I think there are many different and interesting coins to play with right now, but I am particularly interested in crypto investments that I can make and forget until they explode as big or bigger than Bitcoin.
What Is The Next Generation - Bitcoin 2.0
Usually when new developments in technology are made, the first mover can enjoy a more profitable position for so long until somebody improves the model. Personally, I think this has already happened with a few of these coins, but time will tell.
I am not on the Ethereum (ETH) bandwagon. It's not that I don't think that Ethereum is a good investment, I'm just scared of it for several reasons. The DAO hack obviously set Ethereum back a bit, but with the hard fork and now Ethereum Classic (ETC) it still has the biggest market cap of any alt coin, I just don't think it's proven itself yet. I'm not saying it's not the coin of the future, but for me right now, ETH still seems over valued.
Anonymity And Central Banks
My priorities for valuing a coin have not changed
Monero(XMR) and Dash(DASH) are the two highest ranking coins in my valuation based on proven anonymity that has increased popularity/functionality.
You can probably see by the wording of that subheading that I am leaving out Zcash(ZEC) because it has not been proven yet. I think Zcash is an interesting coin for its focus on anonymity but it is not yet proven in my opinion or in the opinion of this article
My number one criteria for value in a coin is anonymity. It's not my only criteria though so just being the most anonymous coin will not be enough to make this list. However, when researching a coin that is one of the most important things I look for because for me privacy is what crypto is all about. Most crypto enthusiast seem to agree that this is also a good indicator of value in general.
There is currently a growing mistrust in central banks, in fact that is the biggest reason to move to the crypto space with your dollars in my opinion - privacy from the government. Honestly, I'm not sure if you can fully achieve this with the current technology but cryptocurrency is showing signs of enabling us to have control over our money again.
Security
Security is a major concern for investors. This grows with the size of the investment. If any of these coins will ever be as big as bitcoin it will have to be considered a secure store of value. Even if the price becomes stable, it will also have to be considered a secure investment that is protected from hackers and other thieves that want to take advantage of the anonymous aspects of cryptocurrency.
One of the surprising coins that gets points in this category is Steem. With Steem Power being utilized your Steem is locked up for 3 months which means that you can't even remove it for that time. For me this ads confidence because it puts part of the risk of being hacked on Steemit Inc. and they would have an interest in making me whole if they were attacked.
I am confident in Steem and Steemit based on what I have seen from the development team. This has made me a huge fan of Dan Larimer(Co-founder and CTO of Steemit Inc.) I have been reading or watching anything and everything that I see Dan put out because I think he is a visionary in the crypto space.
Functionality
My number one coin for functionality is Steem. It even beats out Bitcoin in this category for me because I have actually used it in the real world for more things than Bitcoin. I talk more about that in this article and why I see it as a good investment here
Let me be clear, Bitcoin currently has more functionality than Steem. As an example, you can use Bitcoin to buy stuff from Amazon on Purse.io. However I personally haven't used Bitcoin to do that or much of anything really except as an investment and a tool for further investment in crypto and forex through 1broker. 1broker is the trading platform which enables Bitcoin users to invest in stocks, commodities, and forex.
Liquidity
Another priority for me when investing is liquidity. I need to be able to buy and sell when I want to without too much difficulty. If the liquidity is not there, I just don't take the risk. Steem will be the lowest in the liquidity category, but because of its other positives in my book, I believe it will continue to grow in liquidity over time.
If you have been following my posts, you know that I am seeking out volume and volatility. This is exactly why I have been researching and learning to trade forex with Bitcoin on 1broker.com. For someone looking to make investments for the short term, this is the only way to make much real money. When you add the ability to be leveraged many times, Forex is the obvious choice for anyone trying to make fast money in derivatives.
Conclusion
For me there has always been a bit of a disconnect in seeing this as a valuable way to spend my time. I do see value in being able to have an idea what value you will be able to sell a certain crop at a particular time will be, based on looking at the derivatives markets. That being said, there are many times more dollars in derivatives than what exists in the actual value of the markets.
With the desire to make money in this way, speculation has caused most derivatives to be over valued. That combined with the fact that it is mostly a zero sum gain, I have avoided this path as a stream of income.
Cryptocurrencies can obviously be overvalued, but with the artificial inflation of economies in all the developed world that is occurring in a big way because of actions by central banks and governments including quantitative easing, interest rates near zero, and bank bailouts, one of the smartest places to be as the worlds economies and technology develop increasingly seems to be these cryptocurrencies.
Further Reading:
http://cryptorials.io/best-cryptocurrency-investments-2017/
https://btcmanager.com/news/dash-versus-monero-is-not-a-debate-we-should-be-having/
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/hottest-cryptocurrencies-to-know
@estefantt/bit20-the-cryptocurrency-index-fund
@richardcrill/5-best-cryptocurrency-investments-for-2017
http://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/interview/darknet-cryptocurrency-showdown-an-unbiased-comparison-of-zcash-vs-monero/