In a market proven to be oversaturated and overinflated to unimaginable levels (think January 2018), it’s important we start collectively shifting away from projects whose sole purpose is to net us an immediate turn, and focus instead on those which forgo distracting marketing ploys and campaigns in favor of crafting and fine-tuning their product.
While some altcoins may ultimately end up to be worth no more than a dirty bar napkin, they do stand to bring novel value not only to your crypto portfolio, but to the entire blockchain ecosystem as well, should they accomplish their intended goals.
Just remember, when investing in cryptocurrencies and other blockchain projects, it’s extremely important to conduct your own research. Furthermore, make sure you aren’t blindly “gambling,” or investing more than you’re comfortable losing. So, take this article as your introduction to 4 blockchain projects and altcoins that we feel are emphasizing tech and organic, long-term growth over marketing and an artificial image.
Now, let’s get into 4 altcoins you should consider HODLing until 2020.
Keep in mind that this article should NOT be construed as investment advice, and the following altcoins are not ranked in any particular order.
4 Altcoins to HODL Until 2020
1. Electrify.Asia ($ELEC) – $5.5 Million
Electrify Asia Project Breakdown
With over 60% of the world’s population living in Asia (and nearly 50% of that statistic living in cities) and connected to centralized power grids, demand for increased security and transparency of the electricity market is at an all-time high.
Cue Electrify.Asia, Southeast Asia’s first retail electricity marketplace running on the blockchain, enabling literally anyone to:
- Source for energy from commercial energy suppliers
- Buy energy directly from a private producer, via Electrify’s P2P trading platform “SYNERGY”
At the very crux of Electrify.Asia’s innovative and comprehensive electricity ecosystem are energy smart contracts secured on the blockchain and powered by the ELEC token – eliminating the need for predatory middlemen and exorbitant transaction costs. This system empowers homeowners to effectively choose from their own energy home-catalogue, to browse and purchase electricity from small-scale energy producers or retailers.
Furthermore, Electrify.Asia has developed an IoT smart device – PowerPod – to accurately track and audit energy production from small-time energy producers, as well as a wallet – eWallet – to facilitate seamless payments via smart contracts.
Note that energy producers will face a minimum deposit of 200 ELEC per kilowatt peak (kWp) of rated generation capability to memorialize data onto the blockchain. This is a necessary safeguard (think of it similar to staking) and incentivization mechanism that will dissuade malicious/dishonest behavior (e.g. tampering) while encouraging loyalty and long-term ownership.
Why You Should HODL ELEC
Other than the obvious power distribution and generation monopolies exercised by current centralized electricity markets, numerous fundamental issues plague a healthy and competitive electricity ecosystem and marketplace, including:
- Lack of transparency: opaque electricity contacts which fail to clearly define retail energy prices, sources of energy, and the overall carbon footprint.
- Significant barriers to clean energy: present centralized grid infrastructure supports no framework for a reliable and effective P2P trading platform, creating an uphill battle for renewable generator owners to sell or buy power.
- Consumer credit risk: Sans a decentralized, trustless payment platform and credit database, energy retailers are hindered from filtering out customers with lackluster credit histories.
Electrify Asia is the brainchild of 2 Singaporean industry leaders and titans, and has already transacted more than 30 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity for business consumers since its incorporation. Not a bad start for handling the estimated 58% growth in global power demand by 2040 (Asian Development Bank) that’s creeping up on us, and paving the way for Asian electricity market liberalization over the years to come.
Looking for more reasons to HODL ELEC?
Besides furthering the recalibration and overhaul of an estimated $4 trillion energy sector between China and India alone (that’s just a slice of it), holding the ELEC token can earn loyalty rewards (for consumers), transaction fees (for energy providers), and listing deposits (for energy producers and retailers).
Ah the time of writing, ELEC is listed on CoinMarketCap at US$0.011667 or 181 Satoshis.
If you’d like to read up further on Singapore’s Open Electrify Market liberalization in 2018, and Electrify.Asia’s fundamentals, head on over to their website and check out their whitepaper.
2. Pundi X ($NPXS) – $225 Million
Pundi X Project Breakdown
Sporting the slogan “Making cryptocurrency accessible to everyone” through the implementation of 2 key elements, Pundi X is a comprehensive end-to-end solution for contactless and mobile retail point-of-sale (POS) consisting of:
- Mobile application and wallet
- Contactless smart payment card with POS terminals
Made widely available through open-source deployment and other open specifications, Pundi X is striving to consumerize cryptocurrencies and act as a catalyst for rampant global distribution and expansion through various end user layers.
That’s right, the Pundi Platform is both a software and hardware solution, advancing not only the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies through a POS device, but the purchase of literally anything (via retail POS) and peer-to-peer exchange.
