Cryptocurrency investors have found that winning trades are hard to come by in 2018. Whether you’re a day trader, swing trader or simply look to find long-term value plays, its become increasingly difficult to beat the macro trends that completely disregard bullish news and overreact on any hint of negativity.
That being said, it is important to identify potential investment opportunities early so that you can properly scale into your position to avoid getting burned in either direction. One interesting approach to consider is finding the best possible value plays that are trading at the greatest discount relative to previous all-time highs, as these peak values indicate what investors were once willing to pay.
While this theory clearly does not apply to a great majority of the altcoins on the market, as irrational exuberance pushed a lot of worthless vaporware to unreasonable valuations, it gets interesting when you consider projects that are backed by significant capital, teams and underlying technology. These cryptocurrencies offer at least a decent shot at regaining a fraction of what they previously traded at if the market recovers.
Here are 5 top altcoins that are currently trading at a 90%+ discount from their all-time highs (ATHs):
Qtum (QTUM) | $6.48 | $576 Million Market Cap
Description: QTUM has developed a platform for implementing tools, templates, and other plug-and-play smart contract options to make it easier for businesses to build and execute smart contracts. Specifically, Qtum is focused on decentralized applications which can be executed on mobile devices. Qtum leverages a combination of Bitcoin’s blockchain and Ethereum smart contracts to offer businesses a high performing, yet stable platform for DApp development and implementation.
All-Time High Price: $106.88
AltDex 100 Ranking: 21
Siacoin (SC) | $0.0075 | $271 Million Market Cap
Description: Sia is a decentralized storage platform secured by blockchain technology that leverages underutilized hard drive capacity around the world to create a data storage marketplace that is more reliable and lower cost than traditional cloud storage providers (i.e., Amazon, Dropbox, etc.).
All-Time High Price: $0.11
AltDex 100 Ranking: 37
NEM (XEM) | $0.141 | $1.28 Billion Market Cap
Description: NEM is building a platform called the “Smart Asset System” that allows developers to create custom assets through direct API access to a specialized set of tested and secure on-blockchain features. NEM leverages a unique two-blockchain system that consists of a public chain that anyone can use and a permissioned private blockchain solution that can be provisioned specifically for businesses. Through this platform, NEM aims to establish their blockchain system as the premier enterprise solution.
All-Time High Price: $2.05
AltDex 100 Ranking: 15
ICON (ICX) | $0.865 | $335 Million Market Cap
Description: The ICON Project is an effort to devise a decentralized network that allows independent blockchains with different governance protocols to transact with one another without the interference of any intermediaries. As a result of this, ICON enables users with varying levels of technical know-how to create a new blockchain project and join the native ecosystem.
All-Time High Price: $12.64
AltDex 100 Ranking: 30
Status (SNT) | $0.0535 | $185 Million Market Cap
Description: Status developing a mobile operating system for Ethereum that includes an open source messaging platform and mobile browser, enabling users to interact with DApps that run on the Ethereum Network. Status combines a secure messenger, web 3.0 browser and an Ethereum token wallet that will be available for iOS and Android devices. Additionally, the Status team is building out a Hardwallet which allows users to facilitate cryptocurrency transactions using near-field communication (NFC).
Ultimately, Status intends to build the first real mobile gateway to the decentralized web.
All-Time High Price: $0.68
AltDex 100 Ranking: 48
FINAL TAKE
These five cryptocurrencies offer an interesting value investment opportunity, as they are each trading at a significant discount from their all-time highs. While there are never guarantees in any investment, these five are at least worthy of further due diligence given their relative quality.