As of late, cryptocurrencies have been the talk of the town across various digital platforms like Twitter and international news sites. Despite the volatility of the crypto market, it’s proven itself to be a great choice for interested traders since it serves as a good long-term investment. As this year ends and another year sets to begin, it’s also an important time for crypto enthusiasts to look into the best cryptocurrencies to invest in 2022. It’s crucial to know which coins will explode in 2022 so you can get ahead of the game and gain bigger returns. With the recent surge in Bitcoin and Ethereum, the cryptocurrency market capitalization has topped $3 trillion. Although the crypto market has seen rocky times lately, and the price of some cryptocurrencies has shifted dramatically, that doesn’t discount the fact that several cryptos will stand the test of time.
The cryptocurrency market is relatively young but has already allowed many people to become millionaires and even billionaires. But don’t forget that these success stories also come with opposite ones in this industry. Many investors have lost significant sums by investing in scam coins or succumbing to panic during a crypto market crash (and there have been many of them already). One important market pattern is that risk matches reward, and the crypto market is by no means an exception to this rule. The past few years have seen a series of highs and lows for the crypto market but no one can deny that it has managed to hook the interest of many people around the world. Crypto investors have had a very profitable year. The leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, has risen in price by over fivefold since the beginning of the year, despite the crypto market’s summer correction.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Investing in Cryptocurrencies
Like other types of investment, cryptocurrency investments have their own set of benefits and drawbacks.
The main advantages of investing in cryptocurrency are:
- Volatility. The very high volatility of the crypto market means that the potential profitability of crypto investments are also very high. In fact, few types of investment can compare in terms of their profitability to cryptocurrencies.
- Low entry threshold. Unlike most other types of investment, you don’t need to have a lot of funds to start investing. This makes crypto investments affordable to almost anyone.
- Simplicity. Crypto investments don’t require intermediaries, brokers or filling out numerous documents. Internet access is usually sufficient.
- Contributing to the development and advancement of technologies. By investing in cryptocurrencies, you increase their adoption and contribute to the development of blockchain technology in general.
Disadvantages
- Volatility. No, it’s not just an advantage. The price of a cryptocurrency can skyrocket in a matter of days, increasing by multiple times, but it can collapse just as quickly.
- Risk of theft and hacking. When investing in cryptocurrencies, you need to understand the precautions specific for this type of investment to prevent criminals from stealing your cryptocurrencies.
- Risk of fraud. Many cryptocurrencies appear with the sole purpose of making money on hype. After achieving this goal, the creators of such cryptocurrencies abandon their project, which usually leads to a severe drop in the price of these cryptocurrencies.
- No compound interest effect. Since owning cryptocurrencies doesn’t generate income in the form of dividends, in most cases, investors only make profit if the cryptocurrency is sold at a higher price. However, with some cryptocurrencies, people can go around this disadvantage by staking them.
- It can be difficult for newcomers to the crypto industry to master the full amount of knowledge required to successfully invest in cryptocurrencies.
- Conversion difficulties. In some cases, it may be difficult to convert cryptocurrencies into fiat money and vice versa.
- Regulatory risks. In most countries, regulators haven’t yet come to a final decision regarding their attitude towards cryptocurrencies. And the governments of some countries are trying to ban cryptocurrencies altogether under the pretext of combating money laundering. Such risks negatively affect the prices of cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrency 2019-2021 Recap
The past few years have seen a series of highs and lows for the crypto market but no one can deny that it has managed to hook the interest of many people around the world. Take a look back on the different achievements and challenges faced by this industry from 2019 to 2021 here:
Achievements
The crypto market continues to grow each day and has opened the doors of possibilities in the world of financial technology. Some of the most notable achievements to date are the following:
- Cryptocurrencies Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) reached their all-time high in 2021. BTC hit $65,000 in April 2021 while ETH went over the $4,000 benchmark in May 2021.
- The creation of various cryptocurrencies that are faster than Bitcoin (BTC) which has 7 transactions per second (TPS). Some examples include Ethereum (ETH) with 25 TPS, Ripple (XRP) with 1,500 TPS and Solana (SOL) with 50,000 TPS.
- Investing and trading have become mainstream with big companies like Tesla and Square joining the fray.
- It is used across various industries aside from finance like in the gaming and entertainment industries to name a few.
Challenges
Despite the good things that are happening in the crypto industry, there are still a few challenges that this technology encounters along the way:
- It went through a series of price crashes as some cryptos reached both their highest and lowest prices in the past three years.
- This received both good and bad reviews from big financial institutions all over the world such as central banks in certain countries. Cryptocurrencies have also been banned in nations like China and Russia.
Best Cryptocurrencies for 2022
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin (BTC) is known as the biggest cryptocurrency. At the moment, it’s reaching over $1 trillion in its market capitalization. It was created in 2009 by a mysterious figure hiding behind the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto. This was the first digital coin to use an underlying blockchain technology. It’s a technology that allows transactions to be kept safe and immutable in a network of computers.
Being the prime mover in the crypto market, BTC makes a good investment for the long term since it has the highest market capitalization and is the most notable one among other tokens. Most people start with trading in BTC before trying out other coins. As a result, it becomes more popular and its market capitalization increases. Taking advantage of this situation, you are more likely to get lots of returns when investing in this kind of crypto asset.
Ethereum (ETH)
Following BTC as the largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum (ETH) is second in rank with a market capitalization of $425 billion. It was created in 2015 by the Russian-Canadian computer programmer Vitalik Buterin. Contrary to BTC, ETH uses a smart contract feature that drafts the terms and conditions of a transaction between two parties in code. This allows a more efficient and secured transaction without the need for a middleman.
Ethereum is the largest blockchain network for decentralized applications (dApps) that function without being controlled by a single entity. Moreover, its system allows the creation and use of Ethereum request for comment (ERC-20) tokens. This paves the way for the improvement of various coins and lets them interact seamlessly with one another. As a result, the ETH coin becomes the first choice for people who are venturing into new coin development. Additionally, it serves as a good investment for those looking for both short term and long term gains.
Polkadot (DOT)
Released in 2016 by Gavin Wood, Polkadot (DOT) is known to be similar to ETH. It which allows users to build dApps and utilize smart contracts. It’s part of the Parachain blockchain network that has connected different blockchains, allowing users to transfer their assets across various blockchain platforms. Moreover, it is performing well in the market with a market capitalisation of $33 billion. According to the President of Capital2Markets Keith Bliss, Polkadot rivals Ethereum and is found to be safer by most programmers. This allows them to make their own blockchains, resulting in the growth of its programmer base.
Binance Coin (BNB)
Presently ranked as the 4th highest crypto asset with a market capitalization of $72 billion, Binance Coin (BNB) is a cryptocurrency used for trading and paying fees in the Binance exchange. It was released in 2017 to allow users of the exchange to have transactions at a cheaper price. This only has a strict limit of 200 million tokens for circulation.
Initially, BNB was used for trading purposes in the Binance exchange. However, it is now utilised in several ways. For instance, paying for goods, services, and transaction fees on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC). This then became a prime investment in Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange site in the world.
Cardano (ADA)
Known as the third-generation cryptocurrency, Cardano (ADA) was released in 2017. It’s inventor is Charles Hoskinson who was also the co-founder of Ethereum. ADA features more environmentally-friendly methods, faster transactions and a more secure system. Contrary to most cryptocurrencies, ADA is one of the few that solved the issue of energy usage. It only uses six gigawatt-hours when mining. That’s much less compared to BTC which uses 130 terawatt-hours and ETH with 50 terawatt-hours.
