The cryptocurrency markets have taken a battering in 2018. At the start of the year, the overall crypto market cap stood at over $800 billion. Flash forward to today and you will see the overall market is valued at just $200 billion. The truth is that cryptocurrencies rose in value too fast. We were all drinking from the punch bowl and expected the party to last forever. Sadly, markets do not work that way and for every up, there is a down.
The widespread panic and capitulation seen in crypto markets during 2018 could present crypto enthusiasts with an opportunity. Barron Rothschild has maybe summed this up best when he said: “the time to buy is when there’s blood in the streets.”
So, if you’re interested in getting back into crypto markets at a steep discount, which cryptocurrencies should be on your watchlist? We’ll take a look at five under the radar crypto projects that we have on our watchlist right now and explain why they could be good projects to take a closer look at.
#1 Power Ledger
Power Ledger is a green energy trading platform for solar panel owners to sell their surplus energy locally. The problem the project is solving is that the current energy infrastructure has simply not been built to distribute homegrown power. Instead, existing infrastructure is set up to generate energy in power stations, to distribute this to consumers and to this for a fixed price.
However, Power Ledger have devised a way to deal with all the added complexity of homegrown energy distribution. The Power Ledger marketplace means that the market itself dictates the price of green power.
Sounds like a great and ethical play on paper right? Well, Power Ledger is anything but a pipedream and has already formed strategic partnerships to help with global scaling.
● Australia: A government grant of $8 million has already been approved. The project is also working closely with Origin Energy, one of Australias biggest power providers.
● Thailand: BCPG is backed by the Thai government and are working with Power Ledger to bring the energy platform to Thailand.
● Europe: The project has teamed up with the Liechtenstein Institute for Strategic Development to distribute Power Ledger in Europe.
● USA: The Not For Profit Helpanswers organization is headed up by Mark Johnson, who has lead multi-billion dollar energy programs during his time at the U.S. Department of Energy. The partnership has been formed to help grow Power Ledger’s footprint in the USA.
● India: Tech Mahindra Ltd is a tech firm listed on the Indian stock market. Their collaboration with Power Ledger is to create new microgrid solutions.
Being an ethical project is all well and good, but only if it’s a potentially profitable one. To put your mind at ease, studies have projected that the global green energy sector will hit $777.6 billion by 2019. The size of the market Power Ledger is going after, combined with the partnerships for distribution are key reasons why the project should be on your radar.
#2 Nimiq
Many of you will not have heard of Nimiq and that’s probably because they are a tech-focused team. So, what is Nimiq? It’s a payment system like Dash or Litecoin that is attempting to offer barrier-free value exchange that’s open to everyone.
So what’s the difference between Nimiq and more well-known peer-to-peer currencies?
● It’s the first browser-based blockchain – This means Nimiq can be used without any downloads whatsoever. This is potentially a gamechanger for cryptocurrency adoption in areas with poor internet connectivity or expensive mobile data.
● Low transaction fees – Right now, the cost to process a NIM transaction is under 1 cent versus the 3.7 cents required to process a Dash payment. Sure, this may not seem like much of a difference. However, many see micropayments in developing nations being one of the main use cases of transactional cryptocurrencies. In such an environment a few cents in extra fees could make all the difference when it comes to adoption.
● Fast & Convenient – Being browser-based means that user onboarding is easy and fast. It’s also quite clear that the team have focused on making the cryptocurrency as simple and easy to use as possible.
● Send NIM to an email address: The PayNIM browser app also allows you to send Nimiq to an email address. This means that using NIM is as easy as sending or receiving an email.
● Transparency: Unlike most other cryptocurrency projects where contributors have no idea where funds are being spent, Nimiq has released a transparency report. Even though this is not unique and some crypto projects like TenX publish similar reports, it is still exceptionally rare in the crypto space.
The cryptocurrency universe is crowded with different payment systems all pretty much offering the same thing. Nimiq is offering tech that stands apart from the others. We think that this, combined with a user-friendly approach, is a good reason for users to have this project on their radar.
