most likely that we will lose money.
Strategy
The first thing we must do before buying is to analyze reading the whitepaper of the cryptomoneda, the news and all that information of experts and analysts that we find. It is important to find those points in which the currency is strong, which are the ones that will finally attract people's attention and increase its price.
Those important aspects are mainly about the technology, the team behind it, what your roadmap is and if it is a project that comes to solve a real problem. The analysis of all these points can give us a more accurate idea of what your future is. Competitors must also be considered, as the market cannot be big enough for both of them.
If we finally have the conviction that cryptomoneda has potential then we buy. This is very important, because when panic strikes a bear market people who are not convinced of their investment first sell. If you don't have the will, maybe this strategy isn't for you.
Short-term investment
I don't think short-term investment is the best way to invest in crypto currencies, but I know many people are asking about it so let's look at it.
These are investments that involve shorter periods. They may take a few months, weeks or even a few seconds. So I think that no one can determine the movements in these short scales of values, because there are so many of them.