Updated cryptocoin & token picks for 2018! What are yours?

Introduction

As 2017 is in it's waning months, I've decided to write about my predictions and what coins I see as being the best investments for the 2018 year. 2017 has continued the surge in value of Bitcoin and has also brought some newcomers to the forefront of the game with huge gains such as Ethereum. So, the question in everyone's minds is, 'What will be the biggest crypt's of 2018?'

Truthfully, no one can be sure of that answer. Below, I share my opinions on what I think the best investments will be (these are also coins I will be/am invested in). I encourage everyone to do their research and come to their own conclusions. This is just my opinion/analysis and is in no way financial advice.

#1. Bitcoin (https://bitcoin.org)

Bitcoin is the staple and posterchild of the cryptocurrency movement. I do not see this changing anytime soon. It is by far the most well-known around the world, especially to those who are not involved yet or are just beginning to get into the cryptocurrency revolution.

Bitcoin has also proven it's stability. Every year since it's creation it has made significant gains. What 2018 holds for Bitcoin, I am not sure. But, I am almost positive we will not see any losses.

Even if Bitcoin doesn't have massive gains again in 2018 (massive gains are still very possible), Bitcoin at the very least will be a stable investment that will net some positive growth again. Because of it's popularity, exposure to the public, previous track record, and stability/safety of investment, Bitcoin is my number 1 choice for 2018. The huge gains might not be there in 2019, but who knows really. Either way, I think it's safe to say that Bitcoin will be a safe bet for the upcoming year.

#2. Bitshares (https://bitshares.org/)

Bitshares is far more than just your ordinary cryptocurrency. Bitshares is also a decentralized exchange that utilizes financial tools and contract types.

They offer "SmartCoins"/BitAssets on the exchange which are pegged to assets such as gold, silver, the US dollar, Bitcoin, and more.

“BitAssets, the currency of BitShares, are digital asset tokens that have eliminated the burden of price volatility. This means that bitUSD, bitEuro, bitCNY and bitGold will always trade near par value for the dollar, euro, yuan and gold on cryptocurrency exchanges worldwide.”
These market-pegged assets become “smart currencies,” pegged by market forces to underlying fiat currencies (USD, EUR, CNY) or commodities like gold and silver. This provides stability, allowing merchants to hold the currency rather than selling it quickly to avoid volatility of first-generation crypto currencies like bitcoin. These assets are also backed by 250%+ their value in BTS which makes it even more amazing.

The ability to hold between transactions minimizes the taxes, fees and counterparty risks incurred going into and out of fiat in search of stability.

The native currency is called bitshares (BTS). Viewed as a mere currency, it is every bit as volatile as first-generation currencies like bitcoin. But, viewed as equity in BitShares the unmanned company, BTS value is derived from demand for the company’s incorruptible products and services.

So BTS makes an excellent form of collateral with which to back stable smart currency derivatives and other financial products.

Bitshares has another interesting asset called Bit20 -- Trading symbol: BTWTY. This is an index fund of the top 20 traded cryptocurrencies by market cap. With the bright future of cryptocurrency, this asset can only go up as the cryptoverse continues to expand and be adopted by more and more people.

The supply is actually created by traders when borrowing and shorting the asset back by a collateral in BTS (250%).

#3. IOTA (https://iota.org/)

IOTA provide efficient, secure, lightweight, real time micro-transactions without fees. It is open-source, decentralized cryptocurrency, engineered specifically for Internet of Things, its real-time micro transactions and providing ecosystem that is ready and flexible for scale.

IOTA is often consider as an alternative coin (altcoin), but the truth is that IOTA is not just an altcoin, it is an extension of blockchain ecosystem. IOTA goes beyond blockchain. IOTA is based on Tangle instead of blockchain.

What is Tangle? With simple words we would say, that Tangle retain the blockchain features of the distributed ledger and secure transactions, but does not work with blocks. Instead of blocks (regular blockchain), Tangle uses the form of a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG).

In the Tangle, each transaction forms a new block and it is verified by itself. To be able proceed this verification it has to first verify two randomly chosen transactions in the network.
IOTA’s architecture is inherently decentralized on a level that no blockchain can match, due to the fact that users and validators are one and the same in Tangle.
Almost like perpetum-mobile, right? Of course there is a cost of every transaction, but the cost is “to verify other transactions”. The idea behind is very clear: IOTA creates self-sustainable economy that is based on demand. That's why we talk that Tangle run with zero-cost transactions.
This model has one more benefit. There is no limit for scaling. The problem that we face right now with cryptocurrencies (based on blockchain) is scalability. The IOTA network could become indefinitely scalable with zero cost because every new transaction verifies two new transactions in the network. One more and more people join and send transaction, IOTA will grow and scale smoothly. A Tangle brings solution for scalability with zero cost, that is revolutionary!

For more information on IOTA, you can check out my in-depth look at the IOTA technology in my BlockTech series. The link to that post is: https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@bitboss/blocktech-iota-going-beyond-the-blockchain

#4. Steem (https://steem.io/)

I couldn't post this article on Steemit and not mention Steem!

Steem is a blockchain-based rewards platform for publishers to monetize content and grow community. It enables tokens to be distributed by "upvote" and "like"-based algorithms and can be integrated with websites to align incentives between application owners and community members to spur growth.

Steem is a next-generation blockchain, uniquely designed to run real-time applications with near instant, fee-free transactions. Steem is already processing more transactions per second than Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The best part about Steem is that you need absolutely 0 knowledge of cryptos or blockchains to get started. All you have to do is signup at Steemit.com and start posting! If you have any interesting content and/or media to share, you can earn Steem/money!

