hello to everyone we'll take a look at 25 must-know crypto currencies in 2021. when it comes to investing in cryptocurrency bitcoin isn't the only name in the game want to see wall street analysts at their most confused ask them about cryptocurrency predictions for 2021. as bitcoin ethereum ripple and others have rocketed in value never before has wall street seemed so hesitant about digital gold a name they used to invoke a margin of safety but as any experienced crypto investor knows that's not the way cryptocurrencies work instead it's a digital popularity contest where winners keep winning and losers bite the dust so which crypto currencies can make you rich in 2021. to answer that question we need to explore the world of altcoins up and coming coins that you can buy for cheap that's because it pays to get in early for example 1 invested in ethereum's initial coin offering would be worth three point three million dollars today meanwhile one thousand dollars invested in bitcoin today might earn just four to five times upside if you believe jp morgan's lofty 146 000 target price but there are also significant risks because crypto currencies have no intrinsic value instead their worth comes from their users the more users a coin has the more useful it becomes and the higher its price goes but when a coin falls out of favor there's nothing to stop it from going to zero that means investing in cryptocurrency requires strong belief that others will eventually buy it from you for even more with so many coins out there it's often hard to know even where to begin but to get you started here are the top 25 cryptocurrencies you need to know for 2021. keep in mind that while each has enormous potential some are safer bets than others as such i've organized the cryptocurrencies based on their overall risk to reward potential from most balance to least with that in mind let's take a closer look at the world of cryptocurrency 1 ethereum ethereum is a relative newcomer that has risen up the ranks thanks to its superior technology and its ability to create smart contracts ethereum the cryptocurrency of the ethereum blockchain is a technologically advanced version of bitcoin rather than hold itself as digital gold ethereum runs on a series of contracts that makes it more like google wallet or apple pay a system that can approve or delay transactions based on real-world events online buyers and sellers for instance could set up trades that only follow through when the postal service independently verifies the delivery of goods ethereum is also blazingly fast compared to bitcoin transactions only take 15 seconds to clear rather than 15 minutes although trading costs are still high its speed makes ethereum useful for real-time use rather than only as a store of value finally ethereum also has widespread adoption with over 600 000 wallet addresses in use as developers add services and protocols to make cryptocurrencies more useful ethereum looks set to keep winning these qualities have pushed ethereum to my number one spot in terms of risk to reward potential despite it having a later start than many other currencies its winning combination of widespread usage technological superiority and relative safety makes it a superior investment plus it's one of the few currencies still trading below its 2018 peak 2 bitcoin bitcoin is the most widely adopted cryptocurrency although it's not the most technologically advanced it continues to lead the pack the first successful cryptocurrency continues to lead the pack with its first mover advantage bitcoin not only won early name recognition it also became the de facto cryptocurrency for mainstream investors the world's number one coin makes up close to two-thirds of the entire cryptocurrency market providing liquidity between smaller alt coins its size also makes it resistant to 51 attacks where large cryptocurrency miners attempt to use computing have to try manipulating the blockchain however popular as it may be bitcoin has some downsides as one of the earliest blockchains bitcoin's ledger is large and unwieldy transactions can cost 12 to complete and take over 15 minutes to clear that's fine for its purpose as digital gold but it prevents bitcoin from use as a day-to-day currency people paying in bitcoin will often use third-party services to transact small amounts bitcoin is also extremely sensitive to macroeconomic movements the currency lost half its value in the most recent u.s stock market downturn
and if 2021 reveals a weak economic recovery or mutated strain of the novel coronavirus bitcoin could easily lose 50 to 80 percent of its value but for those looking to invest in cryptocurrency bitcoin remains the most liquid option it's an essential coin to hold and one i give top marks for in 2021 3 ripple ripple is a centralized cryptocurrency that's geared toward taking out the high costs of interbank transfers if i could only bet on one cryptocurrency this year ripple would be it ripple is the largest currency to have 10 times potential for 2021. ripple is the odd duckling of the cryptocurrency world founded by ripple labs ripple is a centralized currency that's mined managed and administered by ripple labs on one hand that gives the coin the benefits of visa and other centralized payments processors these include the ability to negotiate with large banks execute trades quickly and control policies still ripple has enormous potential the currency is used by financial institutions as an alternative to the swift network giving it a real-world application and its low price per coin makes it a tempting target for punters it's easier to see ripple rising one thousand percent to three dollars and fifty cents than bitcoin doing the same to 454 thousand dollars for stellar a well-placed contender to ripple's crown stellar offers low-cost cross-border transactions 2021 is shaping to become stellar's year after lagging bitcoin in 2020 stellar surprised analysts and investors alike by rocketing 200 in the first week of january much of its success comes from ripple's misfortunes much like ripple stellar was designed to facilitate cross-border transactions and as regulatory issues mount for rival ripple stellar has quickly moved to fill the void but some of it has also come down to luck in january the office of the comptroller of the currency allowed banks to start using independent node verification networks the same week the ukrainian government announced a partnership with stellar development to create a national digital currency all this grants perfect investment conditions for stellar a top cryptocurrency for 2021 5. cardano cardano is the largest third generation crypto currency and it's packed with plenty more upside potential in 2021.
