April was a mixed month for crypto investors with Bitcoin registering a red candle after seven consecutive greens. Bitcoin, buoyed by its halving and ETF narrative, continues to be a key growth vehicle with a 50% gain in 2024 even as macro and geopolitical issues have a short-term impact on the asset class. The current consolidation phase will likely provide the strong base needed to push for the next leg up.
Key altcoins (Ethereum, Solana, and BNB) are still 20-40% off their 2021 highs — once they are breached, price discovery will likely kickstart an euphoria phase by the end of this year.
To maximize your crypto portfolio returns this year, along with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, it is prudent to allocate a decent portfolio share to emerging and upcoming narratives that drive value in the ecosystem.
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Today, we cover the growth of Real World Assets (RWAs), memecoins on Solana, and trends in gaming. While we do the crystal gazing, we encourage investors to understand the risks and growth potential associated with each asset and do their independent analysis.
Real World Assets (RWAs) and enablers – ONDO, LINK (medium risk, considerable returns)
Continuing to focus on RWA assets, we have identified two assets that can drive value in this ecosystem.
Ondo Finance (ONDO) facilitates the tokenization of real-world assets such as real estate, commodities, and art. This allows investors to access fractional ownership of traditionally illiquid assets, diversifying their portfolio beyond typical crypto assets. Backed by Pantera Capital and Coinbase, Ondo has an active partnership with Blackrock. Ondo is a pioneer in the liquidity-as-a-service space with partnerships with 10+ DAOs as well as commitments from four stablecoin issuers (FEI, FRAX, UST, and RAI) for new liquidity. With a market cap of $1.2 billion, ONDO can potentially do 8-10x over the next 18 months.
Chainlink (LINK) provides a decentralised oracle network that securely connects smart contracts with real-world data. Chainlink allows data providers to act as bridges between blockchain smart contracts and external data sources in a decentralised way. Chainlink, backed by Hashed Fund, has partnerships with reputed brands like ANZ and Telefonica. LINK is a top 20 crypto asset with a $8.4 billion market cap currently. It has potential to drive a 4-6x growth in the next 18 months.
Memecoins on Solana – MEW (highest risk, good returns)
The Solana ecosystem has been raging fire in the past six months, thanks to a memecoin frenzy aided by significant surges in trading volume. This narrative can continue to run for months. Key risk can be the emergence of another blockchain that drives memecoin trading like BASE.
Cat in a dog's world (MEW) is a Solana memecoin and is among the first cat-based coins to trend among memecoin enthusiasts. MEW, with a $380 million market cap, can potentially do an 8-10x over two years.
Gaming – SUPER, NAKA (high risk, considerable returns)
Gaming sits in the sweet spot connecting the young mobile ecosystem to blockchains and NFTs. A lot of innovation in Web3 usually stems from strong gaming platforms. We cover two such potential projects today.
SuperVerse (SUPER) is a strong gaming ecosystem backed by Animoca Brands. SuperVerse’s native blockchain is custom-tailored for gaming with lightning-fast, low-cost transactions. SuperVerse comprises two core verticals: NFT marketplace and video games. The wide array of Web3 tools on this ecosystem is supported and governed by a single protocol and token i.e. SUPER. With a market cap of $480 million, SUPER can potentially do a 6-8x over two years.
Nakamoto games (NAKA) is a Polygon-based gaming platform. Backed by VCs such as X21 digital, the NAKA token is integral to the play-to-earn ecosystem. It gives players access to all games within the ecosystem while also providing a system to reward the most skilful players. NAKA, with a market cap of $150 million currently, can be a hit or a miss with a 8-10x potential return in two years.
The OGs – BTC, ETH and SOL (lowest risk, decent returns)
It is prudent to pivot a majority of your crypto portfolio to the safest assets – Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL). They are proven to enable adoption by new investors in the space (both institutional and retail). Their returns will be less significant (3-6x) but they drive the trend and volume in crypto.
(The author is CEO, Giottus Crypto Platform) (Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
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