Crypto assets are booming, as evidenced by the global crypto market cap, which is close to $2 trillion. The recent bull run has led to the growth of hundreds of tokens, including small cap ones. However, not all of them can keep up the trend. Amid the overall surge of projects, it is worth choosing crypto gems with a steady development history that can generate profits over a long time.
NEAR Protocol (NEAR)
NEAR (NEAR-USD) functions more like a web application than a standard blockchain project. The protocol is a decentralized community supercomputer. With its user-friendliness, it can overcome the common obstacles of blockchain networks.
The protocol’s scalability puts this token on par with the leading crypto gems. NEAR uses a sharding approach to process so many transactions that other blockchain platforms cannot. This technology is paying off. Over the past six months, NEAR has grown by 112%, with developers appreciating a convenient environment for creating dApps. Their high-quality works create the impression of an advanced modern project. As a result, since mid-2023, the cryptocurrency price has surged from $1.2 to $3.2.
Last year, the project surpassed the $1 billion market cap and demonstrated the growth of its investment opportunities. In 2024, the daily trading volume will consistently remain in the hundreds of millions, and the market cap will firmly stay above $3 billion. Analysts are optimistic about the NEAR’s future and predict that 2026, its potential value will reach $5.2 billion.
Still, even with these perspectives, the protocol remains underestimated, as it can improve rapidly through collaboration with other market players. For example, the partnership with D3 has contributed to the ecosystem growth. This digital infrastructure provider can further strengthen the NEAR network.
The project’s innovations have the same positive impact. The community already appreciated the launch of idOS at NEARCON ’23. This digital identity management solution enhances user security and privacy. NEAR continues implementing its development and partnership strategy, steadily improving and empowering the platform.
Tezos (XTZ)
Arthur Breitman and Kathleen Breitman have created an incredible project by joining forces in 2014. The founders’ experience in other high-tech projects has led to the stunning results of Tezos (XTZ-USD). Its ICO showed the project’s popularity, with $232 million raised in Bitcoin (BTC-USD) and Ethereum (ETH-USD).
A temporary regression due to a conflict of interest with the president of the Tezos Foundation led to a loss of investor interest. But now, the blockchain network is attracting the attention of crypto projects and European central banks. The latter are interested in partnering to experiment with creating a digital euro.
In addition to working with large traditional finance organizations, Tezos is actively campaigning to expand its ecosystem with crypto platforms. Music icon Quincy Jones backs this NFT platform.
The project has already created a list of improvements for 2024. This spring, the community will witness the launch of a bridge between Tezos and Ethereum. It is called Etherlink. This decision will affect the number of developers in the project’s ecosystem. Thus, starting in March, Tezos plans to increase the level of functionality and compatibility. For investors, this can be a golden time.
Cosmos (ATOM)
Cosmos (ATOM-USD) doesn’t follow the path of fierce competition. The platform aims to turn disparate crypto industry projects into a single, collaborative community by facilitating interaction between blockchain networks. Therefore, prosperity for the entire blockchain sector brings prosperity to ATOM and vice versa.
In a few days, developers in the Cosmos ecosystem can achieve what usually takes weeks to months to complete. The project’s efficiency attracts developers, and decentralized applications based on it continue to grow. Among them is the Tendermint protocol, which underpins this next-generation technology stack. It ensures that consensus is reached faster and with less risk.
The platform has the palm of primacy in terms of many components of its ecosystem, and yet it continues to evolve. As a true representative of crypto gems, Cosmos reinforces its position in the blockchain arena with integrations and innovative solutions. Joint work with Ledger Live can improve the ATOM transaction and staking system. Investors also drew attention to the partnership with Kava Labs and the inflow of $10 million in Cosmos Neutron.
The project remains relatively undervalued, even though the price of ATOM has almost doubled over the past six months. Market sentiment suggests that the altcoin season is approaching. Given its connection to a large number of tokens, the Cosmos coin can become a solution for making quick money and diversifying investments.
On the date of publication, Julia Magas did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
