Against the backdrop of the ever-evolving cryptocurrency investment landscape, searching for the next potential breakout star is a pursuit that attracts both seasoned investors and newbies. As the market continues to mature and expand, attention naturally turns to altcoins (alternative cryptocurrencies to Bitcoin) that are showing promising growth trajectories. Against this dynamic backdrop, a select group of altcoins stand out as poised to surpass the important milestone of $10 billion in market cap.
These digital assets have attracted attention not only for their innovative technology, but also for the potential for impressive returns on investment. In this exploration, we take a deep dive into the six altcoins on the verge of reaching a $10 billion market cap, examining the factors driving their rise and the implications for investors seeking to navigate the evolution of altcoins with foresight and acumen.
1.NEAR Protocol（NEAR）
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) is a layer-1 blockchain designed to serve as a community-run cloud computing platform. Its main goal is to address limitations faced by other blockchains, such as slow transaction speeds and limited throughput. This makes it suitable for decentralized applications (DApps) and fosters a developer-friendly environment.
Current Price: $7.40 (as of June 7, 2024)
Market ranking: CoinMarketCap ranked 17th
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• User-friendly features: Unlike complex crypto wallet addresses commonly found in other blockchains, NEAR uses human-readable account names, enhancing the user experience.
• Scalability Solution: NEAR has implemented a unique solution to address scalability challenges. It uses a sharding technology called Nightshade and a consensus mechanism called “Doomslug” to achieve this.
• Developer-centric: NEAR’s WebAssembly runtime allows developers to create smart contracts using familiar languages such as JavaScript and Rust. It also provides built-in meta transactions to pay users’ gas fees and incentivizes developers through a revenue sharing mechanism for the gas consumed by smart contracts.
Near Protocol is a proof-of-stake blockchain that uses Nightshade technology to facilitate the development of decentralized applications (dApps). While its price has remained relatively stable recently, peaking at $8.51 last month, it still has a respectable market cap of $7.99 billion. A 25% increase in value would put Near Protocol at $10 billion.
2.Polygon（MATIC）
Polygon (MATIC) is a scaling solution for the Ethereum blockchain. It acts as a multi-chain system that aims to address Ethereum's scalability and transaction speed limitations.
Purpose: Enhance Ethereum’s functionality by providing faster and cheaper transactions through a network of sidechains that run alongside the Ethereum mainchain.
Core component: Polygon SDK, a modular framework that supports building a variety of applications on the network. Developers can use this toolkit to create optimistic rollup chains, ZK rollup chains, and even standalone chains.
MATIC Token: Polygon’s native currency, used to pay network transaction fees and participate in the Proof of Stake consensus mechanism to secure the network
Some advantages of Polygon (MATIC) include:
• Faster Transactions: Polygon’s transaction processing times are significantly faster compared to Ethereum’s mainnet.
• Lower fees: Transaction fees on Polygon are much cheaper than on Ethereum mainnet.
• Scalability: Polygon’s modular design can easily scale to accommodate a growing user base.
MATIC’s daily trading volume increased significantly by 24%, indicating a recent pickup in market activity. MATIC’s price has increased by 4% over the past week, reaching $0.72. With a market cap of $6.7 billion, Polygon has a broad technology stack and multiple use cases, factors that could accelerate its trajectory toward a $10 billion market cap in the near future.
3.Uniswap（UNI）
Uniswap (UNI) is a well-known player in the cryptocurrency space, best known for its role in decentralized finance (DeFi). Uniswap is a decentralized exchange (DEX), which means it facilitates the trading of cryptocurrencies directly between users without the need for a central authority. It utilizes a unique system called an automated market maker (AMM) to enable trading. In short, an AMM uses a pool of liquidity created by users to set the price at which tokens are swapped.
Key features of Uniswap (UNI):
• Permissionless trading: Anyone with a compatible crypto wallet can participate in trades on Uniswap.
• Focus on DeFi tokens: Uniswap is primarily used for the exchange of ERC-20 tokens (tokens built on the Ethereum blockchain) that are typically associated with DeFi projects.
• UNI Token: Uniswap has its own governance token UNI.
UNI tokens’ purpose:
• UNI token holders have voting rights on proposals that impact the future development of the Uniswap protocol. This enables the community to shape the development of the DEX.
• Users can also earn UNI by providing liquidity to Uniswap’s pools, essentially becoming market makers and profiting from trading fees.
Hailed as a pioneer in decentralized exchanges (DEX), Uniswap occupies a unique position in the cryptocurrency industry. Its governance token, UNI, was distributed to users via an airdrop in September 2020 and is currently priced at $10.67, having surged 45% in the past 30 days. Uniswap currently has a market cap of $8 billion, just 25% away from achieving the coveted $10 billion milestone.
