Solana, Tezos or Terra: Altcoins and next-gen tokens surging in demand

Sure, Bitcoin is interesting but it seems for some of the high rollers, it's becoming quite “predictable” - if that can even be said for any kind of crypto currency. Crypto investors and enthusiasts are taking long hard looks at more innovative, next-generation coins and blockchains as these pack a greater potential to yield higher returns, that is for those lucky enough to get in early on the right bandwagon.

This has seen the demand, and price of select altcoins and next-gen tokens surge as even major institutions are looking to identify up-and-coming DeFi and blockchains and then tap into their unharnessed potential.

The 2021 “Alt-Season”

Crypto market enthusiasts suggest the world is experiencing what some have coined an ‘alt-season’ with newcomers to the scene creating some trade-worthy volatility - to the extent that ETH and BTC are considered to be showing levels of stability 🧐 compared to the frenzy markets of the DOGEs, SOLs and DOTs.

What's the ALTerior Motive?

The flourishing of alternative coins and blockchains is flued by the increasing demand for smart contracts and non-fungible tokens. The combination of these two technologies has been key to unlocking powerful possibilities that are now being actively and extensively sought.

1. What's an NFT?

An NFT is a non-fungible digital token. It is a proof of ownership that is both unique and scarce. Usually, these kinds of tokens are digital versions of physical items (i.e. collectors’ items) and this makes that no two NFTs can ever be the same. As there only ever exists one real, unique version of the asset, it cannot be exchanged for another same kind of asset — making it digitally scarce, a.k.a. non-fungible.

2. What’s Fungibility?

Does it have something to do with fungus? No, it’s by no means related to fungus or fungi. In fact, the word fungible derives its meaning from the Latin verb “to perform”, and means ‘interchangeable’ or ‘changeable’. In the cryptosphere and in blockchain technology, NTFs allow for digital scarcity, providing a certificate of authenticity that guarantees legal rights to the digital asset - this is pretty big for i.e gaming and streaming and even opens up huge possibilities for digital rights management.

3. What’s a smart contract?

Quite possibly the most powerful feature of blockchain technology, smart contracts are, simply put, digital contracts whose terms are set in code. They can hold assets, crypto currencies and NFTs within them and can even self-execute once predefined conditions are met.

Here’s a roundup of the latest contenders

A few prominent cryptos are turning heads more than others, and are being considered as serious contenders to the Ethereum network as they resolve some of Ethereum's main issues and frustrations that are making traders and investors alike look to alternatives in the first place.

The combination of smart contracts with NFTs and emerging ecosystems that offer them are particularly interesting to both developers and investors. Solana, Terra and Tezos are some of the year’s hottest cryptos that are leading this trend.

First up — SOLANA, SOL

Solana is currently the seventh largest cryptocurrency by market cap at $39.34 billion* - topping at an astounding $60 billion in early September, before a surge in transaction volume created an outage on their network and brought on a sharp price drop.

Source: CoinMarketCap Past performance is not indicative of future results.

One of the serious contestants to Ethereum; the outage event even caused upticks in ETH prices; but the overall YTD performance of SOL simply outperformed

Solana was developed as part of the crypto movement to decentralized finance (DeFi) and has created a native token, SOL, to power its platform. It’s network runs on an innovative hybrid proof-of-history and proof-of-stake mechanism.

A thriving hub for NFTs (non-fungible tokens), Solana strongly supports smart contracts.It’s launch of its own NFT marketplace, Solanart, further positions it to capitalise on the booming NFT market that recorded $900 million in sales in August.

It’s faster. It’s cheaper.

Claiming a processing capability of 65,000 transactions a sec, and carrying a cost of just $0.00025 on average per transaction, Solana is both faster and cheaper than its more established competitor, Ethereum. Market connoisseurs are watching this altcoin closely.

• according to CoinMarketCap.

Solana has experienced explosive growth in terms of the apps that have been built on its ecosystem. It is expected it will keep growing as more and more corporations seek to capitalise on higher speeds, financial data fees and the trading of tokenized securities. What’s also for sure though is that Solana’s growing pains are far from over.

TERRA LUNA - the largest dual-token system

One of the most successful innovative cryptocurrencies of the year, Terra has seen prices burgeon to over 3600%. The South Korean based company developed a stablecoin-powered payment platform that allows users to create fungible assets that track and mirror the prices of the real assets.

What is Terra Luna?

Terra Luna is the world’s largest dual-token platform. What that means is that its network actually uses two tokens of separate utility but that are both intertwined. Ranked the 12th largest cryptocurrency at the time of writing, with a market capitalization of $13.87 billion, Terra Luna has recorded more than 1490% growth.*

*according to CoinMarketCap.

Source: CoinMarketCap Past performance is not indicative of future results.

What makes this cryptocurrency intriguing is that it has created a system that may very well solve the inherent volatility of cryptocurrencies. It offers fiat-pegged stablecoins that are smart contract versions of fiat currencies. For example, its Terra USD stablecoin is pegged to the US dollar allowing users and merchants to transact seamlessly and with more stability in cross-border payments.

On the other hand it has its native LUNA currency. LUNA has a fluctuating, elastic supply and operates as the utility and governance token that backs and secures the price stability of Terra's stablecoins. Together, the LUNA and fiat-pegged stablecoins maintain a balanced equilibrium, where LUNA acts as the rebalancing vehicle increasing algorithmically in supply or decreasing (burning) excess to maintain price stability.. Ingenious, don’t you think?

Last but not least - TEZOS

What is Tezos?

A truly decentralized system at all levels from block discovery to transactions to decision-making and even protocol amendment, Tezos is an open-source, proof-of-stake blockchain network with smart contract capabilities. The cryptocurrency that describes itself as ‘smart money’ for decentralised finance (DeFi).

Source: CoinMarketCap Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Tezos addresses a number of crypto frustrations. For starters, it's built to evolve. Its modular architecture makes it powerfully scalable and seamless to upgrade. This makes Tezos a self-amending blockchain where Tezzie owners can vote on changes directly without the need to take governance ‘off-chain’, ever. It’s energy-efficient algorithm makes it a great eco-friendly alternative as it addresses the energy issue that has but serious hampers on crypto space.

These hot new cryptos are for sure in their beginning of their journeys and so it's not surprising when they experience price corrections or glitches this early on. What’s for sure though is that the trend for NFT and smart contract blockchains is fueled by long-standing needs in the crypto market-place; and these will surely continue to spur on the need for altcoins and next-gen tokens.

Trade Solana, Terra and Tezos with Skilling today.

Not investment advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Trading cryptocurrency may not be available depending on your country of residence.