In this article we are going to take a look at the 10 best cryptocurrencies to invest in according to Reddit.
Investors are no stranger to the cryptocurrency bloodbath happened in 2022. Digital assets lost over $2 trillion in assets amid the massive route that crushed almost all cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. Several crypto companies and startups saw huge losses and went out of business. Galaxy Digital, founded by billionaire Michael Novogratz, posted a $555 million quarterly loss in August and took a $77 million hit due to its exposure to FTX. Galaxy Digital called itself a digital asset and blockchain company. Binance also got hit since it had made a $3 million investment in the Terra project in 2018.
And if this wasn’t enough, hackers had an open season in 2022 and stole millions of dollars of digital assets, laying bare the claims that P2P and decentralized technologies are safe. For example, hackers stole a whopping $600 million from Ronin, the blockchain bridge platform connected to online game Axie Infinity.
What the Future Holds for Cryptocurrencies
But we want to focus on another aspect of the cryptocurrency world. This aspect proves that there’s more to cryptocurrency than just speculation, meme coins and “to the moon” campaigns without any fundamental strengths. Andreessen Horowitz, one of the most famous venture capital firms in the world, published an excellent overview report on the state of crypto for 2022. Andreessen Horowitz, founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, funds innovative startups around the world and is deeply aware of the power of the software and new technologies in shaping the future. The VC firm’s report focuses on the technical aspects and predictions of the cryptocurrency segment. These aspects shed light on the fact that cryptocurrency is here to stay and new technologies like blockchain, NFTs and decentralization will solve key problems of human societies.
Photo by Adam Nowakowski on Unsplash
The report starts by explaining that the world is moving beyond single point of failures and central systems to decentralization, equitable systems. These systems are more resilient in the long run.
The report says that the crypto markets develop in cycles and at the outset these cycles look “chaotic.” But deeper technical analysis show that major cryptocurrencies are actually working to solve key problems and have thousands of developers in their communities. Once investors learn to focus on the technical aspects and focus only on the startups that are using crypto-related technologies to solve real problems, the cryptocurrency world starts to make sense.
The Andreessen Horowitz report says that developers are building on the top of blockchain technology and they have several options in doing so. The report names some cryptocurrencies and technologies developers are using. These include Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Fantom, among others.
Decentralized finance (DeFi)
The report also talks about the utility of Decentralized finance (DeFi). It says that major financial institutions have failed to meet the needs of millions of people around the world. For example, 1.7 billion people in the world don’t have a bank account. The report shares a key statistic: DeFi’s total market value has gone from $0 to $100 billion in just two years. The report also says that newer blockchains are trying to replicate the success of DeFi on Ethereum.
While the Andreessen Horowitz report paints a rosy picture for the crypto future, analysts agree that crypto has a long way to go before it gets wider acceptance and usage. For example, despite the much hullaballoo about decentralization, the world saw how interlinked the crypto market is during the collapse of the Terra ecosystem, which operated two major tokens: Luna, a cryptocurrency, and TerraUSD (UST), a stablecoin that tried to stay at $1 by maintaining a ratio with the amount of Luna in circulation. When the UST started to decline from its dollar peg, both coins fell to zero and the effects of this collapse affected several other currencies.
Major companies like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA), and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) are investing heavily into blockchain and crypto startups. These investments are expected to improve the fundamentals of the industry and would help the industry move beyond speculation and meme investing.
Our Methodology
For this article we tried to pick the ten most notable cryptocurrencies Redditors believe are solid investments for 2023 and beyond. First we used several Reddit trackers to list down the most talked about cryptocurrencies on subreddits like r/cryptocurrency, r/cryptocurrencies, r/cryptomarkets and many more. After that, we scoured these subreddits manually to make sure the cryptocurrencies we were selecting were mentioned in a positive sense (bullish) and read the reasons Redditors are giving for their optimism around these currencies. We also used Chart Exchange’s sentiment tracker during this process.
10. Litecoin
A cursory glance at Reddit’s crypto discussion boards shows that retail investors are bullish on Litecoin. Litecoin bulls think that the currency, which uses the famous proof of work algorithm, offers extremely strong decentralization and efficiency. Litecoin made headlines recently when the the currency saw an influx of $500 million to its market capitalization in the last few days of December 2022.
Redditors just love Litecoin, with several comments recently praising the reliability and performance of the currency.
“Reliable is the keyword. Litecoin has never let me down. It simply “works,” thinks a Reddit user “sturdymcpoyle.”
9. Monero
Not the most popular of cryptocurrencies, Monero still has a large community on Reddit. Monero bulls on Reddit praised the currency’s untraceability. They believe Monero is ideal for those who want to shop online without any traceability. However, other Reddit users said that Monero is suitable only for speculative buying and selling and the chances of this currency getting mainstream status are thin. This is mainly due to the fact that governments around the world are showing zero tolerance towards currencies that could be used online for illegal purchases or harmful online activities.
