{"id":3629,"date":"2021-05-30T23:47:57","date_gmt":"2021-05-30T18:17:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aayushbhaskar.com\/?p=3629"},"modified":"2021-06-01T20:26:02","modified_gmt":"2021-06-01T14:56:02","slug":"5-altcoins-you-should-consider-adding-to-your-portfolio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aayushbhaskar.com\/5-altcoins-you-should-consider-adding-to-your-portfolio\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Altcoins You Should Consider Adding to Your Portfolio","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

There is Bitcoin and then there are all the other Altcoins.<\/p>\n

Any cryptocurrency that isn’t Bitcoin, is called an Altcoin.<\/p>\n

ETH, XRP, LTC – all of them. (DOGE<\/a> is a meme coin, but hey!)<\/p>\n

Now Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency in the world, right now. And you should definitely HODL it, if not anything else.<\/p>\n

If you have low capital, let’s say if you can’t buy at least 0.5 BTC at a constant average price – it’s futile to HODL only<\/strong> BTC. Chances of you making a fortune are low.<\/p>\n

Also, from a perspective of diversification, you should have a couple of other Altcoins in your portfolio. After all, you can’t bet Bitcoin will be prominent and dominant in the future. It has many flaws and even if it is backed by institutional investors, its flaws will prevent its growth.<\/p>\n

This is pure speculation because Bitcoin has become an asset, it’s not a currency anymore. Either it will hold its value over time or not, depends on the innovation we are yet to see in the crypto industry.<\/p>\n

In this article, we will discuss the 5 best Altcoins that you should have in your portfolio right now. These Altcoins project a massive return and a promising roadmap for the future.<\/p>\n

Diversifying your portfolio will help you divide the risk as well as help you recover from potential bottom-hitting market crashes.<\/p>\n

1. Ether (ETH)<\/h2>\n

If you’re not HODLing ETH along with Bitcoin, you’re making a big mistake.<\/p>\n

Bitcoin is the crypto asset, and ETH is the application giant. Hundreds of tokens use the Ethereum blockchain, NFT platforms, it allows you to build DeFi applications and they have a solid road map.<\/p>\n

ETH and BTC<\/a> are both market movers. Meaning if one goes down, the whole market follows.<\/p>\n

ETH is soon moving towards a proof-of-stake network. This means faster transaction speed, low fees and fewer carbon-emission issues.<\/p>\n

This is good news because all of these factors are negatively impact the overall usage and acceptance of a cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n

Moreover, you can also stake your ETH and earn annual interest. Various exchanges and crypto wallets allow you to stake ETH, including Coinbase<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The gas fees (the transaction fees of ETH) have also reduced from what used to be extremely high.<\/p>\n

At present, ETH is directly competing with a couple of blockchains including Binance Smart Chain, Polkadot and Solana. To me, ETH has no competitors, it’s by far the biggest and the most capable blockchain.<\/p>\n

When I say competing, it’s not for the value or the market share, it’s for the technology implementation. Some blockchain like Polkadot are still small so they can scale up faster and add new features without thinking hard about repercussions. ETH is too big to take detrimental risks.<\/p>\n

As soon as ETH fees start getting lower and make it more economical to swap and transact – it will become a mountain that others could climb, but won’t be able to move. But, there’s a big if.\u00a0<\/strong>You can’t be on it, I certainly won’t.<\/p>\n

All in all, ETH should be in your crypto portfolio, regardless of whatever comes up pretending to be its nemesis.<\/p>\n

2. Cardano (ADA)<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Cardano is the closest competitor of ETH, at least that’s what analysts and some “experts” believe.<\/p>\n

I don’t really think so. ADA is yet to launch anything that can be considered as a “product”. Let’s be real, Cardano has no product whatsoever, but it’s at its final stages of development.<\/p>\n

For years it almost tracked like a stable coin. And in 2021, people started realizing that Cardano is not just another cryptocurrency or token pretending to be the next big thing – it actually is.<\/p>\n

You have every reason to be bullish on Cardano, it is everything all crypto coins and tokens want to be. It’s pretty much perfect, but it’s yet to finish the test net.<\/p>\n

Cardano has been in development for so long because it takes time and capital to achieve what its founder Charles Hoskinson wants ADA to do. Cardano’s main goal is to be the most scalable and secure blockchain.<\/p>\n

This means they need three things at the very least:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Faster transaction speed (Proof-of-stake already enabled on Cardano)<\/li>\n
  2. Interoperability for app developers<\/li>\n
  3. High-security network for the staked coins<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    All of this is going to take substantial time to complete. The roadmap is structured up until 2025, for active development.<\/p>\n

    We are actually betting on Cardano’s future value, as long-term HODLers. With each phase, Cardano seems to better and its prices get a little pump as well.<\/p>\n

    Since ADA works on proof-of-stakes, you can earn ADA as interest on your idle coins. Staking Cardano is a great way to earn anywhere between 3 to 5% annual interest.<\/p>\n

    So, HODL Cardano and stake it using wallets like Exodus<\/a> and Atomic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Check out the best Cardano wallets.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

