Due to its success and investor interest, the cryptocurrency market has tripled in the past couple of years and is currently trending among investors interested in bypassing the traditional investing options like bonds, stocks, and real estate because of their relatively small gains over time. 

While cryptocurrencies are still not pronounced legal in many countries, they are definitely not illegal and are starting to be accepted as legal tender in others. Furthermore, the cryptocurrency market and its products, the cryptocurrencies themselves, are secured by cryptography, making it the safest decentralized investing solution for people and organizations wanting to skip the burden of local authorities overviewing their transactions. For the above-mentioned reasons, the cryptocurrency market capitalization has risen from billions to trillions of dollars in recent years and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.  

In fact, 2020 and 2021 have seen a good return on investment from trading cryptocurrencies, which kind of stopped in 2022 because of the bearish market conditions. Nevertheless, depending on various factors, it might be wise to invest in some of the most popular cryptocurrencies now when they’re relatively cheap and expect hefty returns in the future. 

So, what should you invest in this year, and which crypto coins will provide a decent return? Below, we’ll go through the five cryptocurrencies that we believe might explode this year.

Ethereum (ETH)

Although Bitcoin remains the “king of crypto,” Ethereum transactions are now more rapid than Bitcoin transactions. And despite the fact that Bitcoin and Ethereum are relatively similar in structure, they serve very different purposes and have quite different uses. Ethereum serves several purposes beyond simple payment and is highly valuable in economic contexts.

Due to Ethereum’s latest use-case for obtaining pricy NFTs, its price has increased over the last several years. Ethereum had a $1,000 price in 2018; up until December 2021, it had hit $4,000. Nowadays, ETH’s price has dropped to slightly above what it was back in 2018, making it a fantastic investment opportunity considering its all-time high and unique decentralized finance application and blockchain functionality. Regardless of the coin’s current price, these two traits are going nowhere.

Avalanche (AVAX)

According to market capitalization, Avalanche or AVAX is the tenth largest cryptocurrency at the moment. This year, according to crypto experts, AVAX has perhaps the best potential of tripling in value. After all, it is AVAX’s blockchain-powered smart contracts that provide exceptional speed and compatibility to end-users, and what differentiates this coin from all the others you can currently get on your favorite crypto exchange.

Cardano (ADA) 

Cardano (ADA) is another project that might spark the next cryptocurrency bull run. Charles Hoskinson, one of the Ethereum co-founders, launched this project intending to make Cardano more interoperable, scalable, and sustainable than the industry’s top networks.

Cardano uses a “Proof-of-Stake” (PoS) consensus mechanism, which significantly lowers energy consumption when building new blocks, in contrast to other cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Cardano’s smart contract capability works well with this, making the network a strong alternative for dApp developers. The native coin of the network, ADA, hasn’t exactly had the best of luck lately, but this initiative still has amazing potential for the months ahead.

Ripple (XRP)

Following some encouraging news regarding the network’s continuing litigation with the SEC, Ripple might be the next cryptocurrency to take off in 2022. As you may already be aware, Ripple is the startup that created RippleNet, a decentralized payments platform that enables quick and inexpensive exchanges of different currencies.

The usage of XRP, which serves as a “bridge” between the currencies, facilitates the process. Due to this strategy, RippleNet has been viewed as a logical replacement for the outmoded SWIFT network, which in some cases can take up to three business days to process payments. This makes it evident that now may be the best moment to purchase XRP before the coin surges once news of Ripple’s lawsuit surfaces again.

Cosmos (ATOM)

Due to its distinctive approach to interoperability, Cosmos could emerge as the next major cryptocurrency to cause a stir in the market. You will realize that blockchains typically run alone rather than in conjunction with other chains if you invest in any of the leading cryptocurrencies. This “competition” mentality has forced dApp developers to choose which chain they want to build their products on, greatly reducing the user base.

Nevertheless, the Cosmos protocol enables programmers to build their own “Zones,” which are independent blockchains connected to the Cosmos hub. While still having access to other Zones and being able to interact and share information with them, developers have complete sovereignty over their own blockchains. This guarantees that dApps can be integrated across several Zones, enhancing interoperability and elevating these networks.

Final Thoughts

There is no denying that cryptocurrencies are here to stay. The real question is, where is the best place to invest your money in? Nonetheless, remember that crypto isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme, and you should view it as a long-term investment instead.