cardano which runs on the cardano network is one of the most technologically exciting cryptocurrencies to date its proof of stake system means it can operate more efficiently than the standard proof of work system and its use of smart contracts means that it can keep track of transactions like bitcoin while handling payments like ethereum in short it's a third generation coin that improves on its predecessors cardano still has plenty of work to do in the year ahead after all having a superior technological product means nothing if people won't adopt it but three key areas make it a top cryptocurrency for 2021. first cardano has momentum the currency took just three years to hit a 10 billion dollar market cap one-third the time it took bitcoin to do the same second it sits at just 30 cents per coin making it a tempting target for punters to run up finally it has the ability to handle transactions and smart contracts this makes it a natural enhancement for other cryptocurrencies like bitcoin six dogecoin an internet meme turned cryptocurrency dogecoin teaches the world about making money in 2013 ibm software engineer billy marcus founded dogecoin as a meme joke and like most memes dogecoin saw its 15 minutes of fame in 2017 doge briefly rocketed 85 000 as the internet found its new amusement it subsequently lost 98 of its value but in the world of crypto currencies and memes alike second acts do exist in december 2020 tesla ceo elon musk sent dogecoin back up 200 in a week simply by tweeting about it as 2021 rolls around this new new-found popularity could send the coin up to speculative heights dogecoin does have its merits its faster block time makes it better at processing payments than bitcoin can but in an asset class where popularity trounces usability any day of the week dogecoin could quickly return one thousand percent just make sure you take your profits seven polka dot along with cardano polkadot is another promising third generation cryptocurrency to consider in december binance announced a 10 million dollar fund to support projects on polkadot a new cryptocurrency dot's price shot up 41 within a week and more gains could be on the way founded by gavin wood the chief technology officer of the ethereum project its protocol improves on older blockchains from a technological standpoint polkadot's key difference is its use of parishions multiple blockchains that can run in parallel that solves a massive issue for bitcoin which has a single growing blockchain that all miners and transactors need to store developers have also added scalability smart contracts and security still investors need to remember that in the world of crypto currencies the best technologies aren't always the winners it will take strong marketing to get polka dot to rival its larger competitors 8 neo neo the chinese ethereum looks set to shine if the chinese communist party allows it don't be fooled by neo's sleepy looking returns in 2020 neo is one of china's earliest and largest cryptocurrency ventures the coin fell hard in 2018 as the chinese government cracked down on cryptocurrency exchanges but in 2021 the coin staged a remarkable resurgence as chinese regulators turned their eye to ant group a payments processor with the chinese communist party now rethinking its stance on cryptocurrencies neo has a chance to shine once 9 celsius celsius is a cryptocurrency with the potential to become a bank celsius extreme 2020 rise makes it a currency worth considering in 2018 celsius crowdfunded 20 million dollars to create a cryptocurrency lending platform the network looked to write 6.2 billion dollars in loans making it more like a bank than a currency and by registering as an exempt issuer with a security and exchange commission celsius has soared even as other cryptocurrencies like ripple have struggled still celsius has plenty of risk behind it as companies from bear stearns to lehman brothers found bad loans can quickly sync your battleship and celsius itself could blow up if loans aren't well vetted but until then investors stand to make a lot of hot money returns 10 nano want to have your own blockchain nano gives every user their own ledger nano is a prime example of playing the cryptocurrency lottery having traded sideways in 2020 nano suddenly jumped 400 percent in the first week of 2021. why some may point to a december hack on an italian cryptocurrency exchange others might point to nano's reasonably superior technology but in the micro cap altcoin world timing has far more to do with luck however now that demand is rising keep watch a short-term spike is often how new coins gain popularity with its ability to assign entire blockchains to individual accounts nano looks like an attractive bitcoin alternative 11. chain link chain link is a cryptocurrency that allows others to run smart contracts but can link succeed on its own chain link is as different as they come rather than operate its own blockchain chain link runs smart contracts on other blockchains that makes link an anomaly in the cryptocurrency world a coin that's relatively agnostic to whichever blockchain it's working on it's a formula that sounds good in theory from an investor standpoint however chain-link's complexity has worked against it making use of the protocol still requires hardcore programming knowledge and that shrinks its potential audience what chain link needs is a strong sponsor a business like ripple labs for example to market and implement its smart contracts as required if the currency can find that sponsor link will soar otherwise investors can expect the currency to stall in 2021 as new or smart contract coins take over 12. monero monero is the number one privacy focused cryptocurrency monero has long been one of my favorite coins for its privacy applications unlike bitcoin monero's public ledger is obscured outsiders can't use its blockchain to trace the source destination or amount of any transaction and its community has continued to improve its privacy from improving its decoy transactions to obscuring recipient identities but monero ran into early issues because transactions are so private it quickly became a favorite of darknet users looking to hide their tracks after suffering a series of scandals monero's price plummeted in 2017.