4.Polkadot(DOT)
Polkadot (DOT) is a fascinating project in the blockchain technology space. It aims to solve a significant obstacle in the blockchain space: interoperability. Polkadot is an open-source sharded multi-chain protocol. This means that it acts as a network of interconnected blockchains, allowing them to communicate and transfer data or assets to each other. In contrast, traditional blockchains operate in isolation, hindering the free flow of information and limiting functionality.
Key features of Polkadot (DOT):
• Interoperability: This is the core advantage of Polkadot. It enables blockchains built on Polkadot to interact with each other seamlessly, thereby promoting a more interconnected blockchain ecosystem.
• Scalability: Polkadot solves the scalability problem by adopting a sharding mechanism. This spreads processing across multiple parallel blockchains (called parachains), significantly increasing transaction throughput compared to single-chain blockchains.
• Security: Polkadot employs a shared security model. The security of all parachains is ensured by the main chain (called the relay chain), which benefits from the joint stake of all DOT token holders. This enhances security without requiring each parachain to replicate its own validators.
The role of DOT tokens:
• DOT is the native token of the Polkadot network and has the following uses:
• Governance: DOT holders have voting rights on proposals that impact the future development of the Polkadot protocol.
• Staking: Users can stake DOT to contribute to network security and earn rewards.
• Bonding: New parachains seeking to connect to the Polkadot network are required to bond a certain amount of DOTs. This ensures commitment and deters malicious behavior.
Advantages of Polkadot (DOT):
• Fostering innovation: By enabling interoperability, Polkadot fosters a more vibrant blockchain ecosystem where a variety of applications can interact and collaborate.
• Enhanced security: The shared security model provides a strong security layer for parachains built on Polkadot.
• Scalability: Sharding technology enables Polkadot to handle higher transaction volumes compared to traditional blockchains.
Polkadot is a diversified blockchain that enables smooth communication between different networks through its parachain technology. Currently trading at around $7.18, the asset has seen a small increase of 2.5% in value over the past 30 days. With a market cap of $9.8 billion, Polkadot is only 2.05% away from achieving the $10 billion milestone.
5.Bitcoin Cash（BCH）
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is a cryptocurrency that was derived from Bitcoin (BTC) via a hard fork in 2017. BCH was born out of disagreements over Bitcoin's scalability and aims to become a more practical and widely adopted medium of exchange.
BCH prioritizes faster transaction speeds and lower fees compared to Bitcoin. It does this by increasing the block size limit, allowing more transactions to be processed within a single block.
feature:
• Scalability: BCH can theoretically handle higher transaction volumes.
• Centralization: Larger block sizes could lead to more powerful mining hardware requirements, potentially centralizing mining operations.
• Decentralization: BCH purists argue that a larger block size promotes wider participation in running nodes, thereby promoting decentralization.
BCH is primarily seen as a transactional cryptocurrency that aims to become a viable alternative to traditional payment methods for everyday purchases.
In the past 30 days, the price of BCH has increased by 11.4% to about $517. Unlike other cryptocurrencies on this list, BCH has a market cap of about $10.1 billion, making it one of the best altcoins to invest in.
Additionally, BCH’s trading volume has surged 14% in the past 24 hours, indicating growing investor interest. Bitcoin Cash prices surged after the halving event that coincided with Bitcoin two months ago. Despite hitting an all-time high of $3,785 in 2017, the altcoin still has promise for growth, bringing potential gains to investors’ portfolios.
6.Pepe（PEPE）
Pepe (PEPE) is a deflationary meme coin that runs on the Ethereum blockchain. It was developed in April 2023 as a tribute to the popular internet meme character Pepe the Frog.
• Meme Coin: PEPE belongs to a class of cryptocurrencies called meme coins. These currencies are created based on an internet joke or meme and usually have no underlying utility or real-world value.
• Deflationary Mechanism: One of the differences between PEPE and other meme coins is its deflationary mechanism. This means that the total supply of PEPE tokens will decrease over time, potentially increasing its value.
• Built on Ethereum: PEPE acts as an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain. ERC-20 is a standard for creating tokens on the Ethereum network.
• Transparency about lack of utility: The creators of PEPE have been very transparent about its lack of utility and position it purely as a meme coin for entertainment purposes.
Inspired by Pepe the Frog, a meme cherished by the crypto community, Pepe Coin has seen a significant increase in price, reaching $0.00001445, up 81% in the past 30 days.
After the Ethereum spot ETF was approved, Pepe surged more than 50%, with its market cap rising to $6.8 billion. However, as the initial excitement faded, its value fell back to $6 billion. To reach a market cap of $10 billion, its price would have to rise 66% from its current price.