#3 Gifto
Gifto is a coin that has previously broken into the top 100 cryptocurrencies. The project aims to solve the monetization problem faced by content creators on platforms like Twitch, YouTube and Facebook. Most of you probably think that YouTubers with a million views are raking in the money. The truth is that for 1 million views, content creators are only receiving around $2,000 in ad revenue.
Gifto is offering online content creators another way to make a living. Gifto has created a fun and interactive way to tip content creators using virtual gifts. The gifts can, of course, be converted into cash by the content producer.
Interestingly, the team behind Gifto is the Asia Innovations Group (AIG) who also own apps like Uplive (streaming app with 20 million users), PengPeng (gamified social app with 40 million downloads) and more. The exciting thing with this project is that Gifto has already been integrated into Uplive and, with backing from AIG, it seems that this crypto could get exposure to millions of new users very fast indeed.
Gifto’s working product and massive potential user base are key reasons why every crypto enthusiast should be watching this project.
#4 Dent
The Dent cryptocurrency project aims to create a mobile data marketplace. If you are reading this from the developed world, you may think there is no real need for this. However, just consider how much you do on your mobile using mobile data. Then consider that half the world is excluded from using mobile data because it’s too expensive.
People living in the developed world can benefit from Dent too. We are sure you know of someone who is unwilling to turn data roaming on whilst on holiday due to high data costs. The good news is that you can actually use Dent right now and they have already started collaborating with the likes of AT&T and Verizon.
If you want another feel-good project to add to your watchlist, well Dent could be it. Dent’s Gigabytes for Africa initiative is focused on teaming up with mobile operators to provide mobile data coverage to rural African communities. Dent platform users can also donate unused mobile data to Africa as well.
We think there is a lot to like about Dent and the project aims to both solve a real-world problem and have a positive impact on the world. As such, we certainly feel this project is one to watch.
#5 Substratum
If any of you have watched the hit TV show Silicon Valley, then you’ll know that Richard Hendricks ended up launching an ICO to fund a new decentralized internet. Substratum could be seen as the real-life Pied Piper coin. That’s because they are building a decentralized internet as well and – even better – the open beta is already available.
Substratum aims to create a free and fair internet. This could potentially change the lives of anyone living in a country like China, with high levels of state censorship. For those of you in the US, be aware that after the elimination of the Net Neutrality Act in December 2017, you could also directly benefit from this project in the not too distant future.
In a nutshell, Substratum allows anyone to run a node and host content with their spare computing power. Those that choose to host and forward content to users are paid in SUB tokens. The result? Anyone using the network can view content with absolutely no censorship whatsoever.
In a way, Substratum is actually competing for a slice of the hosting market. The most well-known company in traditional hosting is maybe GoDaddy and they are currently valued at about $10 billion. If you are interested in supporting a free and fair internet, then you should certainly keep up to date with developments at Substratum.
Conclusion
There are many other cryptocurrency projects that are doing super interesting things that we cannot include in this list as we are limited to five cryptos. However, be aware that no one truly knows which projects will succeed or fail. We don’t know if the five projects mentioned in this watchlist will be successful. However, we do believe that every one of them is doing interesting things that could potentially generate significant value.
If you like looking up cryptocurrency lists, the important thing to remember is that it’s not the writer’s picks that matter. Instead, these lists are simply tools to bring interesting crypto projects to your attention and for you to follow up with your own research.
Author Bio: Tom Alford is a cryptocurrency enthusiast, investor, and entrepreneur from the UK. He has obtained both an MA in Diplomacy and a BA in Politics from the University of Nottingham. Tom has a firm understanding and interest in the political and social implications of cryptocurrency and operates a blog at TotalCrypto.io. He believes in the long-term potential of crypto and that successful crypto projects must also generate social benefit and value.
Please note: The author owns some NIM and is compensated in a longer-term independent consulting capacity for Nimiq. This opinion should not be construed as investment advice. Always do your own research.