Early adopters are the biggest winners every time cryptocurrencies are mentioned. From Bitcoin to ripple, Monero to Ethereum, each cryptocurrency started from scratch. Anyone who purchased any successful coin today when it just launched has made profits. If you just got started, overwhelmed with so many coins to choose from, relax. Even the biggest coins can still make you profits, but not guaranteed.
How to make Money with Cryptos
The easiest way to make profits with cryptocurrencies is to trade them. Simply put, buy some bitcoins or ethereum and hold them for a while. When the prices increase to the desired margin, you sell them. Learn more about this concept on flyp.me.
Buying and holding top cryptocurrencies had the highest ROI in 2017. And we got numbers to show that.
Crypto Performance (%)
Investing in any of the top 10 performing coins in January 2017 would have given you a return of 1000% or more. Bitcoin, for example, was valued at $1,000 at the beginning of the year. At one time in December 2017, the coin was valued at $19,000.
Unfortunately, things have been a little bit different in 2018, and crypto traders have become confused. The top-performing cryptocurrencies in 2017 have been lagging behind so far. By contrast, the best performing cryptocurrencies in 2018 are little known of.
Crypto Growth (3Months)
Trading Top Cryptocurrencies in 2018
Bitcoin started off 2018 at $13,412. Today the popular digital asset is valued at only $8,000. Ethereum started off the year at $747, went up to $1,400 in the next 2 week before it started going down up to $387 by April 6. Ripple started off 2018 at $1.99, rose to $2.83 3 days later, before plummeting day after day up to $0.49. Today, Ripple is valued at $0.66. So, is it profitable to trade the big 3 cryptocurrencies?
Invest in Technology
One thing traders tend to forget when dealing with cryptocurrencies is that they invest in the underlying technology and not necessarily the coin. When you buy Bitcoins, you invest in the Bitcoin platform, its capabilities, and use cases throughout the world. Bitcoin in specific was the first decentralized cryptocurrency in the world. Its founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, designed it for the following reasons:
- As a fast payment protocol not bound by government regulations
- As a digital currency that provides some bit of anonymity
- A cost-effective payment method with a secure system
- A permanent digital ledger of records
Perhaps because of being the first successful cryptocurrency, Bitcoin has continuously gained popularity year after year. Its adoption rate compared to the rest of cryptos is so huge that it commands 40% market dominance. Bitcoin is generally used as the base cryptocurrency for buying other coins. And despite having its flaws, it’s likely that the digital asset will continue dominating the market.
So, is it worth it to invest in Bitcoins? All signs show that Bitcoin will continue to dominate the markets years to come. Nearly all trading websites support Bitcoin and use it as the base currency for trading other coins. Cryptocurrency wallets tend to list Bitcoin and other coins. Throughout the e-commerce where cryptocurrencies are accepted, Bitcoin is mostly the crypto accepted. Even where a merchant claims to accept top altcoins, they always convert these coins into Bitcoins before receiving them.
Ethereum Technology
There is confusion among traders as to whether it’s worth it to invest in Ethereum given the drastic fall of Ethereum prices in 2018. But like Bitcoin, Ethereum is founded on an excellent technology. Ethereum was designed in 2015 as a blockchain startup that could offer the coding tools needed to build other blockchains.
The network also consists of smart contracts: executable computer commands that help make payments in a trustless and conflict-free manner. Smart contracts are in fact one of the biggest inventions of the cryptocurrency industry. Through Ethereum’s platform, hundreds of blockchain startups have been born. In fact, a website that tracks the development of Ethereum decentralized apps shows that 1,367 apps have been developed on the platform since 2015.
Most of the decentralized applications held an ICO to raise funds. And with each ICO, Ethereum states that the startup must accept funds in Ethereum coins. This way, the Ethereum coin has gained lots of adoption over the years and is likely to continue gaining adoption in coming years. Once in a while, the coin will plummet due to market correction or other reasons, but it will always emerge strong.
Ripple Technology
Ripple is a cryptocurrency network curtailed to help settle gross payments around the world. As such, the Ripple network can help complete fiat payments, Gold, or even other cryptocurrencies. While it’s built on a blockchain, the Ripple network is validated in an energy-saving, Proof of Systems consensus. In short, Ripple can be summarized as:
- A payment protocol that supports both cryptocurrencies and fiat money
- A cryptocurrency traded on exchanges (XRP)
- A digitized public ledger that is somehow private
Ideally, Ripple has a digital ledger similar to the blockchain but slightly different. Ripple primarily targets banks and other huge financial institutions. It helps the institutions to complete payments around the world fast and efficiently. There are 100 billion ripple coins mined and distributed by the parent company. The coins could be distributed even further, but ripple claims that no more coins will be distributed in the future.
Should you trade Ripple in 2018? Ever since the Ripple network began allowing banks to complete payments using Fiat currencies, traders started doubting Ripple’s profitability as a cryptocurrency. The argument was that the company only promotes their payment platform and not the coin.
While that is true, there is nothing that stops Ripple from growing in value. As a finite coin, ripple could still grow in 2018 and beyond. And if more institutions use the coin to complete payments, its value will rise hugely.
Conclusion
Overall, it’s still possible to make profits trading the big cryptocurrencies. Day traders will make money by speculating on short-term price changes while long-term traders will invest in the underlying technologies.
