Did you know that there are 7,375 active cryptos today? This ranges from cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which was the first cryptocurrency and is the largest one today by market capitalisation, to NFTs and the metaverse, and everything in between the two.
But it’s impossible to track so many different cryptos, so you need to focus on a select few. Once you understand the future of money, and know what metrics you should be tracking, then you will be able to make your own picks of good cryptos to follow.
Here’s my own list of cryptos that I will be closely tracking in 2022:
1. Bitcoin
Bitcoin (price in India) is the big mommy of the crypto universe. And she has had a great year — massive price increase, Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) launched in the US, and recognition as legal tender in one country (El Salvador). I think 2022 is going to be another great year for Bitcoin.
2. Blockchains
I am a blockchain architect so it makes sense for me to follow the cryptos of the blockchains I use the most. These are:
Then there are 2 blockchains that I don’t currently use but which should be a part of my portfolio – Algorand (ALGO), and Terra (LUNA).
3. NFT and Metaverse cryptos
Facebook’s recent name change has intrigued a lot of people. Well, to put it simply, the metaverse is a parallel digital universe where you could create your digital avatar and do all sorts of cool stuff — learn, play, party, and more.
The best example would be the movie Avatar — remember how the hero switches between the human version and the big blue version? In fact, the best way to understand the metaverse is to watch these movies — Avatar, Inception, Iron Man, Matrix, Minority Report, Ready Player One, and Wreck-it Ralph.
I am a huge fan of the metaverse. I remember using Second Life way back in the early 2000s. Yes, the metaverse is not a new concept. Its been around since the 1970s!
I am also a huge fan of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) and in fact, I work on the Human Talent NFT project.
Since I am very bullish on NFTs and the Metaverse, I will be closely following these cryptos:
- Axie Infinity (AXS)
- Chiliz (CHZ)
- Enjin Coin (ENJ)
- Flow (FLOW)
- Decentraland (MANA)
- The Sandbox (SAND)
- Theta (THETA)
- Tezos (XTZ)
4. Web 3.0 cryptos
Web 1.0 was the first stage of the Internet where there were a few content creators and a large number of consumers. And the content was mostly static.
Web 2.0 is the current version of the Internet where there is a huge amount of user-generated content – blogs, social media, and tons more. The biggest problem in Web 2.0 is that a few large organizations control/ own most of the data.
Web 3.0 is the next version of the Internet that will focus on the decentralization of data. It is expected that technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain will power Web 3.0
My favorite Web 3.0 cryptos are:
- Arweave (AR)
- Audius (AUDIO)
- Bittorent (BTT)
- Filecoin (FIL)
- Helium (HNT)
- Livepeer (LPT)
- Siacoin (SC)
- Stacks (STX)
- The Graph (GRT)
5. Others
In the blockchain world, there is one big issue — getting data from the outside world to a smart contract. That’s the problem that Oracles solve. They act as middleware between smart contracts and external sources of data. That’s why I will be following Chainlink (LINK), the most popular oracle.
People are getting quite serious about their privacy. That’s why I will be following Monero (XMR), the most popular privacy coin.
Which cryptos will you be following in 2022?
Rohas Nagpal is the author of the Future Money Playbook and Chief Blockchain Architect at the Wrapped Asset Project. He is also an amateur boxer and a retired hacker. You can follow him on LinkedIn.
Interested in cryptocurrency? We discuss all things crypto with WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty and WeekendInvesting founder Alok Jain on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
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