Top ICOs to Watch in Early 2018

So you missed the Bitcoin boat? Don’t worry, the verdict is in: cryptocurrency is no one-hit wonder. They are here to stay, and the list of successful altcoins is only growing. Prepare for blastoff, because this is just the beginning.

If you’re thinking of investing into a cryptocurrency, buying tokens during an ICO can be the most lucrative time to purchase.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the hottest ICOs to watch in 2018.

Cypherium

“The Blockchain Superhighway” rolls off the tongue a little easier than “Cypherium”, but can it live up to the hype of its name? Scalability is the thorn in the side of blockchain; with transaction times lagging and fees increasing, there is an industry-wide hunt for the solution.

Cypherium claims to have nipped this issue in the bud, unveiling itself as the market solution “scalable and permissionless smart contract platform”; using a hybrid Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance/Proof of Work mechanism to enable lightning-fast transaction processing to provide optimal scalability.

The team ticks all the boxes, combining skilled cryptographers with players on board from Google, Amazon, Microsoft and more. Cypherium is the brainchild of Sky Guo, a Chinese cryptographer with a proven track record in the industry. It was co-founded alongside Solomon Zhang and Nate Ren, equally qualified and experienced in the worlds of blockchain and business.

Benefits? No more worrying about hard forks or slow transaction times; Cypherium is working on solving many of the issues holding back cryptocurrency and blockchain from the masses. Chow down on the Cypherium Whitepaper and watch this space!

Rentberry
The application of blockchain is spilling over to every industry imaginable, and now the home rental market is about to get a taste of its juicy berry-licious goodness. Rentberry has been changing the game since 2015, creating a platform where both tenants and landlords can save the time and money that traditional rental agreements demand.

The platform takes advantage of smart contracts to create an environment that enables all tasks to be taken care of in one place; tenants can pay their rent online, complete a simple online application, rental agreement, and easily split payments.

With more of an established track record in the game, Rentberry has an immediate head start. With more than 224,000 properties and 120,000 users, their implementation of blockchain could make for some serious growth.

Experty
Looking for an expert but don’t know where to go? Roughly valued at $125 billion, the application of blockchain to the consultancy industry is a lucrative prospect.

Instead of the long, expensive and painful process of finding a consultant, Experty a.k.a. “The Uber for knowledge sharing” connects consultants with clients via a voice and video calling application. Specialists set their rate per minute in USD, get linked with a client, and then paid via the platform’s native token EXY once the call is concluded.

While Experty only has its sights set on the crypto-consultancy industry in its first year, they plan to roll out the application on a global scale. With the rise of the freelance economy and the demand for digital experts steadily increasing, Experty may well be onto something.

NAU
The retail and advertising space is another industry begging for innovation, and NAU is taking this grunting, bucking bull by the horns. Retailers currently have to cut through hordes of middle-men and unnecessary fees to reach the consumer; wasting both time and money to advertise.

NAU’s platform avoids this by creating an ecosystem where retailers can connect with their customers directly. With a native NAU token, its value has the potential to grow significantly; limited supply and organic marketing strategy could see the price go through the roof.

Using the website or mobile application, retailers will be able to target their consumers with gifts, discounts, offers, and promotions. Users of the platform also benefit by quickly claiming relevant promotions based on their geolocations, while being rewarded for referring others to the platform. NAU offers users access to promotions without the need to filter through pop-ups, irrelevant offers, and generally irritating advertising.

Telcoin
What would any cryptocurrency be without a good ol’ hearty dose of disruption? Global money transfers are a booming business, with the oldest names in the game taking sizable cuts out of hundreds of thousands of transactions each year (yes, we’re looking at you Western Union).

Telcoin is planning to turn this stale industry on its head, enabling even those without bank accounts to send and receive funds via mobile money.

With $500 billion in global remittances sent last year, Telcoin is looking to cut a slice of this pie, distributing their Ethereum-based cryptocurrency to national telecommunications providers globally. Why? 5 billion people have mobile phones and in much of the developing world, mobile money is as good as cash.

Telcoin is proof of the pudding that blockchain technology can benefit the masses; they are not limited to investment-savvy tech geeks. Of the world’s 2 billion unbanked citizens, Telcoin is enabling a direct flow of money to those who need it the most.

Coinlancer
Ask any freelancer for their thoughts on online freelancing platforms, and they’ll most likely let out a sigh of frustration. Platforms like UpWork and Freelancer give the whole industry a bad name, charging exorbitant fees, being rife with scams and disputes, and making it virtually impossible for new users to break through the noise.

Coinlancer looks like it could be a godsend that revolutionizes the freelance industry. The first decentralized blockchain-based job market solves several issues plaguing the current system; offering a rock-solid escrow system, a tiny 3% one-time fee, and fairer systems to rank users.

