Cryptocurrencies to Watch in 2020

2020 is shaping up to be an interesting and exciting year for cryptocurrencies. Thus it is a good time to track some interesting altcoins.

Investors and speculators need to watch specific altcoins because I think the cryptocurrency market could speculate in 2020. Bitcoin (BTC); in particular, could boom if war breaks out between the United States and Iran.

In addition, political chaos from Brexit or impeachment in the United States could increase the demand for alternative assets such as Bitcoin. Therefore, it is a good time for speculators to monitor cryptocurrencies.

Interesting Altcoins to Watch in 2020 include:

1. Bitcoin (BTC)

The granddaddy of ryptocurrencies was far below its all-time high Coin Price of $20,089 at $8,095.77 on 10 January 2020. However, Coinbase estimates Bitcoin prices rose slightly (3.8% or $296.53) on 10 January 2020.

Bitcoin’s price rose because of the war scare in the Middle East, Barron’s reports. To explain, Bitcoin is a “haven asset” that hysterical spectators buy in chaotic times.

Since we live in chaotic times, I think interest in Bitcoin will grow. Disruptive events in the news include; the U.S. assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, riots in Hong Kong, Brexit, the U.S. presidential election, and impeachment in the United States.

Under these circumstances, I think Bitcoin’s prices will rise and fall all with the news cycle. Bitcoin could spike if the Iranians retaliate for Soleimani’s assassination, for instance. In addition, I think Bitcoin prices could go through the roof if the Chinese take sides in the U.S./Iranian dispute.

Another event that could lead to sky high Bitcoin prices is a hard or no-deal Brexit. To explain, the worst-case Brexit scenario is destruction of the British economy and the value of the Pound Sterling.

Collapse of the British economy and the Pound will boost Brexit because vast numbers of Brits will move their money into Bitcoin and other havens. Wealthy Brits, retired Brits, and financial industry workers will all want to get their money out of the Pound ASAP if Brexit goes bad.

I think a no-deal or hard Brexit; a complete break with the European Union (EU) is more probable because of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s electoral victory. Johnson’s Conservatives won big in the December 2019 General Election which could embolden them to make irrational demands.

Hence, Johnson could anger the EU which could retaliate with a hard Brexit. Thus any Brexit negotiation failures could boost Bitcoin prices.

Conversely, a successful Brexit; or a peace deal between the US and Iran, could send Bitcoin prices tumbling. Expect Bitcoin to have an interesting year in 2020.

2. Tether (USDT)

The most popular stablecoin; Tether, was the most traded cryptocurrency and the fifth most valuable altcoin on 10 January 2019.

For instance, USDT had a 24-Market Volume of $33.334 million and a Market Capitalization of $4.627 billion on 10 January 2020, CoinMarketCap reports. In contrast, Bitcoin had a 24-Market Volume of $28.109 million and a Market Capitalization of $146.841 billion on 10 January 2020.

Demand for Tether is high because USDT pays out fast in the world’s reserve currency the U.S. Dollar. In fact, each Tether is theoretically worth $1.

I think chaos will increase the demand for Tether because people will want to get their money out of lesser currencies such as the pound. Additionally, many people will want to get out of the dollar fast if war breaks out or oil prices rise dramatically.

Catastrophes such as war could Tether’s popularity because more people will want access to the dollars. Other speculators will want the ability to dump the dollar fast. Tether solves both problems because you could use USDT to buy assets such as gold, stocks, or Euros fast.

Thus, we could see a high demand for Tether this year and high Tether prices.  In particular, I think Tether prices could explode if there is unrest or inflation in China. To explain, residents of the People’s Republic will rush to convert their cash to dollars in the face of such troubles. Tether could profit because it is a fast means of turning cash into dollars.

3. EOS (EOS)

EOS (EOS) is the most impressive of several scalable cryptocurrencies out there. I think EOS could become a serious Ethereum (ETH) competitor.