Specifically, the Pundi X mobile application and wallet is tackling the intimidating handling of both public and private keys for HODLers through a simplified (and more familiar) password-based system, while their second layer, a contactless smart payment card, further reduces the complexity surrounding crypto handling for those looking to skirt smartphone app utilization (e.g. a single user could charge up multiple contactless cards to distribute amongst family members).
Simply put, Pundi X is positioning itself to become the go-to crypto debit card and world’s largest decentralized cryptocurrency sales network through the connection of POS devices and Pundi X devices.
Why You Should HODL NPXS
Pundi X’s movement towards bringing blockchain technology to everyday persons and merchants is all too palpable thanks to mass rollouts of 5,000 units of their XPOS all over the world (including Asia, Europe, and South America).
And, they aren’t stopping there, as Pundi X recently announced a partnership with emCredit, the UAE’s official credit bureau and government subsidiary, to bring XPOS devices to hundreds of storefronts across the city, all for the purpose of paying bills, utilities, and school fees.
Keep in mind that Pundi X is drawing off the success of an already-established mobile payment app (Pundi-Pundi), which garnered over 100,000 downloads and 20,000 active monthly users across 500+ retail outlets. Pundi X is ultimately anticipating a staggering network growth to accommodate over 220,000 Pundi XPOS devices in the next 2-3 years.
Potential use cases and Pundi X’s technology are infinitesimal – look no further than their powering the first major outdoor music festival integrated with blockchain (ULTRA Taiwan 2018), which saw the likes of 100 Pundi XPOS devices successfully process 10s of thousands of transactions, spanning 40 various merchants and 30,000 festival goers.
As of November 9, 2018, NPXS sits right around US$$0.0015 or 24 Satoshis.
To read up further on how Pundi X is working to become the world’s largest offline sales network (think 7-Eleven and Walmart) through their exhaustive online to-offline cryptocurrency sales solution, head on over to their website and brush up on their whitepaper.
Curious to read up further on what Pundi X is, the team behind it, competitors and challenges, and how to purchase and store NPXS? Check out our article breaking down Pundi X in greater detail here.
3. SophiaTX ($SPHTX) – $11.6 Million
SophiaTX Project Breakdown
Created in furtherance of expanding the possibilities for enterprise application and use with the security and trust of the blockchain, SophiaTX is a public blockchain platform integrating the blockchain with SAP and other major ERP, SCM, and CRM systems.
Specifically, SophiaTX can be thought of as containing 3 fundamental parts:
- Public blockchain: a blockchain custom designed for the business environment
- Development: a development platform with integration APIs to SAP and other enterprise applications
- Marketplace: a marketplace for not only industrial companies and businesses, but a global community of consultants, developers and other experts to buy and sell apps
From small local businesses to large global enterprises all the way to end consumers, SophiaTX is creating a comprehensive enterprise ecosystem for persons and entities to participate across the entire value chain, meaning enterprise is no longer just relegated to their individual private chain – a stride truly supportive of holistic collaboration in a presently fragmented industry.
For example, SophiaTX’s white paper cites 3 basic categories of use cases, including one-to-one document exchange through a trustless acknowledgement of transaction (think invoices, delivery notices, quality inspections, etc.), multi-party information exchange authorizing project collaboration and maintenance, and the ability to track and trace goods and information from manufacturer to end consumer (e.g. pharmaceuticals and food from point A to point C).
Simply put, the SophiaTX blockchain is geared towards the P2P exchange of information, through a comprehensive set of developer tools to create and deploy applications (by way of blockchain technology) and integrate distributed data with CRM and ERP solutions.
Why You Should HODL SPHTX
It’s no surprise that businesses today face countless challenges when it comes to the transaction, exchange, and storage of highly sensitive information, so an established common ground for arbitrating and executing disputable areas is in dire need.
In July 2018, SophiaTX announced the successful deployment of their public mainnet, making the realization of peer-to-peer architecture, decentralization, and scalability for enterprise and business a reality.
Via SophiaTX’s unique transparent and decentralized enterprise ecosystem, businesses may now completely overhaul and reshape existing business models while improving the efficiency of their core processes through quicker and safer transactions (along with enhanced collaborative processes).
For business and enterprise to truly catalyze their operational processes, they must first integrate with ERP and other enterprise applications (think SAP) and recognize the following challenges:
- Data security, privacy, and resilience
- Compliance and regulations
- Processing speed
- Data retention and archival
- Connectivity and compatibility to enterprise applications, and more
Think about it: roughly 75% of the world’s transaction revenue kisses SAP systems — an area still relatively untouched and uncultivated on the blockchain. Until now.
