What is your favourite cryptocurrency; and why?

About seven years ago, less than a hundred cryptocurrencies occupied the earliest cryptocurrency tracking service. Only a few of these earliest cryptos still have a place in the charts and even fewer have managed to stay relevant. Seven years later, thousands of cryptocurrency projects have emerged to occupy the charts, pushing the feeble old ones away and struggling with each other to survive the tense crypto market.

Surviving the crypto market sounds easy than it actually is. How well a project performs depends on its ability to attract the attention of investors and how long it retains this interest. A project good enough to attract the greater number of intending investors and retain their interest longest stands a greater chance of surviving the horde.

As an investor coming into a market as vast as the crypto space; deciding on what to invest on is prone to be an issue. Couple of ‘shinny’ projects with similar technologies and only little differences between them, it’s a dilemma! Investors consider a number of factors, but sentiments also come in. Sometimes we just like a project and invest in them just for the gains, other times it actually deeper than just business. Every cryptocurrency project is structured different from the other in at least one way, these disparities are the bedrock of our decisions.

Your portfolio defines you, a maximalist of a diversifier. Majority of cryptocurrency investors prefer to split the funds across a couple of crypto assets. Personally, this is me too. For several reasons, a diversified portfolio is a common practice in the cryptocurrency space. Why pick one when you can actually get as many as possible? Whatever makes you like a cryptocurrency project can happen all over again, as many times as possible and in different ways. You’d end up diversifying into a couple of projects.

Sharing maximalist views about a cryptocurrency project is not as popular as a diversified investment. The choice to stick to one project is similar to the proverbial ‘putting all eggs in one basket’. Could be a move to maximize profits, even though this could get very risky; on the brighter side, a massive success by the project you are solely invested in could blow your portfolio up with gains. The risks are high, but what on earth is not risky? There’s hardly a satisfactory answer to that rhetoric.

Your decision to invest in a cryptocurrency project may be due to any of the following reasons:

The technology

The best technology wins. Most cryptocurrency projects work towards developing a solution on the blockchain. By employing different strategies, these projects hope to develop a utility on the blockchain. Thousands of projects today are working towards solving certain real-life issues using decentralized platforms, thousands more are working towards enhancing existing technologies or building a decentralized alternative for them. A good technology delights an investor, a technology with potentials is capable of limitless breakthroughs. Investors are aware of this and what the future could hold for an ambitious cryptocurrency project.

Living in the present, investors speculate the future of a project by considering present factors and how crafty a project’s technology looks like. The problem a project hopes to solve and how it is working towards solving these problems are important points considered by an investor. A project working on solving a very important issue tends to gain more attention and pull a crowd relative to its importance. This is one of the main reasons why we develop interest in a project and trust our capital on it. As the project makes more success, our love for it also grows.

The community

Social acceptance is one of the least recognized human needs, but it is in fact, one of the most important. Everyone longs to be an acknowledged part of any organization. The urge to ‘belong’ and be accepted in any organization we find ourselves could also play a role in our choice of cryptocurrency to invest in. Investors and speculators love an interactive community, not necessarily democratic but at least every member participates actively in the projects to achieve its goal.

A number of cryptocurrency projects have built an enthusiastic community, amassed a good number of followers who are excited about the project and employs clever strategies to keep them engaged. You’d want to ‘put your money where your mouth is’. You as an investor would like to invest in a project where you have a say on how things should run. This is thus a very good reason to invest in a project…probably why you’ve still got some XRP in your portfolio.

Frequent ‘pump and dumps’

Yup! Sometimes we are just here for the quick gains, the crypto game! It blows up today and falls tomorrow. Some investors love volatility, quick gains in a short while. Manipulative projects can also win an investor’s heart; surprisingly. If you are an investor searching for the next 30% gain and takes profit immediately, then, your top choice of a cryptocurrency project to invest in is probably a pump and dump ‘shitcoin’. From your experience, you could name a handful of such projects, you are probably invested in a few of them. Well, your next 30% may be just around the corner.

Personal Affiliation

Sometimes you like it just because it ‘somehow’ belongs to you. we normally prefer what belongs to us, regardless of its quality. As a developer or marketer working for a project, there are every chance that you will pick it above any other project out there…and that’s loyalty. You believe in this project because you are aware of the efforts invested in it and also because the technology or any solution it presents is clear to you. You understand this project more than any other person out there. The challenges are well known to you and you develop emotions for the project. This reason is common amongst project owners and team members.

You’re just stuck

Maybe the technology isn’t actually that great, maybe the community isn’t really large and committed. Periodic price jerks aren’t even a thing, but you don’t have any other option. You just invest because ‘you’re stuck’. Sounds unlikely, but this happens frequently. Sometimes, investors hit that point of indecision, with so much to consider and very few manageable options. In this scenario, the most common resort is to pick the mildest danger. While this choice isn’t really interesting, it is the ‘best’ out of the worst. Investing in such project, investors only hope a miracle happens and a massive turn around follows it. Tough choice! But it happens.

But sometimes, one project ticks most of the boxes for you and you develop a genuine interest in it. Yeah, that’s your favourite cryptocurrency project! You could talk about it for a whole day, to anyone and at any time. For you, it is the best cryptocurrency in the space! Why is so for you? The community organization, a great technology or some good price action? Most times it is not just one out of these but a combination of them. Which project is this for you? A why is it?