Top cryptocurrencies to consider for novice investors
Although cryptocurrencies have existed as an investment opportunity since 2009, they are still surprisingly under-invested in when compared to more traditional financial assets such as stocks, bonds and index funds.
Cryptocurrencies came into being when the mysterious creator of Bitcoin Satoshi Nakamoto launched the first digital coin. Since then, the cryptocurrency scene has exploded. Despite the massive rises and falls of cryptocurrency prices over the years, interest in this new and exciting digital asset has not slowed down.
As of writing, there are around 12,000 cryptocurrencies in circulation, with this figure having doubled between 2021 and 2022.
However, with so many different cryptocurrencies to choose from, selecting the best investment opportunities is by no means an easy task. This is particularly difficult for novice investors, who might only have a limited grasp of what sets each cryptocurrency apart from the others and which ones are worth investing in.
With this difficulty in mind, the following article will give you a brief overview of some of the most popular cryptos to invest in. For novice investors in particular, these make a good place to start as they are easily accessible, well established and have excellent development teams behind them.
So, if you want to avoid looking at the Luna price as your primary guiding consideration when investing in cryptocurrencies, keep reading!
Bitcoin
As the world’s first cryptocurrency — and by far the most popular currently in circulation — Bitcoin is an easy place for novice investors to get started. Bitcoin was the currency that first demonstrated the technological potential of cryptocurrencies and has retained the largest market capitalization of any crypto.
Although newer cryptos have emerged which have improved the project first started by Bitcoin, it is still a solid place to get started. It is easy to buy and sell and looks set to maintain its position as a solid store of value in the crypto world.
Ethereum
After Bitcoin, Ethereum is the second most popular cryptocurrency project. It introduced the idea of an open-source, programmable blockchain that could be used as a platform on which to build decentralized apps. This technological innovation essentially created the world of decentralized finance.
Ethereum is an excellent investment opportunity for novice investors, despite the fact that it is already so popular. An excellent development community has been built around the Ethereum project and it continues to be upgraded and developed.
Smooth Love Potion
If you are a novice investor looking to dip your toes into the weirder and arguably more interesting side of cryptocurrencies, Smooth Love Potion (SLP) could be a good place to get started.
Smooth Love Potion is the utility token of the Axie Infinity online game. It enables the game’s players to breed collectible digital pets to be used in-game and has a core role in supporting the in-game economy.
The Smooth Love price has ebbed and flowed in recent months, although the demand for SLP tokens has continued to be strong on crypto exchanges due to the popularity of the game. SLP is a relatively niche crypto, however, we love it as it illustrates the potential development opportunities cryptocurrencies could be used in.
Binance Coin
Binance Coin is the native cryptocurrency of the Binance Smart Chain, with Binance being one of the world’s most popular crypto exchanges.
Binance Coin has had a strong run in recent years due to its much lower transaction fees — particularly when compared to Ethereum — as well as its relationship to the Binance trading platform. This integration with the Binance platform makes it an excellent addition to your portfolio, particularly if you are using the Binance platform to acquire crypto.
XRP
XRP is the native cryptocurrency of the Ripple blockchain, which is a payment protocol designed to facilitate fast, low-cost transactions.
Ripple is specifically designed for international money transfers and is an attractive alternative to other cryptocurrencies due to its lower transaction fees. This helped it to develop partnerships with hundreds of financial institutions who hope to utilize its underlying technology.
Monero
Although Bitcoin was originally developed with privacy concerns in mind, it could never offer 100% anonymity. This limitation gave rise to privacy-focused cryptos such as Monero, which use privacy-enhancing technologies to make fully private transactions possible.
Monero allows for fully anonymous and untraceable transactions by hiding information that would otherwise be made public on the blockchain. This has helped to make it popular among the many privacy-conscious crypto investors out there.