yet the cryptocurrency has had a revival in recent months since february the currency has increased by almost 300 as privacy concerns have taken center stage as we move into 2021 monero looks like a cryptocurrency with second win potential investors should take note 13 tether with its value linked one-to-one to the us dollar tether is useful for short-term holdings but it's not a long-term investment tether is the world's largest stable coin its value is 100 linked to the dollar that means no matter how high or low other cryptocurrencies go tether will theoretically stay at one dollar that makes tether useful as one a currency two a short-term savings tool and three a method of arbitrage between different exchanges as a long-term investment however it's not particularly interesting its value won't ever deviate far from one dollar tether has also seen past accounting scandals that threaten the coin's stability in 2017 the coin dropped to 92 cents and controversy seems to keep cropping up every couple of months nevertheless tether is still useful for transferring cryptocurrency between wallets without major price risk and with many exchanges now offering up to 12 interest on stable coins it's a currency that still shouldn't get overlooked in 2021 14 litecoin as the largest bitcoin clone litecoin still hasn't managed to life of its own litecoin is the largest of the bitcoin clones making it far more understandable for most investors its founder a former google engineer designed litecoin by using bitcoin's original code base and modifying it to create blocks four times faster that has made the younger fork cheaper and faster than bitcoin to verify litecoin size also makes it less vulnerable to a 51 attack than other bitcoin-like currencies my two-star rating comes down to momentum and struggle to differentiate itself from its bigger brother while it could be a good holding for 2021 it's going to ride bitcoin's success rather than shine on its own 15 binance coin binance's homegrown coin has use on its platform but not much else binance one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges launched its own currency to reduce transaction costs the coin became known as binance coin or bnb and thanks to generous discounts for using bnb binance's homegrown coin has become a significant player however investors should see bnb as a secondary coin for transferring money between different currencies within binance that's because bnb's value rests on binance's ability to draw more users in october forbes staff released documents alleging that binance and its founder created an elaborate corporate structure designed to deceive u.s regulators with friends like that who needs enemies 16. nem nem is a speculative cryptocurrency that is still hanging on for its life after a massive 2017 theft nem or new economy movement was designed as an alternative to mainstream bitcoin the coin rewards users for holding them for the long term however the cryptocurrency stumbled severely in 2017 when coin check a japanese exchange revealed that hackers had stolen over 500 million dollars of customer funds since then nem has seen its coin value trade under 30 cents to the dollar that makes buying nem for 2021 a speculative play while it could easily double your money there aren't any apparent catalysts on the horizon 17 tron hyped up by its controversial founder tron is a speculator's dream come true but that makes it risky for the long term since its 2017 launch tron has been on a wild ride the currency peaked in january 2018 at 8.01
cents before plummeting to 2.3 cents just two months later it has recovered slightly to 2.8 cents since so why does this ethereum competitor make the top crypto current in 2020 its founder chinese millionaire justin sun bought bittorrent a central peer-to-peer file sharing system that put tron right back on the map controversy has followed mr sun everywhere employees have noted stacks of hundred dollar bills on his desk while others have pointed out plagiaristic similarities between toronto and ethereum investors in tron will need to accept the bamboozling required to push this altcoin everyone else might consider staying away 18 dash litecoin's largest fork dash is still struggling to find traction dash created in 2014 was litecoin's most significant fork it was an early winner among cryptocurrencies reaching a peak of 1051. in december 2017 and almost landed in the top 10 coins by size since then success has been sporadic the coin hasn't been able to differentiate itself from other faster growing ones as 2021 rolls around dash will likely go up on litecoins coattails but will it will reach top 10 again that's far less likely still as an early coin winner it's worthwhile to keep on your radar second acts as we know happen all the time in crypto 19 z cash z cash is a privacy focused with programming flaws like monero zcash has privacy at its core users of zcash can choose to obscure their transactions on the zcash ledger making it ideal for privacy-focused individuals however its success in privacy has been mixed with users finding ways to identify users even with address shielding still as privacy issues with cryptocurrency grow in the developing world zcash might find greater adoption in the emerging world 20 bitcoin gold as a small fork in the bitcoin road bitcoin gold could come back to win but its chances are slim a 2017 hard fork in bitcoin created bitcoin gold but like bitcoin sv and many other divisions bitcoin gold never quite found its footing since 2018 the currency has lost almost 97 of its value by size it has dropped from the number five coin to below number 80.
