Stating out in Crypto - What should I buy? Building Your Alt Folio Part 1

Hello,

Welcome to a new blog that will continue on from my Tutorials on Getting Started in Crypto.

My inspiration for this blog is from the commonly asked question that I am sure everyone in Crypto has been asked by a new user from time to time, what Crypto's should I buy? or What's a safe cryptocurrency to get?

If you are like me, it is hard in the moment to just pluck one out that you like, so you end up answering their question by throwing about 27 different Alt Coin names at them!

So today I am going to do a little exercise on how I would start out building my Alt Folio, if I was to begin with $1000.

Firstly, the truth is no one can tell you with %100 confidence what is a safe coin to buy or even what you should buy for that matter.
Researching the coins and investing in projects you think have real potential is the way to go.
Alt Coins with technology behind them that solve problems, allow for commerce to move onto the Blockchain, help with scalability for example are all good.

The problem is, all Alt Coins are very good at sounding like they will be the next big thing and the truth is some will not be able to deliver on what they set out to do.
Others may be able to deliver, but will face stiff competition in their space and could be up against someone else that just does it better than them.

Before we get into talking about individual coins to build up your Alt Folio, my advice would be, if you find a coin that does something really cool, chances are there are multiple coins setting out to achieve the same thing.
The idea or concept you are investing in could be worth gazillions one day but the 'horse' you backed to deliver it, might not be the right one.
To keep the horse analogy going, back multiple runners in the same race, spread your money around and never put all your eggs in one basket.

I also like invest into a lot of different projects.
I love Alt Coins that bring something unique or different to the table.
Not all will succeed but who knows - you might just be investing in the next Facebook or Apple whilst it is in its infancy.
That's the exciting thing about Crypto, investing in all these different Blockchain based projects is like a giant treasure hunt, just there are a lot of different treasures out there to be found!

Now at last count there are over 1500 Alt Coins, probably even a lot more by now so learning about all of them is nigh on impossible. Especially given how long and technical most of their Whitepapers are.
Excuse me for indulging in a little self promotion here but my Alt Coin Speed Dating series of which there are 14 blogs so far, all have a quick synopsis on different coins.
I try to make them as easy to understand as possible and that could be a great place for you start.
You will get a snapshot of what the different coins do and if one intrigues you, you can click on the link to learn more about them.

Now for those of you that have no interest in researching yourself or just curious about some good Alt Coins to start with here is the $1000 starting exercise below.

In Part 1 here we will spend the first $500.
I will then be back with Part 2 where we will spend the remaining $500.

Ok, so you have your Coinbase account and you have just bought $1000 worth of Bitcoin.
How is a good way to spend it?

Firstly, as it is your first $1000 I would recommend starting conservative for the most part.
Coinmarketcap.com is an excellent source of information on Alt Coins and also ranks them by size of their individual Market Caps.
As you are starting it out I think we concentrate most of our money on at least the top 30 or so ranked coins and we will try to spread it around.
At the same time we don't want to spread ourselves to thin and with the last $100 we might take on a little risk to mix it up.

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and even Neo these days are the obvious great choices but they are also expensive choices.
In the future you will want to get into them but as we want our $1000 to stretch, we are going to shop for some cheaper ones to start with.

Ripple (XRP)

Firstly we will start with Ripple (XRP).
Not the most popular coin amongst Crypto purists who refer to it as the Banks coin.
Ripple is a centralised coin and is focused on the banking market.
It is used by companies such as UniCredit, UBS, Santander and has many more patnerships around the globe.
Ripple has been increasingly adopted by banks and payment networks as settlement infrastructure technology.
Ripple allows for secure, lightning fast transactions around the globe.

Unlike some of the purists, I don't have a huge problem with Ripple.
I don't believe cryptocurrency is going to topple all the world Banks nor do I have a desire to really see that happen.
The bigger Crypto grows, the more the Banks will adapt to it.
Besides nobody owns more cryptocurrency than the Banks anyway as they have been stockpiling it for years.

So as the number 3 ranked coin and a current price of 72c AUD, I think this is a safer more conservative option to start with.
From your $1000 starting money, I would allocate $150 towards picking up some Ripple (XRP).
At current value that will give you approx 200 of them.
Remaining Balance $850

Stellar (XLM)

If we are going to get Ripple, we might as well get some Stellar Lumens (XLM).
Like Ripple, Stellar is also favoured by the banking sector and is a way to transfer assets globally.
Stellar is aiming to be an open financial system that gives people of all income levels access to low-cost financial services.

