Crypto FTW: Building an AltFolio for the First Time (what are the sound investments, promising long shots, and innovative coins?)
Hello, fellow Steem-O's. How are you today?
I have recently begun to build a very small crypto portfolio, and am looking for advice and wisdom from experienced investors regarding the best way to play the long game.
For someone like me, who feels he is coming somewhat late into the game, and who has basically sucked at money and finance up to this point, cryptocurrency provides me with a chance to finally excel where most of my peers remain unaware of the opportunities to be had. The one "in" I have on them is that I basically do understand crypto and it's potential to change the world, impact markets, and provide an alternative option to the violence-based fiat systems put in place by centralized banks and centralized coercive nation states.
Basically, I am hoping this comments section can be a good place for discussion in regard to this topic.
So, I have a few questions.
Specifically, what do you look for when investing in an altcoin? Some things which stand out to me as very important include:
- Network strength and security
- Community
- Transaction speed and fees
- Affordability
- Decentralization
- Privacy
- User "Friendliness"/Accessibility
- Economic protocols (inflation protocols, coin limits, mining practices)
- Market Cap
Finally, what are some "long shot" coins that you view to be potentially promising and worthwhile investments?
As a trader, and a libertarian/anarcho-capitalist, I do not expect to receive value for nothing.
Whatever wisdom is provided, I will do my best to repay useful advice with my votes.
Cheers, and thanks in advance.
~KafkA
Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist residing in Niigata, Japan.
No one mentioned the storage coins
Maidsafe siacoin and storj. One of these should make it. Maybe more than one.
Also the anonymous coins monero and dash and shadow cash seem to have a shot.
Yes, good point - I forgot about the storage coins. Maidsafe is particularly interesting, I think, because the technology behind it has been in development for so long and the main developer, David Irvine, is a serious heavyweight.
I also like the look of Zcash in the anonymous coins department. In the longer-term with anonymous coins, there does seem to be an extra risk that the gateways back to fiat will get closed off for regulatory reasons. I can easily see a situation developing where the authorities say "OK, you can run an exchange, but if you allow coin X, Y or Z on it, we'll shut you down".
I'd say there a few different sub-sectors within the crypto-currency space:
And, if you like moonshots, it's definitely worth keeping up to date with @hexayurt's new VC venture: blockchain, VR and everything in between.
This is a great comment. Thank you. Followed!
You're welcome - it was helpful to actually write that down for the first time!
I have nothing to contribute, but as someone in the same boat as you (albeit with less crypto proficiency), I'm going to be eyeing this comment section for advice on my own investing strategies. Upvoted and resteemed!
Thanks man! Much obliged, and good luck!
Oh wow, where to begin. I could write pages and pages on this topic, but will try to keep myself under control. Personally, I would invest in Ether (ETH) and Ethereum based tokens. Augur Reputation tokens (REP) just launched recently on the Ethereum blockchain (I bought into the ICO a year ago) and have dropped a bit in value, making it a good opportunity to cost-average your way into a position. The Augur platform itself will launch within a few months. It's a decentralized prediction market which has the potential to be a killer application for Ethereum. Expect a large run up in REP price as the official launch approaches.
Synereo AMP also looks like a good long-term opportunity. See my previous blog post about it for more detailed advice about that.
When it comes to evaluating altcoins, I stay away from everything that is simply "a better Bitcoin" (in other words the vast majority of them). I look for innovative new blockchain 2.0 projects that offer something new and unique, above and beyond the standard store-of-value / currency aspect that Bitcoin is designed for. This is why I like Ethereum, which is a smart contracts platform (think Bitcoin but with a complete programming language built into the blockchain). Tokens on top of Ethereum, such as REP, DGD, and SNGLS all offer additional ways to generate revenue, like a dividend, which gives them built-in intrinsic value.
Other factors to consider: what are the credentials of the dev team behind the project, does the project have a well-defined development plan with clear milestones, how long has the project already been in development, how much do the devs interact with the community, and what is the potential competition (i.e. will this project corner a niche market or will there be a lot of competition limiting the potential market share).
I thought sales were closed on Augur REPs until the full, non-beta platform was released. Not so? Yes, Augur seems very exciting. I love the concept. I agree about Ether and the distinction between that kind of platform/idea and the simple and numerous "better Bitcoins."
Thanks as always for the great advice. I will into the tokens you listed.
REP tokens have been distributed on the Ethereum blockchain and are now actively being traded on several exchanges, including my personal favorite Poloniex. Note that the Augur crowdsale was last year. I don't know the exact crowdsale price, but current REP price is roughly 10x higher at the moment. So do keep in mind that there will probably be a lot of selling from crowdsale participants looking to cash out. I have sold about 25% of my holdings and intend to buy back gradually to increase my overall amount of REP as the current price decline continues. Eventually it will bottom out before skyrocketing when Augur gets close to launch. Same basic pattern that we saw with Ethereum itself.
Awesome. Just dipped my toes in.
Excellent what you posted @ kafkanarchy84, congratulations thanks for sharing