Solana recently launched a new mobile crypto strategy. However, it still faces a significant amount of regulation risk. XRP received a huge boost with a court decision in July. However, the momentum seems to be waning for this former crypto lover. Bitcoin Cash has outperformed Bitcoin this year. However, crypto expert Dominic Basulto does not recommend the altcoin project to long-term investors.
These 3 altcoins have achieved triple-digit returns this year
Bitcoin (BTC) is at the center of nearly every crypto investor’s interest in 2023, with a staggering 77% increase to date. However, did you know that there are a handful of altcoins in the top 20 by market cap that have achieved even more impressive triple-digit returns this year? XRP (XRP) is up 108% to date, Solana (SOL) is up 145% and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is up 160%. So, are any of these altcoin projects worth buying?
Altcoin in purchase options: Solana
Of these three cryptos, I am most bullish on prospects for Solana, the layer 1 Blockchain most similar to Ethereum (ETH). Just two years ago, Solana was mentioned as a potential “Ethereum killer”. Also, his future ascent seemed unstoppable. But then came the crypto market crash of last year. FTX’s meltdown at the end of 2022 affected Solana far more than any other crypto, due to the extensive relationships Solana previously had with Sam Bankman-Fried.
But Solana is on the road to recovery this year. Solana fixed some of the issues that caused Blockchain outages last year. It actually posted 100% uptime in the second quarter of 2023. Moreover, momentum is returning to the NFT market, where Solana is gaining market share from Ethereum. And most importantly, Solana officially launched its mobile crypto strategy this spring. In April, Solana introduced the crypto-optimized $1,000 Saga mobile. Solana sees its mobile strategy as the primary way to attract new users. If he’s right, it’s possible that this could lead to long-term price gains for the altcoin.
Red flag for Solana: SEC
The only downside, of course, is that Solana faces a significant amount of regulatory risk. In early June, the SEC named Solana a “security” in its lawsuits against cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Coinbase Global. The growing consensus is that fears about this regulatory risk may have been exaggerated. Therefore, the altcoin has increased by 30% in the last 30 days. But buyers need to pay attention.
Project eligible for hold recommendation: Ripple (XRP)
Next up is XRP, a former crypto darling that has been mired in an ugly and protracted court battle with the SEC since December 2020. But then, as you follow on Kriptokoin.com, a legal victory came for XRP in July and the crypto token immediately flew into space. Based on this new optimism, XRP is up nearly 70%. But guess what? This initial momentum seems to have cooled. Therefore, XRP is still trading below $1. Yes, there are many crypto analysts who think that XRP will reach $5 (and maybe even higher). However, I am not that convinced.
My call to “hold” for XRP has a lot to do with what has happened in the past two years, when this cryptocurrency has been locked in legal battles. Long story short, XRP powers the Ripple payment network. Once upon a time, this Ripple payment network was very unique as it allowed cross-border transfers at almost zero cost. In 2019, this Ripple payment network looked like the future of sending money worldwide. However, that was before the emergence of Blockchain networks like Solana and Avalanche (AVAX). Both rose to prominence in 2020, just as XRP entered the legal freezer. This is why I am not convinced that XRP is a winning lottery ticket for crypto investors. There is a lot of competition in the altcoin market these days.
Selling Bitcoin Cash is the right choice!
Finally, there is Bitcoin Cash, which has been performing dizzyingly this year. But the important thing to keep in mind is that Bitcoin Cash is a hard fork of the Bitcoin Blockchain. So the two cryptocurrencies share the same underlying Blockchain DNA. However, the two cryptocurrencies parted ways in August 2017. The whole premise of Bitcoin Cash at the time was that Bitcoin should be first and foremost a form of peer-to-peer electronic money.
From my point of view, it is much better to invest in Bitcoin and not Bitcoin Cash. I agree that this altcoin project has outperformed Bitcoin this year. However, I do not think it is possible to maintain this performance in the long run. If you’re a long-term investor, invest in the real thing, not a “light” version that targets only a small subset of what Bitcoin has to offer.
The opinions and recommendations in the article belong to the experts and are definitely not investment advice. We recommend that you do your own research before investing.