The cryptocurrency market is constantly evolving. The market as we know it has always been volatile, nevertheless, the level of volatility changes from time to time. As we enter 2023, investors in this industry are facing new challenges and opportunities. The de-pegging of the UST (Luna’s Stablecoin) from the US dollar, the downfall of Luna, and the collapse of the FTX empire have shaken the market in 2022. This caused Bitcoin to reach unexpected lows.
Of course, when the king of crypto, Bitcoin, goes down, altcoins follow. Another factor that played a huge role in Bitcoin’s market performance was how the US and the rest of the world reacted to increasing inflation rates. While the two quarters of 2022 were characterized by a negative GDP rise for the United States, the economy seems to be recovering. The country’s GDP rise got back to +2.9% in the 4th quarter of 2022.
Moving on, the recent increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve is pushing investors away from investing – especially in the crypto market. For your information, only in 2022, around $9 trillion has been wiped out from global markets, including the stock market. You can only imagine the fear that investors were facing throughout the year. However, though, it seems like the global economy has begun its recovery. In the past weeks, we have seen the stock and crypto markets experience consecutive “greenish” days.
This article’s main purpose is to help you decide what to invest in 2023. Thus, throughout the article, we will touch upon 5 cryptocurrency projects that can change your life. After careful research, we believe that investing in Bitcoin, Aptos, Algorand, XRP, and Polygon may prove fruitful for your portfolio.
Bitcoin: The King of Crypto
Bitcoin is the original cryptocurrency, and it remains the most well-known and widely used digital asset in the world. Despite its volatility, Bitcoin has consistently proven to be a strong store of value and a powerful hedge against inflation. Being the first functional cryptocurrency to ever exist, Bitcoin’s purpose has always been the same: providing a peer-to-peer, digital, and scalable solution to traditional payments. In other words, Bitcoin aimed to become the “new, digitalized form of money.” While this idea is now being challenged by Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC), one this that no one can take from Bitcoin is its decentralization.
While everyone in the crypto market knows the real value of Bitcoin, it would be a shame if we would not include it in this article. Bitcoin has not performed that well in 2022, losing more than 70% of its market. Nevertheless, Bitcoin is currently on a rally and just surpassed the price of $24,000. While this could be a bull trap, it serves as an indicator that Bitcoin is not “dead,” no matter how many “finance experts” say it is. As more institutional investors and mainstream companies continue to adopt Bitcoin, its value is likely to continue to rise in the coming years.
Polygon: The Ethereum Scaling Solution
Polygon, previously known as Matic Network, is the first well-structured, easy-to-use platform for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development. Its core component is Polygon SDK, a modular, flexible framework that supports building multiple types of applications. With its ability to transform Ethereum into a full-fledged multi-chain system, Polygon offers a unique scaling solution that is likely to see increased adoption in 2023.
The more the Web3 and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) space grows, the more users will Ethereum get. Having an efficient, scalable Layer-2 solution that works on top of Ethereum is necessary. As the demand for Ethereum-based applications continues to grow, investing in Polygon could be a smart move for investors in 2023.
Aptos: The High-Speed Layer 1 PoS Blockchain
Aptos is a Layer 1 Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain that employs a novel smart contract programming language called Move. FYI, Move is a Rust-based programming language that was independently developed by Meta’s Diem blockchain engineers. With its theoretical transaction throughput of over 150,000 transactions per second (tps) through parallel execution, Aptos has the potential to bring mainstream adoption to Web3. Such a blockchain has the ability to empower an ecosystem of DApps to solve real-world user problems. With a $4 billion valuation, Aptos is a blockchain project to watch in 2023. It is worth noting that the recent rally in the market led to Aptos increasing by +510% in three weeks. On Jan. 26, 2023, APT set an all-time high of $19.96. Of course, this move made Aptos one of the main projects to include in our “What to Invest in 2023?” article.
Algorand: Scalability & Security
Algorand is a self-sustaining, decentralized, blockchain-based network that supports a wide range of applications. Its founder, Silvio Micali, is a Turing Award winner and one of the foremost creators of crypto in the world. With its high transaction speed and no mining requirements, Algorand’s design makes it stand out in efficiency and transaction fees. With a successful mainnet launch in 2019 and the upcoming Bitcoin halving in 2024, Algorand is well-positioned for growth in 2023.
In Bitcoin’s recent rally, Algorand has seen a rise of 62% in less than a month. This indicates that the main reason why investors were backing up from ALGO was because of uncertainty and doubt.
XRP: The Sixth-Largest Cryptocurrency by Market Cap
While the community has grown to hate XRP, we believe that it is one of the few projects with significant potential. As you may know the controversy regarding the mission of Ripple, the parent company of XRP, nevertheless, we decided we should keep this project on our “What to Invest in 2023?” article. Without further ado, let us begin with the overview of XRP.
XRP is the sixth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap and is the native token of the Ripple network. It is primarily used to facilitate cross-border payments. Until today, a number of financial institutions around the world have adopted its technology. XRP is instead created and controlled by the parent company, Ripple, meaning that it doesn’t operate using mining power.
While neither Ripple nor the financial institutions using it can manipulate XRP’s main blockchain, they can create sidechains to use for their purpose. On those sidechains, they have their own rules, creating and destroying tokens as they see fit. According to reports, the battle between SEC and Ripple is likely to come to an end very soon. Despite the legal troubles, XRP remains a strong player in the crypto space and is likely to continue to be a popular investment in 2023.
What to Invest in 2023?
Ultimately, the year 2023 is likely to be a pivotal year for the cryptocurrency market. The de-pegging of UST from the US Dollar, the downfall of Luna, as well as the collapse of the FTX empire, have created uncertainty and volatility in the market. However, despite these challenges, there are still many exciting projects and opportunities to invest in. So, what to invest in 2023? Should you even consider investing in such volatile times? Well, as one of the oldest proverbs in the history of humankind states: “Fortune favors the bold.” Aptos, Algorand, XRP, and Polygon are all projects that have the potential to deliver strong returns for investors. While Bitcoin is undeniably the best investment in the crypto market, XRP, and the others are also among the best. In the meantime, Coin Bureau also made a personal top 10 list of what to invest in 2023.
As the world continues to face global issues, the crypto market may begin to recover in 2023. Furthermore, the growth of the crypto market could accelerate in 2024 due to the upcoming Bitcoin halving. As always, it is important to do your own research and only invest what you can afford to lose. This is not financial advice but rather an article meant to educate and inform the readers.
Takeaways
- The cryptocurrency market is constantly evolving and investors face new challenges and opportunities in 2023.
- Bitcoin remains the king of crypto despite volatility and a decline in 2022.
- Polygon offers an efficient, scalable Layer-2 solution that could be a smart investment in 2023.
- Aptos, a Layer 1 PoS blockchain, has the potential to bring mainstream adoption to Web3 and is a project to watch in 2023.
- XRP is still seen as a great investment, despite its challenges with the SEC.
- Algorand’s design makes it stand out in efficiency and transaction fees and is well-positioned for growth in 2023.
- The recent increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve is pushing investors away from investing in the crypto market.