Their Ethereum-based platform is the ideal application for smart contracts, ensuring a fair distribution of power between the client and the freelancer. If Coinlancer does everything it says on the box, UpWork might well be headed to the bottom of the ocean.

Loci
If you’ve ever cooked up a brilliant new idea for an invention, the prospect of the dreaded “patent” stage might have thrown you off the idea entirely. The current process for searching and registering new ideas or inventions is painful, convoluted and costly, to say the least.

Loci is deploying their existing InnVenn platform onto the Ethereum blockchain to automate the process of discovering and registering patents. While intellectual property lawyers won’t be too happy about the concept, just about everyone else will be jumping for joy.

Their “distributed database for patent research, discovery, and licensing” removes the barriers for individuals, start-ups and companies to quickly identify what ideas are worth pursuing. Paying 100 LOCI tokens for a monthly subscription, Loci will save the average consumer thousands of dollars (not to mention countless hours).

RightMesh
In an increasingly connected world, it’s easy to forget that nearly 4 billion people lack access to the internet. RightMesh stands steadfast by the right to connectivity, and it is doing everything it can to make it a basic human right.

The Canadian-based firm has created a distributed network encouraging users to share digital resources: storage, data, and internet. In simple terms, their Ethereum-integrated network allows phones to become nodes, spreading the network wherever they go.

The decentralized nature of the RightMesh network makes it more resilient than the internet, where infrastructure issues, interference from governments, and natural disasters regularly take away much-needed access. Carried by the WiFi and Bluetooth of individual users, RightMesh is a self-healing and self-regulating network that cuts the big boys (even ISPs) out of the picture.

Picture a remote community lacking internet access or mobile network. Villagers could message each other using a mesh-enabled app, share files, and much, much more. RightMesh will benefit all consumers, not just those lacking infrastructure; their MESH (ERC20) token will provide users with a financial incentive to share internet and utilize smart contracts.

All Public Art
The art industry is a multi-billion dollar industry rife with all sorts of foul play. Counterfeit works, fraud, and crooked dealers see millions of dollars disappear into thin air, all on account of centuries-old trading systems.

All Public Art has created a peer-to-peer platform using blockchain technology to eliminate price manipulation, fraud, and a number of untoward issues plaguing the art market. All artworks and artists are issued with a unique ID, creating a secure, transparent and trustworthy environment to buy and sell art.

Given these problems plaguing the art industry, the incorruptible, immutable nature of blockchain could be a powerful driver of positive change. Could an investment of APA tokens prove lucrative?

Related: What is All Public Art?

Hurify
The Internet of Things is an industry set to explode, yet there exists a shortage of affordable talent. On account of this, small businesses have no practical means to see their ideas come to fruition. To solve this, Hurify is launching an freelance platform-style blockchain marketplace aiming to connect developers and any user seeking an IoT solution.

The Ethereum-based platform will allow businesses to post projects, while skilled developers can take on tasks that are a good match for their skill set. Smart contracts will streamline the whole process, facilitating project planning, execution and payment in HUR tokens.

Given the ever-growing IoT industry, Hurify’s platform has the potential to disrupt an exponentially-growing marketplace. The team has crafted an innovative solution that is backed by sound research and due diligence, and their ICO is a promising contender.

eCharge
As electric vehicles zip into everyday life, the naysayers seem to find any reason to discredit their status as the future of transport. One of the top of criticisms is charging – how can e-vehicles compete with the ease of filling your tank with gas? The availability of charging infrastructure will make or break the technology’s initial adoption, and eCharge has a preemptive solution. Their electric vehicle charging network is clean, green, and coupled with blockchain to facilitate the best experience possible for users.

Partnering with thousands of hotels across Europe, eCharge is creating a network of e-vehicle charging stations where guests can count on getting from A to B without running out of juice. Enabling “e-mobility” is the name of the game, and eCharge’s app enables drivers to book accommodation with partner hotels, and quickly and painlessly pay for their charges with the ECH token.

eCharge supplies its charging network with 100% green energy, providing all users with an eco-friendly, user-friendly means to seamlessly travel with an electric vehicle. With the e-mobility market set to boom, eCharge is doing everything it can to create a streamlined infrastructure, and their ICO is the first crop of what is to be a bountiful harvest indeed.

Last Thoughts
Investing in an ICO can feel like Russian roulette; it’s not easy to pick a winner. That said, we like to think the success of an ICO is based fundamentally on the product’s value.

These 11 cryptocurrencies all offer an innovative solution to an existing market issue, and are worth keeping an eye on in 2018.

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