Blockchain and cryptocurrency have come to the fore as of late, with more people becoming aware of the benefits of smart contracts. Bitcoin is by far the most popular crypto, as it should be, given it was the first to be released. But, several years later, there are more than 10,000 cryptos in circulation, with more likely to join in time to come.
Bitcoin peaked over USD $60,000 earlier this month and is expected to be worth over $100,000 by the end of this year. Some predict it could reach as high as $300,000, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
As mentioned above, Bitcoin isn’t the only cryptocurrency available for investing. Ethereum, now the second most valuable coin, is still less than $2,000 at the moment, making it much easier to own one Ether. There are several other coins that have shown immense upside and we will look into a few of them below. You could pretty much own as diverse a portfolio as you’d like.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=4e-suWmDH64
NFTs
Non-Fungible Tokens are booming at the moment. They’ve become very popular this year and are pretty easy to own. Some of the newer, most sought-after NFTs are from Dapper Labs, who created NBA Top Shot last year.
NBA Top Shot is basically a digital trading card platform that allows for the buying and selling of NBA highlights, referred to as moments. The moments are included in packs that range from $9 to over $200 and single moments have been known to sell north of $200,000. If you’re looking for a fun investment, NBA Top Shot might be the right one for you. It’s very low risk – the only frustration might lie in actually getting your hands on a pack as pack drops are random and the number is usually a lot lower than the number of people waiting in line. This week, though, Dapper Labs released 2,500,000 packs as part of a 2-day drop. Such drops are rare but it appears the company wanted to ensure that all collectors got in on the action.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been one of the most vocal Top Shot enthusiasts out there.
“I get to enjoy knowing I own my Maxi Klieber dunk Moment, along with knowing the serial number and much more, the billionaire wrote in his blog back in January. “Some people might complain that I can get the same video on the internet anywhere any time and watch it. Well guess what, I can get the same picture on any traditional, physical card on the internet and print it out, and that doesn’t change the value of the card.
“And when I want to sell the card, NBA Top Shots offers a marketplace I can sell it in, which by virtue of the site being created on Flow BlockChain offers me the ability to see every Maxi card being offered, the serial number, its price and more. All the foundations required for a consumer friendly, efficient marketplace. But I do have to add that I don’t know why anyone would sell a Maxi Moment. Maxi is a top 10 defender in the NBA, just saying!”
Other portals like WAX.io, EOS, and Polkadot are great NFT avenues. What’s more, you could also turn almost any file into an NFT and sell it yourself as long as it belongs to you. Some creators have noticed their fan art being sold as NFTs online, so we imagine regulations will get stricter moving forward.
If you’re into betting, sports-based NFTs like Top Shot would also slot in nicely where hobbies are concerned. A BetOnline review wouldn’t go amiss either.
Here are a few coins you could also take a look at:
Enjin Coin
Enjin Coin, made by Enjin, allows game developers to make tokens of in-game items on the Ethereum blockchain. So you could literally own a weapon in a game that supports Enjin if you so desire. The platform uses Enjin Coin to back digital assets therein, making items available for buying and selling with real-world value. One Enjin Coin was worth USD $2.46 at the time of writing and has been on a huge upward trend.
Cardano
Another coin showing lots of promise, Cardano is part of a proof-of-stake blockchain platform. The founders say its goal is to allow “changemakers, innovators and visionaries” to see to positive global change, as well as “redistribute power from unaccountable structures to the margins to individuals.”
The platform is used by agricultural companies to track fresh produce but also facilitates other products that allow educational credentials to be stored in a way that prevents tampering.
At the time of writing, Cardano was up 1.90% over the last 24 hours with a trading volume of USD $2,550,154,000. It was worth $1.21.
Chiliz
Still under a dollar at $0.5295, Chiliz is rising pretty quickly. The platform has signed some of the top football clubs in the world as partners, including Juventus and Manchester City. One of the largest blockchains for esports and gaming crowdfunding, Chiliz allows owners to support their favorite teams through digital interactions. Fans who own Chiliz could also be involved in club decisions via the Socios.com app.
Earlier this month, Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo became the first footballer to be paid in crypto when he received 770 $JUV tokens as a reward for scoring his 770th career goal.