To explain, they are already building other cryptocurrencies such as CarbonUSD (CUSD), EOSDT (EOSDT), EOS Lynx, and HoursPay (HORUS) on EOS. In detail, EOS is a blockchain ecosystem that they build decentralized apps (DApps), cryptocurrencies, the EOSIO blockchain software and other instruments in.

In addition, major wallets; such as CoinBase are supporting EOS.  In addition, Bancor’s Liquidity Network supports EOS. Bancor (BNT) support is important because Bancor backs cryptocurrencies in its network with cash.

To explain, Bancor offers fast conversion between Ethereum (ETH) and ERC20 cryptocurrencies and coins such as Bitcoin (BTC) and EOS. Thus, Bancors makes it easy to cash out cryptocurrenices and blockchain applications faster.

That makes cryptocurrencies and blockchains safer and more useful. For instance, Bancor makes it easy to convert cryptocurrency into stablecoins such as Tether (USDT).

However, EOS’s biggest advantage is its scalablility. Most cryptocurrencies; including Bitcoin and Ethereum, are slow because of limited capacity. To explain, there is little room for make transactions inside the blockchain because of all the encryption and security measures.

Consequently, Hackernoon’s Kenny Li claims Bitcoin only processes 4.6 transactions per second (TPS).  Meanwhile, Etherscan estimated Ethereum was processing eight TPS on 7 January 2019.

As a result a Bitcoin payment solution could crash or run slowly if it tries to process over five TPS. Additionally, an Ethereum payment solution could crash if it tries to process nine transactions a second.

In contrast, the EOS Network Monitor estimates EOS has processed up to 3,996 TPS. However, on most days EOS processes far fewer transactions, usually 50 around TPS.

On the negative side, EOS achieves the scalability by cutting encryption and security. Instead of encryption, the organization behind EOS, Block.one, relies on central monitoring and proactive security.

A final advantage to EOS is that Block.one appears to be an American organization. Hence, unlike its competitors Waves (WAVES), and NEO (NEO), EOS has no known connection with Russia or China, or those nations’ unpopular governments.

4. Ripple (XRP)

You need to watch Ripple (XRP) because it is only the cryptocurrency large financial institutions are using for real world payment uses.

For instance, Banco Santander (NYSE: SAN) is supporting cross-border Ripple payments in the United Kingdom, Spain, and elsewhere. In addition, major Japanese Banks have been experimenting with Ripple mobile payments since 2018. Major corporations working with Ripple include American Express (NYSE: AXP), Instarem, Ria, and MoneyGram (NASDAQ: MGI).

Ripple deserves watching, because it is trying to enter the giant remittance and money transfer businesses. For example, the World Bank estimates the volume of remittances; international money transfers by private individuals, grew to $689 billion in 2018.

Finally, Ripple claims to be scalable and faster than other cryptocurrences. For example, Ripple claimed to process 30.3 to 32.25 transactions per second (TPS) on 7 January 2019. In addition, Ripple claims to have processed over 1,500 TPS.

Additionally, Ripple claimed its blockchain can close a transaction in 3.72 seconds at a cost of 0.001₵ on 10 January 2020. Thus, Ripple claims to have a fast and cheap money transfer solution that could be superior to current money-wire systems.

Hence, a Ripple remittance could be cheaper than the current wire system. Notably, the World Bank estimates it cost $14 or 7% to wire $200 in the first quarter of 2019.

Thus Ripple has a popular and potentially lucrative product that could reach a mass market. Consequently, the organization behind Ripple is attracting massive amounts of investment.

CNBC estimates Ripple was worth $10 billion in December 2019. In addition, Ripple attracted $200 million in investments in its last investment round of 2019. Thus, Ripple is the one cryptocurrency attracting a lot of mainstream investment.

2020 could be a Big Year for Cryptocurrency

I think 2020 could be a huge year for cryptocurrency because of the potential for economic and political chaos. Only time will tell if that chaos will boost cryptocurrency to new heights or destroy it.