8. Ripple (XRP)
Despite the major legal battle between the SEC and Ripple, many Redditors believe XRP is one of the best cryptocurrencies to buy now. Ripple CTO David Schwartz recently said that the reason why Ripple price is so low (down 44% over the past year) is that many are still reluctant to believe that cryptocurrencies could actually be the next big thing in the future.
But that’s quite an obvious statement coming from a CEO. Is there anything solid to this cryptocurrency?
In addition to the fundamentals and underlying technology, Redditors believe now is the best time to buy Ripple because if the company wins its legal battle, there would be no or little upside left to the coin in the short-term after the decision.
As major companies like Apple Inc., Mastercard Incorporated, and Microsoft Corporation invest in blockchain and crypto startups, the cryptocurrency industry is expected to gain acceptance and maturity in the long run.
7. Polkadot
Polkadot, like other cryptocurrencies, suffered heavily in 2022. However, Redditors believe that currency’s long-term growth prospects are still intact. Here is a pro-DOT comment that got a lot of upvotes on Reddit:
“The tech for Polkadot is sound, built from Substrate, tested on Kusama (which is itself a fully independent Blockchain, and not just on a testnet). Refined on Polkadot and polished well. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing but respect for the forebears (vitalik buterin with ETH and Charles Hoskinson with ADA) that stemmed from ETH and went their own way with their contributions.
But Dr. Gavin Wood, in my opinion, engineered it right and tooled it correctly with Rust and WASM.
I am a convert, striking as a Polkadot Ambassador, taught myself Rust to work on the native Substrate environment and I put 80% of my crypto holdings in DOT to have my skin in the game,” said a Reddit user named “dwulf69.”
However, this comment was posted two years ago. Many price prediction analysis posted recently believe DOT could be worth at least $10 in the next few years.
6. Polygon
Polygon, or MATIC, is a blockchain platform that enables blockchain networks to connect and scale. According to a latest report, MATIC was one of the most purchased tokens among the top 500 biggest Ethereum (ETH) whales over the last 24 hours.
5. Tether
Despite the massive negative sentiment in the media following FTX’s debacle, Tether continues to remain a popular cryptocurrency on Reddit. Redditors believe the currency has strong fundamentals and could rebound after the current crisis settles. One Redditor, in a pro-Tether comment, said that USDT is the only surviving stablecoin of the several stablecoins launched since 2015.
A Redditor named “CointestMod” said:
“The market cap and volume speak for themselves – Tether is the most popular stablecoin. There are very few exchanges that don’t accept USDT and all major coins have trading pairs with USDT. Even Coinbase, which is responsible for Tether’s rival stablecoin – USDC, lists Tether on its exchange (since May 2021)”
4. ATOM
Cosmos has risen in crypto chat boards on Reddit and presents a solid buying opportunity. In their 2022 report posted on Reddit, Cosmos Network said that despite the challenges faced in 2022, the company has not seen a huge decline in active users. The report said that the company has also made a strong progress when it comes to the ease of creating new application-specific blockchains. Cosmos Network believes 2023 “will be a turning point” for Cosmos.
3. DOGE
As surprising as it might sound, hundreds of thousands of Redditors are still bullish on Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency many believe is not more than a joke. DOGE is one of the best cryptocurrencies to buy according to Reddit. However, we were unable to find any solid reasons for this sentiment. Mostly, DOGE continues to be the speculative currency and many investors are hoping to wait until the currency turns the corner.
2. Ethereum
Despite huge challenges, Redditors remain bullish on Ethereum. The currency rules crypto discussion boards on the social media platform with overwhelmingly positive sentiment. Reddit’s enthusiasm is shared by Mike McGlone, a Bloomberg’s analyst who is known for his crypto analysis. Recently, the analyst said that Ethereum price could touch $6,000 by 2025. While Ethereum failed to impress investors and rally after its much-awaited shift from Bitcoin’s proof-of-work to the more energy efficient proof-of-stake, some analysts believe the company could begin allowing withdrawals in 2023, which could give a boost to the currency. Redditors are actively sharing the reasons to hold on to Ethereum for long-term gains.
The Andreessen Horowitz report we mentioned in the intro talks about the true power of Ethereum. It says that while other cryptocurrencies rival Ethereum in usage, the cryptocurrency beats every other currency because the demand for block space is unmatched. The report also says that Ethereum continues to attract the most developers. However, it notes that several other cryptocurrencies and ecosystems are on the same path.
1. Bitcoin
Despite a 60% decline in Bitcoin price in 2022, the cryptocurrency remains the most popular among Redditors, with many believing that Bitcoin is set for a rebound and it’s just a matter of time. Redditors are not alone in this wild prediction. According to CNBC, several famous analysts and crypto gurus believe that Bitcoin is set for a rebound this year. For example, notable Bitcoin bull Tim Draper believes the coin would be worth a whopping $250,000 by the end of the year. Carol Alexander, professor of finance at Sussex University, thinks Bitcoin could be worth $30,000 in the first quarter of 2023 and could cross $50,000 in the last two quarters of the year.
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This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.