With more than 1500 cryptocurrencies on CoinMarketCap, you have a really wide range of coins to diversify your investments. Some of the coins are on the market for a long time and still have a major potential for growth. For instance, Ethereum has gained about 300 000% in value since the ICO in 2014, and some experts predict it will overcome Bitcoin as the “main” cryptocurrency in future. Other coins were generally unknown until recently but attracted great attention as the fastest-growing cryptocurrencies of 2017 and beyond. Ripple (XRP), Tron, and NEO are some of the most obvious examples. In this writing, we’d like to focus on new and lesser-known coins that are relatively inexpensive for now and have potential to pump in 2018 due to strong projects, teams, and/or communities behind them.
Crypterium (CRPT)
Crypterium is not the first crypto banking project out there, but it stands out as one of the top 50 most promising fintech companies, according to Financial IT and is backed by Keith Teare, co-founder of TechCrunch. The project team aims to create a global blockchain-based ecosystem where every transaction will be controlled with an easy-to-use e-wallet. It’s like having your bank in your pocket with immediate access to transfers, loans, and most importantly, instant contactless payments in crypto or fiat currency with no need for exchanges. It is also expected to be absolutely free for users, while commissions for merchants are set at 0,5%.
Coinlancer (CL)
The blockchain-based online freelancing market addresses plenty of current issues faced by freelancers and their clients, from delayed or failed payments to unreasonable account suspensions. Using blockchain, smart contracts, and digital signatures, Coinlancer has it all to make the freelancing market safe and trusted. The Coinlancer coin will be used for all the payments on the platform. Its potential market cap is limited and can’t be compared to the prospects of major cryptocurrencies, but the practical use case is clear and anticipated enough to make the coin a success.
DMarket Coin (DMC)
Cosmetic items from certain video games can be bought or sold on Steam or other platforms, but DMarket plans to turn the ill-organized trading into a new cluster of the global economy. The blockchain-based marketplace makes it possible for gamers to prove ownership of in-game items and buy, sell, or exchange them in one click without any risk of fraud.
DMarket has ambitions to integrate plenty of different virtual universes into a global market, and the agreement with several important video game publishers is already in place. The full launch of the platform is planned for Q1 2018, and the value of the coin is likely to surge soon after that. But the platform is already functioning as a marketplace – you can trade memorabilia items, called DMarket Founder’s Marks, there. The price of Founder’s Marks has already surged from a few cents to more than $100, confirming that the project is of great interest to the gaming community.
LOCIcoin (LOCI)
The most intriguing feature of the Loci platform is the InnVenn tool for searching and discovering patents. It leverages blockchain technology to offer inventors a simple, cost-effective, and secure way to monetize their ideas as a better alternative to traditional patent process. LOCIcoin is used for buying and selling the intellectual property on the platform. You can also buy an InnVenn subscription for 100 LOCI instead of paying the normal price of $249 per month.
Electroneum (ETN)
This coin is quite an exception to the list, as it doesn’t have a real innovation or an all-star team behind. It’s just another cryptocurrency intended to provide secure and private digital payment solution and focused on app-based mobile mining. But the project team managed to build hype around their product, conducting a highly successful ICO with 120,000 contributors and creating a strong community with more than 800,000 registered users on the platform. This is a good sign given that real-world mass adoption is the main target of Electroneum. The guys are definitely good at marketing, as well as negotiating with global mobile networks. Although the long-term prospects of ETN are questionable, the project looks capable of maintaining the hype throughout the year, especially since a full launch of the mobile miner is planned for Q1 2018.
Obviously, the list above should not be considered as a financial advice. Always do your own research before investing in cryptocurrencies.