The world is going crazy for cryptocurrencies. DeFi (decentralized finance), blockchain technology, and cryptocurrencies have achieved amazing developments in recent years. So, if you are planning to invest in crypto, here are 10 potential picks in 2022.
1. Solana (SOL)
Solana is a highly functional open source project that banks on blockchain technology’s permissionless nature to provide decentralized financial solutions. Solana was officially launched in March 2020 by the Solana Foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
Solana is well known in the crypto space for the extremely short processing times that blockchain offers. Solana’s hybrid protocol significantly reduces validation times for both transactions and smart contract execution. Due to its innovative hybrid consensus model, Solana gains interest from small-time traders and institutional traders alike.
2. Shiba Inu (SHIB)
Shiba Inu coin was created anonymously in August 2020 under the pseudonym “Ryoshi”. The meme coin quickly caught the attention of investors with its cute charm along with headlines and Tweets from celebrities like Elon Musk and Vitalik Buterin. On September 17, 2021, Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange based in the United States, listed Shiba Inu on its platform. This news made the price of the Shiba Inu up more than 40% in the following two days, bringing the meme dog token into the spotlight again.
3. Avalanche (AVAX)
Avalanche is a layer one blockchain that serves as a platform for decentralized applications and custom blockchain networks. It is one of Ethereum’s biggest rivals, harboring ambitions to topple Ethereum as the most popular blockchain for smart contracts. Avalanche is capable of handling up to 6,500 transactions per second while not compromising scalability.
4. Terra (LUNA)
Terra started development in January 2018 and its mainnet officially launched in April 2019. It is a blockchain protocol that uses fiat-pegged stablecoins to power price-stable global payments systems. Terra combines the price stability and wide adoption of fiat currencies with the censorship-resistance of Bitcoin (BTC) and offers fast and affordable settlements.
5. Algorand (ALGO)
Algorand is a self-sustaining, decentralized blockchain-based network that supports a wide range of applications. Algorand mainnet started working in June 2019 and can handle almost 1 million transactions per day as of December 2020. Algorand was developed with the aim of increasing transaction speed and improving efficiency, in response to the slow transaction times of Bitcoin and other blockchains.
6. Polygon (MATIC)
Polygon is the first easy-to-use, well-structured platform for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development. Its core component is the Polygon SDK, a flexible, modular framework that supports building many types of applications. Using Polygon, one can create optimistic roll-up chains, ZK roll-up chains, standalone chains, or any other kind of infrastructure required by the developer.
7. Chainlink (LINK)
Chainlink is a blockchain abstraction layer that enables globally connected smart contracts. Through a decentralized oracle network, Chainlink lets blockchains securely interact with external data feeds, events, and payment methods, providing important off-chain information that complex smart contracts needed to become the dominant form of digital agreement.
8. Aave (AAVE)
Aave is a decentralized finance protocol that allows anyone to lend and borrow cryptocurrency. Lenders earn interest by depositing digital assets into specially created liquidity pools. Borrowers can then use their cryptocurrency as collateral for a quick loan using this liquidity. AAVE provides holders with discounted fees on the platform and also serves as a governance token giving holders a say in the future development of the protocol.
9. Uniswap (UNI)
Uniswap is a popular decentralized trading protocol that is known for its role in supporting automated trading of decentralized finance (Defi) tokens. Uniswap was launched in November 2018 but has gained significant popularity this year thanks to the Defi phenomenon and the associated increase in token trading. Uniswap aims to keep token trading automated and completely open to anyone who holds tokens while improving trading efficiency compared to traditional exchanges.
10. Polkadot (DOT)
Polkadot is an open-source sharding multichain protocol that facilitates the cross-chain transfer of any data or asset, thus making a wide range of blockchains interoperable. This interoperability seeks to establish a completely decentralized and private web, controlled by its users while simplifying the creation of new applications, organizations, and services.