but for those willing to take a flyer bitcoin gold still holds some sway as an earlier entrant to the cryptocurrency space bitcoin gold has broad support on various exchanges and its trust level remains relatively high despite some high-profile thefts in 2017-18 there aren't too many catalysts for bitcoin gold its original link with bitcoin still gives it the potential for a second act 21. bitcoin cash bitcoin cash is major bitcoin fork that hasn't found its footing it probably won't bitcoin cash came as one of the earliest bitcoin forks early on it was also once the most successful but today it's a shadow of its former self in 2017 as concerns over bitcoin's scalability mounted a maori cecha and a group of programmers released bitcoin cash to compete with a 10-minute blog time and larger block sizes bitcoin cash can theoretically process more transactions per second than its older rival from an investment standpoint however the fork has been a massive disappointment its improvements proved far too minor to excite investors sending the price of bitcoin cash spiraling from a 4 355 peak in 2017 to just 477 today although bitcoin cash will likely ride bitcoins coattails in the near term the coin remains a shadow of its former self my recommendation sell bitcoin cash and find greener pastures 22 bitcoin sv bitcoin sv is a failed bitcoin fork that keeps holding on for dear life bitcoin sv was created in 2018 in a fork with bitcoin cash the civil war between bitcoin cash and bitcoin sv came from competing visions on block size and transaction fees and the resulting civil war hurt both sides today bitcoin sv trades as a shadow of its former self having lost almost 90 percent of its value since the fork its 2020 returns have reflected that truth as investors look to 2021 bitcoin sv remains a player that's likely a pass the cryptocurrency unfortunately has too little name recognition and too little differentiation from bitcoin 23 eos eos is a new cryptocurrency entrant but little technological differentiation makes it a low potential coin eos the currency of the eos protocol has mostly traded sideways throughout its history as a currency it looks much like ethereum's network with several improvements in the way transactions are approved but as an investment it has remained somewhat of a disappointment while leos makes the list because of its relatively large size investors looking at this lesser-known coin should watch for any significant uptake news before investing 24 vachane vaechain is a chinese cryptocurrency helping track food safety vachane is a chinese-based cryptocurrency that works with food groups to track food and safety in july 2019 eating to deal with walmart china for its blockchain food safety program and in september 2020 it joined forces with a chinese food safety group that includes mcdonald's china while its trajectory still seems unclear these wins have helped its placement on this list making they chain a nominal coin to track 25 die die is a stable coin that's greasing the wheels of the ethereum network like tether die is a stable coin whose value is pegged one to one to the us dollar its technology however is a little more complicated built on the ethereum network die allows investors to borrow money using ether as collateral in the past it has also allowed savers to earn up to 8.75 interest the rate has since dropped to zero that's why investors looking for simple buy and hold alt coins should consider tether instead while dye might help ethereum its interest generating ability remains low as does its upside conclusion where will cryptocurrency go in 2021 today people invest in crypto for one reason alone to make money so far crypto currencies have delivered on that promise mom and pop investors have profited handsomely as bitcoin and other currencies have rocketed in value but the risks in 2021 are growing at its core cryptocurrencies only serve to transfer wealth from one party to another china has already developed a central bank-backed crypto and in the u.s it was discussed as part of the coveted stimulus rights laura gonzalez associate professor of finance at california state university there is ample evidence of speculation as well and the value of the current cryptos will be affected by the upcoming central bank-backed digital currencies in other words unregulated cryptocurrencies will one day compete against state-sponsored ones too here's the takeaway if you have an extremely conservative portfolio and need to add risk on assets choosing a basket of top-rated cryptocurrencies could be right for you it's a cheap way to gain massive macro economic risk exposure but don't get fooled by thinking of crypto as digital gold if 2021 sees a surprise economic slowdown no amount of hope will keep crypto afloat good luck out there don't forget to subscribe to our channel and open notifications to learn more about gold dollar euro commodities bitcoin altcoin cryptocurrencies and other 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2021-02-20