SophiaTX’s initial push and focus is on SAP, the world’s largest provider and market leader of ERP and business application software, catering to over 365,000 customers across 190 countries. SAP customer demographics account for nearly 87% of the Forbes Global 2000, 98% of the 100 most valued brands, 78% of the world’s food production, and 82% of the world’s medical device production.
At the time of writing, SophiaTX boasts a $11.6 million market cap, and comes in on CoinMarketCap at roughly US$0.06 per SPHTX or 936 Satoshis.
Got any questions about SPHTX? Head on over to their website and check out their whitepaper.
4. Morpheus Network ($MORPH) – $2.7 Million
Morpheus Network Project Breakdown
Established by industry veterans and titans to tackle the glaring global supply chain issues stunting a cohesive and free-flowing ecosystem, Morpheus Network is a full-service, global, automated, open supply chain platform that leverages blockchain technology to automate, optimize, secure, forecast, and illuminate supply chain processes.
Morpheus Network also supports an integrated cryptocurrency payment system, spanning 1,600 banks across the world and integrated with SWIFT (for direct international payments) — all automated by smart contract.
Specifically, Morpheus Network’s blockchain platform and ecosystem utilizes predetermined, automated work contracts, and shipping and customs documents to optimize and secure the documentation of multiplex international shipments, all while layering other blockchain technologies and platforms to ease the process.
For example, Morpheus Network has integrated with other blockchain projects, such as Waltonchain — a business ecosystem integrating IoT with blockchain — for RFID shipment technology, and Sia – a decentralized storage platform and marketplace – for data transfer verification in a supply chain smart contract.
So, what separates Morpheus Network from the other decentralized supply chain projects on the blockchain?
Simple. Large-scale money transfers via smart contract-enabled, real-world currency conversion payments across 1,600 banks and 200 countries globally. Morpheus Network is designed to be employed by both importers and exporters, while replacing traditional, unsecured, slow, and expensive bank wire transfers.
Finally, Morpheus supports an escrow payment service, for increased importer and buyer assurance, governed by smart contracts to release funds following the completion of contract objectives.
Why You Should HODL MORPH
Identified by the World Bank as the #1 world problem to solve in order to “stimulate economic growth” in a 2013 World Economic Forum report (co-authored with Bain & Company), the easing of overall supply chain management process barriers is ripe for overhaul. It’s estimated the lessening of supply chain management process barriers could potentially yield an increase in the global GDP by nearly 5% (leading to an estimated USD $3 trillion economic boost).
Present-day supply chain barriers are not only costly but time consuming.
For example, sending a bulk shipment of flowers internationally can produce up to 200 hard-copy documents spread across roughly a dozen sources, with a successful delivery hinging on a smooth and uninterrupted coordination of all documents. The Morpheus Network cuts out the arduous process of paper documentation by recording all necessary information on the blockchain – enabling real-time and tamper-proof updates.
Throw in some major cryptocurrency exchange listings on Bancor, LiveCoin, LAtoken, and HitBTC, Morpheus Network’s becoming a member of the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (joining the ranks of UPS, FedEx, Penske, and Salesforce), and their taking on Charlie Shrem (founding member of the Bitcoin Foundation) as an advisor, and it’s clear that Morpheus Network has solidified a buoyant stronghold in the cryptosphere.
Curious just how big the global supply chain management industry is? Morpheus Network’s website lays out several extensive infographics detailing and visualizing the world’s largest exporters, today’s complex world network of global trade partners, and the goods being globally traded.
As of date of publish, Morpheus Network sits at US$0.09 on CoinMarketCap, or roughly 1,476 Satoshis.
If you’d like to read up further about Morpheus Network and how they are facilitating large money transfers via smart contract-enabled currency conversion payments and increasing transparency for shipping and customs documents, head on over to their website and read up on their whitepaper.
Final Thoughts
And there you have it, 4 altcoins we think are worth HODLing until 2020. Aligning yourself with a blockchain project you feel is bringing actual value to today’s society is the first step in the right direction towards helping create a healthy blockchain ecosystem — one where a project’s tech is given precedence over treacherous trumpeting.
So, whether you’re looking for a project actually in the midst of bringing crypto transactions and hardware to your local corner store, or looking to purchase/sell electricity at a competitive rate on the blockchain, we’ve got you covered.
Finally, it bears repeating, always do your own research, switch from an exchange to cold storage once you’ve accumulated more than one month’s salary in cryptocurrency holdings, and never invest more than you’re comfortable losing.
We’d like to hear your favorite project of the above 4 or your fave picks for altcoins to hodl until 2020. Let us know in the comments!
