Bitcoin and investment: why should you avoid altcoins like the plague?

Many investors have heard of altcoins, these alternative cryptocurrencies to Bitcoin and Ethereum. But many are unaware that they are of almost no interest to investors. Here’s why you should avoid altcoins and just focus on Bitcoin and Ethereum if you don’t know much about cryptoassets…

Lots of empty shells

Altcoins are alternative cryptocurrencies to Bitcoin. There are currently thousands on the market, but most of them are of no interest to Everyman. Many altcoins were created simply to be sold to speculative investors and have no real utility (DeFi, smart contracts…). Many of these altcoins also have very low market caps, which makes them extremely volatile and prone to market manipulation. However, they are popular with “crypto bros” and cryptocurrency fans who try to get rich by betting on a horse with very low odds. Be careful, there are often very good projects behind certain altcoins, but it takes time and knowledge to find them. We remember the Dogecoin, this “ same corner which hit the headlines in July 2020 when it reached the price of 68 cts when it was $0.002 at the start of the year. +33900% in 7 months. Not bad. But there is even more impressive…

Profits of 7,000,000%?

In October 2021, an investor bet $8,000 on the Shiba Inu, another coin meme that rocketed to highs. Its 70 billion tokens (purchased at $0.000000000189 each) have seen a 7 million% increase in just over a year. In October 2021, the golden boy sat on a pile of gold from $5.7 billion. Of course, people who heard about this increase pounced on the Shiba Inu, to no avail. The token has been skyrocketing with other altcoins since April 2022. In fact, if you hear of a good deal in this area, it’s already too late.

Also read: Best VPN 2022: comparison, tests, reviews, features, security…

Even projects that don’t look bogus like Luna can become a true nightmare for small savers who want to diversify their portfolio by trying out cryptocurrency. To avoid taking a bowl and losing money, you have to bet on the two big classics in the sector.

Why you shouldn’t scatter…

Bitcoin and Ethereum are the only two cryptocurrencies cautious investors should consider. Ten years ago, they were already the first two in the sector and they are still there today. Bitcoin is the oldest and largest cryptocurrency in the world, with a market cap of $2 trillion. Created in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonym, Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency, which means that transactions are made between two people without going through a bank or other intermediary. It has a proven track record and is widely accepted by mainstream financial markets. Bitcoin is also considered a store of value by many.

Ethereum is an open source cryptocurrency and development platform launched in 2015 by Vitalik Buterin. Ethereum has started a revolution this year by gradually moving from “Proof of work” to “Proof of stake”. To put it simply, until now computers – very energy-intensive – were needed to validate transactions, but they will be made less and less necessary to keep the blockchain alive. If ETH succeeds in its metamorphosis, it is even possible that its value will exceed that of Bitcoin.

… no, PoS is not an original promise of ETH, see white paper. 😉
I’m fine with eth going PoS. I’m just saying that the “it doesn’t consume anymore, awesome” argument is unfortunate. https://t.co/x4dNR1eni0

— Seb Gouspillou (@SebGouspillou) August 22, 2022

Focus on the winners!

If you want to invest in cryptocurrencies, focus on the winners! Prices are very low at the moment and it’s a safe bet that many altcoins will not recover from this period of uncertainty: many projects will end up in the trash and that’s not a bad thing… To buy BTC or ETH, we advise you Coinhousea French company registered with the Financial Markets Authority with fixed commissions, the possibility of paying by bank card or by bank transfer.

Read also: Coinhouse: the right plan to buy your cryptocurrencies