As an investor in Cryptocurrencies, I find it useful to read other people's thoughts and research into various coins. I also do a fair amount of my own research and so I decided to periodically share that information in a blog format.
So, what's in my portfolio and why? I should start out by saying that I'm long in Bitcoin. I've been a supporter for some time and I think first-mover advantage in this area is huge. After all there are only two categories - Bitcoin and Altcoins (everything else).
However, the alt-coins market has recently been far more interesting than the Bitcoin one. In fact in recent months a monkey with a keyboard could probably have increased the value of their portfolio 10x! To a certain extent, it hasn't mattered too much what you bought, with some noticeable exceptions (e.g. IOTA). However, there are hundreds of alt-coins and as a long term investor, how do you decide what to buy?
I approach this question by asking another question - does this coin have the potential to replace Bitcoin? There are many coins out there, but actually not that many have truely unique capabilities. Many are forks (copies) of other coins, some are just scams and other coins are not cryptocurrencies at all but tokens which allow you to invest in businesses that have raised money through ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings).
So, here's a quick rundown of coins I think that have that potential and why:
(ETH)
Ethereum is number two in market cap (total number of coins * value of each coin). It was the first serious coin to offer not just value, but also a platform on which other propositions can be built. Ethereum's smart contracts form the basis of the majority of ICOs out there and in some ways you could argue it has already overtaken Bitcoin. More transactions occur on the Ethereum network than any other.
(XRP)
Ok, so this one's controversial. Ripple is the anathema of cryptocurrencies to many people. It is a centrally controlled network with the vast majority of the coins controlled by the founding company. However, it is very fast and is being taken seriously by many financial institutions around the world. I hope it doesn't replace Bitcoin, but I have a few just in case.
(XLM)
While I'm making myself unpopular, I also have Stellar Lumens. These started out a fork of Ripple but have evolved down a separate path and also have a working platform. Recently Stellar poached a company (Kin) off the Ethereum nework due to its speed and low cost.
(EOS)
EOS doesn't even exist yet, it's an ERC-20 token - one of those Smart Contract based entities on the Ethereum blockchain. It is touting itself as an Ethereum killer due to its expected fast settlement time and high network capacity. It's one of a number of pseudo-decentralised coins which have a number of semi-centralised, high performance processing cores. It's raised over a billion dollars so far and is going to use that money to jump start companies seeking to use it as their blockchain.
(XEM)
This is a Japanese-centric currency and platform. It's based on the principle of Proof of Stake (i.e. the more coins you have, the more control you have over the network) with a few mods to make it 'Proof of Importance'. It's fast, has low Tx fees (the costs to send money to someone else) and it's also being taken seriously by a number of Japanese banks.
(ARDR)
This is a brand new network which supports multiple independent coins within the chain. It has the potential to scale well, but time will tell. So far the main child coin is IGNIS, which is intended to be the equivalent to Bitcoin on this network.
(ZEC)
Finally, a bit of a stretch but ZCash is worth considering. It is a relatively recent coin which uses something called ZK-Snarks to provide privacy on the blockchain. Other blockchains claim to be anonymous but really they're more obfuscated than anything else. All the transactions are stored on the blockchain in the clear and it's possible to link them together. It isn't just drug dealers and other neer-do-wells who would find this interesting. Imagine, you're a company using cryptocurrencies. Do you want your competitors to be able to see what you're paying your suppliers or even your staff? Thought not. Ultimately, I could see ZK-Snarks being added to other platforms such as Ethereum, but for now it's the main game in town.
Please note that the above doesn't constitute investment advice. I also have other coins/tokens which I'll talk about in later blogs.