There are A LOT of Altcoins, ICOs (initial coin offering), and crypto startups out there right now - with more popping up every day. I've listed my favorite coins/tokens below, all of which should be watched closely in 2018.
IOTA (IOTA)
In the future, our connected devices will seamlessly exchange services, data, and utility. Recent contracts with 20+ major organizations...like Microsoft...only further legitimizes this incredibly impressive project. Perhaps best of all, they've developed something called the tangle which allows for scalable transaction processing without any prohibitive fees.
Quantstamp (QSP)
Cardano (ADA)
Ethos (ETHOS)
Ripple (XRP)
Bloom (BLT) - ICO
IndaHash (IDH) - ICO
Social media "influencers" represent BIG business. IndaHash is an established, marketing leading player in the influencer industry because they represent the social media stars while connecting them to major brands like Nike and Coca-Cola. The IndaHash Token is being implemented to help the company pay their influencers faster and reduce expensive banking fees that they are currently paying due to their international business operations. The influencers are incentivized to receive payment in IDH due to the 20% bonus and instantaneous payment delivery. There are also some other interesting plans for implementing cryptocurrency as a solution in this venture, but you should explore those further on your own.
None of this is financial advice. Do your own research and make educated decisions. Disclaimer: I am invested in some of the coins/tokens that I write about.