Now with the development of more Steem based apps it has become even easier to earn by sharing different kinds of content. Those apps such as @DTube (https://d.tube/), @jesta ChainBB (https://chainbb.com/), @busy.org (https://busy.org/), @zombee dMania (https://dmania.lol/), and many more are bringing different variety to the Steem community.

#5. Ethereum (https://ethereum.org/)

My next suggestion for investment for 2018 is Bitcoin's biggest competitor currently, Ethereum. Ethereum has had massive success in 2017 and I believe that success will continue in to 2018.

The advantage to Ethereum is it's Smart Contracts. Additional DAPPS and tokens can be built on top of the Ethereum blockchain thus strengthening it at the same time. In 2018 more DAPPS will be built and others will be coming in to production phases thus increasing Ethereum's value. I really wouldn't be surprised if we see Ethereum double in 2018.

#6. ARK (https://ark.io/)

ARK is yet another technology with huge potential.

ARK has a technology called SmartBridge that is designed to allow blockchains to connect and communicate between each other. With ARK’s SmartBridge Technology every coin becomes even more powerful, every app produced on any blockchain has the potential to reach a greater audience and even bitcoin can gain the functionality of every altcoin through a simple blockchain token called ARK.

It’s quite simple. If you want to trigger an event on a blockchain via a different blockchain, you check if that chain is SmartBridge compatible. If it is, then you can issue a SmartBridge transaction to any compatible blockchain via the ark wallet and the possibilities are endless.

Example 1: If you wanted to trigger an ETH smart contract but hold ark, you could just send the instructions through ark SmartBridge, right in the wallet to trigger the event. The code embedded in the ETH chain is always listening for an ark SmartBridge transaction and will collect this info and trigger the function to issue a contract.

Example 2: You want to issue a record entry in Factom, but you only hold ARK. So you would go to your ARK wallet, enter the correct info and instructions for the FCT chain via the SmartBridge tab. Then send it. That’s it, now the FCT chain receives the info and acts appropriately.

Example 3: I want to send 10 ARK to my ETH wallet. This would require an encoded listener with a back-end ability to exchange currencies. (ie: Shapeshift, Changelly, or Coinbase) Once I send my 10 ARK to my ETH wallet, the encoded listener sees this TX (transaction) as an exchange function and acts accordingly. The encoded listener automatically picks up that this TX needs a conversion, so it acts as a relay node picking up the TX, converting it, and rebroadcasting the TX on its way to the ETH wallet. The encoded listener collects a small fee for processing the TX.

(Example 3 would require Shapeshift to be its own encoded listener so that it is always looking for the next SmartBridge TX. Just like ARK, Encoded listener nodes set their own transaction fees. Which can be adjusted by the node operator but not ARK.)

What is the ARK SmartBridge, and How Does it Work? - https://blog.ark.io/what-is-the-ark-smartbridge-and-how-does-it-work-1dd7fb1e17a0

#7. Lisk (https://lisk.io/)

Lisk is a newcomer similar to Ethereum in that it has Smart Contract technology allowing DAPPS to be built on top of the blockchain. Lisk was forked from the Crypti project, so it is not built on top of Ethereum, nor is it a fork of Bitcoin.

The key difference here though is how those Smart Contracts are built. Ethereum requires learning a lot of new code and different programming languages to fully utilize their Smart Contract platform. Lisk, however, uses a very widely used language - JavaScript (they plan on eventually moving to TypeScript which is better written than JS). This makes the potential developer pool for Lisk a lot larger in my opinion. It simplifies the skills needed in order to develop additional apps on it's blockchain by requiring the knowledge of only 1 very common language.

Another key difference is Lisk's sidechains. Unlike Ethereum, where DAPPS are built on top of the blockchain, Lisk enables the creation of sidechains. Ethereum is doing smart contracts which are all saved on one blockchain. If you want to develop a DAPP in Ethereum you need to connect the functionalities of several smart contracts.

In Lisk you get a complete package. You don't develop single smart contracts. You build an entire application which is running on its own blockchain. It's like you develop a new crypto-currency platform with an extended feature-set, the platform itself is already finished and provided by our Lisk SDK. As a developer you just need to implement the necessary new features on top of the already existing platform.

The price for lisk is currently $4+. It has the potential to shoot a lot higher than that depending on many factors. However, it is one of my favorite picks for 2018 because of the technology behind it.

#8. Edgeless (https://edgeless.io/)

Edgeless is a token based on the Ethereum network. Edgeless is a decentralized casino for the blockchain with fully transparent and 0% edge gambling online. The idea behind this is awesome and, in my opinion, has the potential to explode barring any major legal hurdles.

They currently have a working version of their Blackjack game and have 4 other additional games in development. I love the idea and I believe Edgless can become very valuable and very fun depending on the legal issues they may face (stupid governments...).

I still am not the most knowledgeable on Edgeless, so to learn more please visit their website https://edgeless.io/

Honorable Mentions

Dash (https://dash.org/)
Monero (https://monero.cc/)
Golem (https://golem.network/)
BasicAttentionToken (https://basicattentiontoken.org/)

Let's hear from you!

I'm curious as to what everyone else's favorites are for the coming year! Share your favorite coins and tokens in the comments and let others know why.

Also, do you agree with my post or am I losing my mind? :P Let me know! Together we can make 2018 an even better year than 2017!

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