The past few years have been exciting for those who are interested in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Tron, and Uniswap.
The main thing to remember about these new forms of digital currency is while there are many to choose from, only a dozen attracts the bulk of investors’ attention.
In addition, because they are essentially a new form of tradable assets, their list of pros and cons is quite different than traditional trading vehicles, like stocks and forex.
Sure, there are popular cryptocurrencies to invest in, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should. Check out the pros and cons on the list below and see if this type of investing, trading, and speculating is right for you.
Getting involved with the world of virtual coins means being ready to face volatile price swings, with significant gains as well as losses.
If you are one who typically shuns price volatility in your investments, you’re probably not suited to be dealing with Litecoin, Bitcoin, and other forms of cyber money.
But if you do enjoy the sometimes-wild rides that are part and parcel of this market, check out the following information.
Pros and Cons of Cryptocurrency
While every investor situation is different, it’s worth keeping the following points in mind, as some may view as a pro or con.
- Potential for large price swings
- Networks can stall and experience big chunks of downtime
- Central governments have no central role in the management or control of alt-coins
- Scalability is often limited
- Inflation is not a threat because the coins are not tied to any national fiat currency
- Security and monetary safety aren’t assured, due to potential for hacks and other cyber intrusions
What Are the Promising Cryptocurrencies to Follow in 2021?
Some of the most exciting crypto’s to follow in 2021 are those that have real utility behind them. Perhaps they are at the heart of a De-Fi project, a new protocol or exchange.
Those we include in the list below as they have been gaining coverage in the financial media and have drawn interest from all over the world.
Plenty of investors have made and lost money trading them, but what all the virtual coins have going for them is popularity, price volatility, and liquidity.
In other words, if you want to buy or sell them at any time, you won’t typically have a hard time locating someone to be on the other end of your transaction. The market is very active.
Here are some of the major cryptocurrencies you can buy and sell if you want to get into this market, along with a bit of information about each, if you want to find some of the less mainstream coins, then research the projects that are behind them:
- Bitcoin (BTC): Bitcoin is the clear standout in the niche due to its groundbreaking history and total market capitalisation. The coin’s entire asset value is in excess of half of the entire crypto market. Many top-level retailers now accept it as a legal tender form of payment for goods and services, and is on the radar of all the world’s major financial institutions.
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH): In 2017, a group of high-level developers created a coin that was very similar to BTC but had much quicker processing times. And, even though most people agree that BCH is faster, there are concerns about whether it is as secure as Bitcoin. Since then, this hard fork of original BTC has split into two sub-coins, both of which are actively traded.
- Litecoin (LTC): The fifth-largest of all the crypto-coins, LTC boasts much faster processing times that Bitcoin, is considered one of the more secure of the bunch in terms of being hack-resistant, and has some of the lowest transaction costs among the big players in the niche.
- Ethereum (ETH): The second-largest, in terms of capitalisation, altcoin in the world, ETH is unique in many ways. Not only does it use smart contracts as the basis of its value but it started out as a crowdfunding project by a group of IT developers. Now the runner-up in an expanding marketplace, the coin is one of the few major players that has no cap and is favored by the tech industry’s leaders.
- Chainlink (LINK): Like Ethereum, LINK uses a smart contract system but also employs a fully decentralised network composed of nodes. All its off- and on- chain modules can be upgraded so that they can adapt to new technology. One of the newer members of the alt-coin community, the coin is actually a sub-category of the larger ETH network.
- Uniswap (UNI): This creative project allows holders of ETH coins to trade them with each other with full security. Currently one of the top-five most traded alt-coins, its main advantage is liquidity for all holders of ETH tokens and associated coins.
Start Trading in 2021
Will 2021 be the biggest year ever for cryptos? Well, there certainly have been plenty of changes in the global economy already, so anything could happen. Part of what draws potential investors to virtual forms of money is the potential volatility, riskiness, and the chance for a wild ride, both upward and downward.
If you’re interested in the volatile, fresh, exciting world of cryptocurrency trading, open an account today so you’ll be ready to trade whatever you’re interested in, including cryptos, stocks, bonds, ETFs, forex, and more. Will 2021 be the year you start trading?