Can these 5 altcoins help fund holiday shopping?

Highlights

• It is not Bitcoin that has gained the most this year, many altcoins win in terms of YTD returns.
• It is best to study the underlying tech of any crypto in order to understand any likely rise or fall in value in the future.
• Some altcoins have even given more than 10,000 per cent YTD returns in 2021.

After a subdued festive season last year, there are high hopes for 2021, thanks to vaccinations. Things are improving fast, and the forthcoming festivities will rekindle hope and light.

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This is the perfect time to forget the pandemic blues. While inflation seems to have dampened the mood, gains of some crypto assets outweigh even the steepest of price rises. In 2021, the most popular cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), has given a nearly 100 per cent YTD return as of time of writing.

But that’s not all. Below are the best altcoins that dwarf even Bitcoin’s returns. Let’s find out.

1. Axie Infinity (AXS)

The AXS crypto is the best example to understand how crypto returns work. Cryptocurrencies have some unique aspects, and for AXS, it is the blockchain-gaming combination that is yielding results.

If Bitcoin took currency to blockchain tech, Axie Infinity took gaming to a decentralized network. Gamers use Axie creatures, which are also non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to battle and get rewarded. AXS serves as the governance token of Axie Infinity, and the popularity of the game has led to surge in its value.

Also read: 5 best cryptos to watch in 2022

As of now, AXS is priced at nearly US$135. It should come as a surprise that AXS began the year 2021 with a humble price tag of nearly US$0.54. This is over a whopping 22,000 YTD return.

2. SHIBA INU (SHIB)

If AXS is the gaming crypto in our best altcoins list, SHIB represents the meme cryptocurrency category.

Also read: Is investing in altcoins better than Bitcoin?

SHIB is a late entrant in the crypto world, but in no time, it has accumulated a multi-billion-dollar market cap. As of now, it has a market cap of nearly US$10.4 billion, and it ranks among the top 20 cryptos by this measure. SHIB is a direct competitor to Dogecoin (DOGE), which is a crypto used as rewards for creators on Reddit and Twitter.

In September 2021, Coinbase listed SHIB on its crypto trading platform. This, coupled by a cryptic tweet by the world’s richest man Elon Musk boosted the price of SHIB by nearly 40 per cent.

As of now, SHIB is trading at nearly US$0.000026, which seems quite low for a popular crypto asset.

Also read: Top 5 cryptocurrencies available for under $1

3. Dogecoin (DOGE)

Dogecoin is on the list because it has come very close to the popularity wielded by Bitcoin and Ether. It found mention in a tweet by Elon Musk where he confirmed working with the network’s developers.

If Bitcoin is the king of the cryptocurrency world, DOGE is arguably the king of meme cryptocurrencies. DOGE also has found utility, which many cryptocurrencies still lack to this day. Heard of tipping? Yes, it is where DOGE is finding its usefulness. A creator of valuable content on social media platforms like Reddit can be tipped in DOGE. There are communities that are dedicated to this meme currency and participants even get a few free DOGE coins to begin with.

As of now, DOGE is priced at nearly US$0.23 apiece. It started this year with a price tag of nearly US$0.0047. This is close to a 5,000 per cent YTD return for DOGE backers. The market cap of DOGE is over US$30 billion and by this count it seems to be underpriced.

4. Telcoin (TEL)

This altcoin has yet to be fully discovered by crypto enthusiasts. TEL has a humble market cap of nearly US$1.2 billion. But the story doesn’t end here.

Telcoin’s decentralized network envisions empowering every mobile phone user with easy access to fast and cheaper financial services. If Bitcoin is seeking to compete with fiat currencies like the US dollar, Telcoin would hope to rival the traditional banking system that has layers of intermediaries. By weeding them out, Telcoin’s blockchain-powered network eyes giving more control to users and aligning them with telecoms.

Also read: Can Bitcoin investment fund festive spending this holiday season?

Telcoin also claims to fall under the regulatory purview of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which means it cannot be clubbed with unregulated blockchain networks. Telcoin Remittances is the key offering of the platform that offers money transfer services.

As of now, the TEL token is trading at nearly US$0.022. Compare this with its price of US$0.00018 at the starting of 2021. This is close to a 12,000 per cent YTD return.

5. Polygon (MATIC)

Ethereum is a popular blockchain. What Polygon does is making Ethereum’s network a multi-chain one. Lately, multi-chain networks have emerged as a formidable challenger to Ethereum. These include Polkadot and Avalanche.

The basic purpose of Polygon’s network is to ease the scalability of the blockchain. It uses the proof-of-stake as a consensus protocol, together with the Plasma Framework. Decentralized Apps (DApps) can be built on the network for which MATIC serves as the native token to pay the fees.

As of now, MATIC is priced at nearly US$1.35 apiece. It has a market cap of nearly US$9 billion. It started 2021 with a price of nearly US$0.018.

Bottom line

The above five altcoins are some of the most popular cryptocurrencies of 2021 as they have posted significant YTD returns. That said, timing matters a lot in the speculative world of crypto trading. To be sure, the cryptocurrency market is a highly volatile space and one should have a realistic understanding of their risk capability and their risk appetite to participate in it.

It is best to study the underlying tech of any crypto in order to understand any likely rise or fall in value in the future.