    3. Solana<\/h2>\n

    Solana is another great Altcoin with a promising roadmap and an impressive development team. Apart from being capable of handling a lot more transactions per second, Solana also works on a proof-of-history system.<\/p>\n

    Solana is capable of handling 30,000 to 50,000 transactions per second. It uses the proof of history network system to check for double-spending and is more efficient than Ethereum.<\/p>\n

    It’s surely very promising. Take look at its founders and co-founders, most of them are former employees of companies like Google, DropBox, Binance, and BMW.<\/p>\n

    Much like Cardano, Solana is also built for scale and highly secure but fast transactions. Especially in terms of micropayments.<\/p>\n

    They are one of the most promising ETH competitors and it directly competes with Polkadot.<\/p>\n

    Given their speed of development and application launches, Solana<\/a> is a very special project. You should definitely consider adding it to your portfolio.<\/p>\n

    You can stake Solana too and it yields rather good returns at 10% to 12% Annually on Atomic<\/a> or Exodus<\/a> wallet. And remember Exodus staking is non-custodial, you can send and exchange<\/a> your staked coins whenever you want.<\/p>\n

    4. BNB<\/h2>\n

    Binance is the biggest crypto exchange in the world. It’s used by institutions to retail investors, processing billions of dollars every week.<\/p>\n

    So, Binance’s coin BNB has a utility and demand. It’s blockchain, the Binance Smart Chain is fast, secure and extremely cheap. Binance Smart Chain is what Ethereum should have been.<\/p>\n

    Much like Bitcoin, BNB has also considered a store of value.\u00a0 Ethereum and BNB both work on Smart Contract as of now. BNB grew very fast in 2021, and it’s all because of the low, super low transaction fees. Plus, it’s super fast.<\/p>\n

    Binance Smart Chain (The BNB blockchain) works without nodes, using validators. This means it’s more energy efficient, even when Ethereum goes to a full proof-of-stake network.<\/p>\n

    BNB is very promising and as of now, if you go by the market analysis, it’s relatively cheap. BNB can stake on Binance or its Trust Wallet, but make sure you know the risks. Staking BNB is locking your coins unlike Cardano and Solana on Exodus.<\/p>\n

    So, it’s better to simply HODL a few BNB coins instead of silly MEME coins like SHIB and DOGE.<\/a><\/p>\n

    5. Litecoin \/ Chainlink<\/h2>\n

    Litecoin (LTC) is one of the earliest forks of Bitcoin. It was launched in 2011. If Bitcoin is the GOLD, consider Litecoin to be Silver.<\/p>\n

    It’s basically a liter version of Bitcoin built for scalability with speed. Litecoin is very similar to Bitcoin, but much, much faster.<\/p>\n

    And the LTC transaction fee is super, super low.<\/p>\n

    Now, I’m in-between Chainlink (LINK) and Litecoin positions. Chainlink is a good option too based on what I’ve read about it.<\/p>\n

    Both are highly volatile, they move when Bitcoin moves, but Chainlink somehow shows some resistance to market movers. Chainlink is relatively new, so I want them to age a little bit before I add them to my portfolio.<\/p>\n

    Chainlink also works on Smart Contracts and it’s super fast. Chainlink does look very promising, it has everything to make it a solid cryptocurrency in the future.<\/p>\n

    In the past 12 months, Chainlink has grown steadily and along with the market. They grew pretty fast in 2020-21, so expect it to slow down in the future.<\/p>\n

    So, both Chainlink and Litecoin are good for long-term HODLing.<\/p>\n

    Special Mention – Polygon (MATIC)<\/h2>\n

    Polygon is an India-based crypto startup founded in 2017. By three amazing software developers.<\/p>\n

    MATIC network is designed to work as an extension of the Ethereum blockchain. They developed the plasma chain for Eteherum which in a nutshell makes the entire blockchain much more scalable yet ensures the integrity of the network.<\/p>\n

    They rebranded to Polygon recently. MATIC uses proof-of-stake and layer-2 scaling (creating plasma chain for Ethrereum blockchain). Etehreum Mainnet (layer 1) is not used and an off-chain (layer 2) is created for faster transactions and lower gas fees.<\/p>\n

    My knowledge is very limited on this part of Polygon, but so far I can understand it’s moving towards building an Ethereum ecosystem.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    I’m one of the most non-mathematically gifted persons, so if you want to learn more about their network and options, you can read MATIC white paper here<\/a> and these supporting articles.<\/a><\/p>\n

    It also uses validators, which means it is a tad bit more centralized than Bitcoin. But that makes it much faster, as MATIC can handle about 10,000 transactions per second.<\/p>\n

    And recently, Mark Cuban invested in Polygon which means we might see some cool integrations and a bunch of solid DeFi apps backed by a billionaire with huge leverage. Quite an amazing feat for Polygon.<\/p>\n

    All in all, MATIC seems to have a great future. And as an Indian, I feel I should support it, so, I have about 15% of my crypto portfolio in MATIC.<\/p>\n

    Conclusion – Advice.<\/h2>\n

    You can track your entire crypto portfolio using the CoinMarketCap<\/a> app. It’s pretty convenient.<\/p>\n

    To purchase crypto, I recommend the following exchanges, they are the safest and I’ve personally used them:<\/p>\n