Don't Miss AI's Third Wave
Most asset classes are expectedly volatile given the macro-economic uncertainty surrounding global markets. Investors were initially worried about rising inflation numbers and the threat of interest rate hikes as well as steep valuations surrounding growth stocks. Further, the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has quickly escalated in the last 48 hours, making market participants extremely nervous.
Traditionally, in such circumstances, investors have flocked towards safe-haven asset classes such as bonds and gold. Further, high-risk investments such as equities and cryptocurrencies might continue to slump lower in the near term.
However, as it’s impossible to time the market, the pullback in cryptocurrencies offers investors an exciting opportunity to buy the dip right now. Here, we’ll look at two cryptocurrencies that should be on your shopping list in March 2022.
Solana
One of the top-performing cryptocurrencies in 2021, Solana (CRYPTO:SOL) surged over 11,000% last year. The SOL token is now down 66% from all-time highs but is still the eighth-largest cryptocurrency in the world.
Solana has several tailwinds which will drive the demand for its underlying token higher. For example, right now, the global digital payment system is dominated by a handful of players, such as Visa and Mastercard. So, when you shop at a retail store or even online, the transaction costs for merchants may be as much as 3%. Further, it might take a few days for the money to be reflected in their bank accounts.
Bitcoin was initially launched as its blockchain network aimed to replace legacy payment systems that were centralized, slow, expensive, and regulated. But its proof-of-work mechanism has kept costs higher, making Bitcoin and other tokens unviable for micro-transactions.
Recently, Solana launched a payments protocol called Solana Pay, which could lower credit card fees significantly. Solana’s blockchain is extremely fast, low cost, and scalable, which means merchants will be paid instantly.
Buyers and sellers don’t have to use the SOL token to execute payments. They can do so with stablecoins, such as USDC, that are tied to fiat currencies and are not volatile. Over time, other tokens part of the Solana ecosystem can be used to facilitate payments as well.
Avalanche
Valued at a market cap of $18.5 billion, Avalanche (CRYTO:AVAX) is the 10th-largest cryptocurrency in the world. The AVAX token surged by 3,800% in 2021 and is currently down 45% from all-time highs.
Similar to Ethereum and Solana, the Avalanche blockchain network is also used to execute smart contracts. These contracts can be used to transfer funds, digital assets such as non-fungible tokens, as well as legal documents, among others.
Avalanche was launched in 2020, and it’s already the fifth-largest smart-contract platform right now. A key advantage for Avalanche is the ability of its blockchain to handle 4,500 transactions per second. Comparatively, Ethereum, which is the world’s largest smart contract has a transaction speed of just 14 per second.
Avalanche’s transactional finality metric, which is the time taken to settle a transaction, is around two seconds compared to six minutes for Ethereum. A higher transaction speed allows Avalanche additional scalability compared to competitors. So, it can process more transactions as the network expands.