Stellar is currently ranked number 8 and is a big coin to watch in 2018.
Stellar has recently announced a partnership with IBM and is tipped to make huge strides this year.
This is another Alt Coin on the safer side for investment and is only 27c AUD each.
I would allocate $100 towards Stellar (XLM) which will give you approx 370 of them.
Remaining balance $750

Cardano (ADA)

Next, I would recommend getting yourself some Cardano (ADA).
Another top 10 Alt Coin, Cardano is a 3rd Generation coin that is decentralised and is developing a smart contract platform which seeks to deliver more advanced features than any other existing protocol.
According to their team, Cardano is the first Blockchain platform that is based on a scientific philosophy.

To briefy explain why it is a 'third generation' Alt Coin:

First Generation
Bitcoin is the 1st generation of cryptocurrency which was successful in creation of a decentralised Blockchain token which is finite and tradeable.

2nd Generation
Ethereum came along as a 2nd generation coin which is far more customisable and introduced Smart Contracts

3rd Generation
Improves on first and second generation by offering a platform that is much more scaleable (big problem of Ethereum) and more sustainable.

As big institutional investors/Corporations enter the Blockchain space and seek to dominate, one would imagine 3rd Generation coins will be in place ready and able to adopt them.
Ethereum in it's current format would struggle with the scalability required for a massive platform like the Facebooks or Amazons of the world.

So as highlighted, Cardano (ADA) has a tech advantage behind it and a very strong team, however they do not have any runs on the board.
They are not as proven as Ethereum and will need to prove they can deliver on their tech.
Therefore there is a greater risk with Cardano but maybe greater reward.
At the bargain price of 19c AUD each, I would recommend taking the punt on the number 7 ranked coin.
I would purchase $100 of Cardano (ADA) which would net you approx 520 of them.
Remaining Balance $650

EOS (EOS)

This one is a bit more expensive but I think it could be a great addition to your starting Alt Folio.
Eos is also a top 10 ranked coin coming in at number 6.
Eos offers users a Platform for development on the Blockchain and is receiving a lot of buzz of late.
Eos boasts it can solve a lot of the problems facing developers on the Blockchain and claims its platform can not only eliminate transaction fees, but also process millions of transactions per second.
If Eos delivers on what it says, it would essentially go one step further than even Cardano and be a 4th generation Blockchain Crypto.
Like Cardano, it is not proven as yet, so despite all the positive buzz and excitement, it is a big gamble.
The payoff on this gamble could be huge if Eos can deliver, so they are worth allocating a conservative amount to.
I'd recommend picking up $100 worth to begin with.
EOS is currently at $7.83 so $100 will net you approx 12.5 of them.
Remaining Balance $550

TRON (TRX)
Ok, time to venture out of the Top 10 and get a little crazy.
Tron has had an interesting history to date and promises big things.
Tron has been a bit of a rollercoaster with mass hype and pumps of price. Then shocking FUD and price tumbling.
Then more hype, more FUD and then a long period of stability albeit at a price way down on its all time highs.

To give you a quick background on it, Justin Sun is the Projects founder and Tron aims to be a decentralised entertainment content sharing platform one the Blockchain.
Tron will offer peer-to-peer (p2p) network technology, its open decentralised platform and distributed storage technology will allow creators of digital content to cut out middlemen such as the Apple Store or the Google Play Store. Content producers will thus be able to obtain funds directly from consumers.
Tron will provide Data liberation on a free and uncontrolled basis.

So some lofty ambitions for the number 11 ranked coin.
Tron launches its phase 1 of a long rollout at the end of March and is currently at 6c AUD a coin.
I'd use a small chunk of your funds on getting a bit of Tron to hold for the long term
Use $50 on Tron and that will get you approx 830 of them.
Remaining Balance $500

That's the first $500 spent and now your AltFolio is starting to take shape.
A summary of your inventory now would be:

200 Ripple (XRP)
370 Stellar (XLM)
520 Cardano (ADA)
12.5 EOS (EOS)
830 Tron (TRX)

I will be back soon with Part 2 where will have a look at some good options for the remaining $500.

Thanks for Reading

Keep Chasing that Dragon

• @Dahmsy79