Top 5 Cryptocurrencies To Watch and Invest in 2021

Source - Aceris Law

Let’s step back and briefly examine what we mean by terms like cryptocurrency and Altcoin before we take a closer look at some of these alternatives to Bitcoin. Broadly a cryptocurrency is defined as virtual or digital money that takes the form of tokens or “coins.” 

The large majority of cryptocurrencies remain entirely intangible while some have ventured into the physical world with credit cards or other projects. 

Why Cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrencies are nearly always intended to be immune to government exploitation and control, though this fundamental feature of the industry has come under attack because it has increased in popularity.

Apple, Google, Tesla, Samsung, Facebook, PayPal, and Deutsche Bank are only a couple of well-known companies that have recently included cryptocurrencies in their long-term strategic plans.

So, which cryptocurrency is the hottest right now? One method is to look at a company’s market capitalization, which is the total monetary worth of its stock. In this aspect, it’s difficult to travel past Bitcoin and Ethereum, which supply significant advantages over their respective competitors.

Top 5 Cryptocurrencies in the World Now

1. Bitcoin

Bitcoin market cap: $669.4 billion

Bitcoin value: $35,797

The Bitcoin story: Bitcoin has been around since 2008 and is the blue-chip cryptocurrency. It has, by far, the foremost important market cap, the absolute best coin value, and thus the most important network of users. Bitcoin was created by an unknown person or group who goes by the name of Satoshi Nakamoto.

It was imagined to be the cash of the long run, and although you'll use it today to buy many goods and services, you wouldn’t use it to buy a cup of coffee because the worth of the transaction would be too high.

Think of Bitcoin instead a bit like the gold of the future: not really useful for daily transactions, but you'd wish to possess some for its stored value. It’s also like gold therein it is a limited supply, which is one of the things that makes Bitcoin so attractive to investors: an entire 21 million Bitcoins will ever be released, which makes Bitcoin inflation-proof. Like all cryptos, Bitcoin began worth virtually nothing.

In 2017 it took far away from under $1,000 to over $20,000, but within a year was down around $4,000. In late 2020 it began skyrocketing again, now from around $10,000 to a high of quite $60,000, before dropping sharply in May, mostly because of various Elon Musk tweets. It’s been up and down since then and is currently worth around $35,800.

2. Ethereum

Source - Swords Today

What's sending the second-largest crypto by market cap, Ethereum to the moon right now? Is it hype or is there something more? 

Sure, the speculative fever from non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and upcoming blockchain upgrades have previously fueled the parabolic moves in Ethereum. Another catalyst behind the recent surge is the growing use of this altcoins platform in decentralized finance (Defi) applications.

Right now, although some competing blockchains are claiming that they will process transactions faster and at lower fees, Ethereum remains the most important and go-to blockchain for Defi. 

And as more applications are added to the blockchain, there's an honest chance that Ethereum is going to be the first platform. And it seems this is often a key reason that's making a bull case for ETH for both short-term and long-term investors.

3. Tether

Source - Plato

Tether market cap: $62.6 billion

Tether value: $1

Tether is unique among the options in our top cryptocurrency list: it’s the leader in the category of cryptocurrency known as “stable coins.” Why stable? Because they're pegged to a standard currency, during this case the US dollar.

For investors, these tokens offer the joint benefits of open blockchain technology and traditional currency.

Tether was launched in 2015 and operates on the Ethereum platform. USD Coin is another stable coin, and lots of crypto folks think it’s a safer bet than Tether, citing greater transparency.

1 Tether token = 1 USD. Always has, always will.

4. Cardano

Source - National World

Cardano is an “Ouroboros proof-of-stake” cryptocurrency that was created with a research-based approach by engineers, mathematicians, and cryptography experts. The project was co-founded by Charles Hoskinson, one of the five initial founding members of Ethereum. After having some disagreements with the direction Ethereum was taking, he left and later helped to form Cardano.

The team behind Cardano created its blockchain through extensive experimentation and peer-reviewed research. The researchers behind the project have written over 90 papers on blockchain technology across a spread of topics. This research is the backbone of Cardano.

Due to this rigorous process, Cardano seems to face out among its proof-of-stake peers also as other large cryptocurrencies. Cardano has also been dubbed the “Ethereum killer,” as its blockchain is said to be capable of more. That said, Cardano remains in its early stages. While it's beaten Ethereum to the proof-of-stake consensus model, it still features an excellent distance to travel in terms of decentralized financial applications.

Cardano aims to be the world’s financial OS by establishing decentralized financial products almost like Ethereum also as providing solutions for chain interoperability, voter fraud, and legal contract tracing, among other things. As of January 2021, Cardano features a market capitalization of $9.8 billion, and one ADA trades for $0.31.

5. Dogecoin

While the list above is hot names in the crypto space, Dogecoin is hotter. In fact, one could have become rich if they had invested in the meme coin since the start of the year. After all, DOGE has surged more than 12,000% year to date. 

Dogecoin holders can use Dogecoin to buy goods and services or trade them for other currencies. Holders also use Dogecoin to âtipâ fellow internet-goers who create or share great content.

The latest rally has come in the lead-up to Tesla CEO Elon Musk hosting NBC’s Saturday Night Live this weekend. Musk has long praised the digital token to his 52 million Twitter followers. Therefore, it is not surprising that many are hoping that he would mention the cryptocurrency live on television. 

To know the market prices of these top 5 cryptocurrencies as of June 2021, read here.

The Bottom Line In a Nutshell

It's worth pointing out that before you buy these coins in hopes of capitalizing on their monstrous gains, popularity and reliability don’t necessarily go hand in hand. Buying them at current levels is an extremely risky endeavor. My conservative take is, don’t invest any money that you aren’t prepared to lose entirely.

Written By - Resmita Barai

Edited By - Umme-Aiman