Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, has received much attention from retail and institutional traders. It presents investment opportunities, and its volatile nature has made it one of the assets with high-profit potential.
After its introduction, many more cryptocurrencies, all regarded as “altcoins,” have been created, introducing various solutions and serving as currencies across multiple blockchain ecosystems. These altcoins also offer opportunities for investors who can get into the right ones at the right time.
In this light, we will look at some altcoins worth keeping a close eye on in 2023.
Ethereum launched in 2015 as a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform to facilitate the development of decentralized applications and smart contracts. Its native currency, Ether, is used for payment and storing value.
Being the most popular altcoin and having the highest market capitalization, Ethereum has received attention from investors, making it among the cryptos at the forefront of bull runs and affected by significant events in the crypto industry.
Many DeFi protocols and applications are built on Ethereum, and we expect more Ethereum-based solutions in 2023 since the upgrade to Ethereum 2.0. This makes the DeFi giant and its solutions operate with better speed, efficiency, and scalability.
Since many cryptocurrencies started recovering from the elongated crypto bear market in December 2022, Ethereum has had a steady price increase of more than 60%, from $1150 to $1840 in March 2023. This price rise may continue for a while as long as no major event affects its growth.
The AGIX is the native token of the SingularityNET community. SingularityNet was launched in 2017 by Dr. Goertzel and a team of AI researchers and developers. It was created as a decentralized AI platform that enables easy access to AI tools and services and helps developers and organizations build and deploy AI services easily.
With increased AI awareness and involvement, more developers and users may see a reason to continue using SingularityNET to meet their AI needs, attracting investors to the solution.
Between March 10 and March 18, AGIX had a price increase of more than 100% moving from $0.28 to $0.59. Though it is experiencing a retracement and presently trading at $0.48, with the rise in the use of AI, a bullish move for AGIX is likely to continue.
XRP was launched in 2012 by Ripple Labs, founded by Chris Larsen and Jed McCaleb. It was created to allow fast and low-cost transactions.
In December 2020, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Ripple Labs, alleging that it had carried out an unregistered security offering worth $1.3 billion by selling XRP, its native token. The claim was that XRP was a security and has been used as such, but the company behind it failed to register it as a security as required by US security laws.
On the other hand, Ripple argued against such categorization and claimed that XRP had been used as currency and not as a security.
The issue has affected the price of XRP, as it didn’t experience significant price swings like many other cryptocurrencies of its status during the 2021 bull run. In April 2021, it started to decline in price from $1.9, and a year later, it was already trading for as little as $0.6. Since May 2022, the price has been consolidating between $0.3 and $0.5, with no significant increase in price and the market showing no signs of trending in a particular direction.
The CEO of Ripple Lab hinted at his belief that the case would conclude this year. Whatever the result of the elongated case, it is likely to affect the price of XRP significantly. A judgment favoring XRP will likely increase its price drastically, and one against it may make it continue to fall for a long time. These make XRP a major cryptocurrency to watch this year.
Litecoin was launched in 2011 by a former Google engineer, Charlie Lee. It was created as a lite version of Bitcoin to address some of its limitations—specifically by having faster transactions and lower fees.
One of the biggest things that make Litecoin worth paying attention to this year is the Litecoin halving event, which takes place every four years and is scheduled to take place in August 2023. If you look at Litecoin prices in 2015 and 2019—years when Litecoin halvings took place—you’ll see that the coin experienced a price decline close to and after the event.
Litecoin rose from $25 to $146 between January and June 2019. It began to drop significantly close to the halving event in August. By August, it had already dropped to $89; Litecoin continued to fall, and by December of the year, it was trading for $35.
Litecoin started to rise in price towards the end of 2022, and though it is currently experiencing a minor retracement, it is likely to continue to grow for a while. However, the crypto market sentiment close to and after the halving event may show a significant increase or decrease that may be useful to you depending on how you trade.
Altcoins Present Many Opportunities
Cryptocurrencies present numerous investment opportunities, but you must find the right ones to benefit from. To do this, you need to keep up with market trends and events that can affect the price of various cryptos.
One of the fundamental understandings you must have is that cryptos with many or strong use cases are more likely to be stable for long-term investments than those with limited use cases. Also, events that happen in favor of a crypto network can send its value shooting upwards. Conversely, occurrences that spread fear and the need for investors to exercise caution can quickly drop its price.
All in all, diversifying your crypto investments is always a good idea. Do not put all your eggs in one basket, no matter how promising the crypto looks. Portfolio diversification protects you from losing all your money if the price of a crypto does not go your way. It also helps you take advantage of the rise in the value of multiple cryptocurrencies.
Research, Research, Research
Market trading—whether stocks, currencies, or crypto—always has risk. That’s why you should conduct thorough research and analysis before investing. You must also stay constantly informed about the latest trends and developments in the crypto world to assist your decision-making process.
