Cryptocurrency Rankings

There are hundreds of cryptocurrencies out there with a massive range in quality. I get asked about different coins a lot so I figured I would start compiling my opinions. That said this list is highly opinionated, but unlike most crypto discussions, almost entirely non speculative.

Opinions are my own, not investment advice. Even if my analysis is correct it doesn't mean that the market will react correctly.

Nano

By far the most underrated coin there is. Instant, feeless transactions with a clear path to planet scale usage. Nano is literally going to run Visa out of town in a few years. I think the only thing holding Nano back is that it doesn't have economic feedback loops (tokenomics) that give investors a return on their usage.

See my Notes on Nano.

Ethereum

I have never seen a project innovate as fast as Ethereum. The living whitepaper is almost impossible to keep up with, and it isn't all just research either, the project actively implements groundbreaking new features all the time.

Chainlink

I'm still not convinced that Oracles are a solvable problem, but if anyone is able to figure it out I think it will likely be the team at Chainlink.

Filecoin

Distributed file storage using blockchain for payments and security. The team behind Filecoin also works on IPFS which is a fantastic project. Their presentation at Consensus 2023 was one of the best of the entire conference.

Monero

You should be able to move money without anybody knowing. Monero provides that security.

Bitcoin

The king of crypto. I personally don't believe Bitcoin will ever gain utility, at best it becomes gold alternative. The community is constantly gridlocked and unable to make progress, the small updates that do make it to production are usually too washed out to make a difference.

There is a lot of money tied up in keeping Bitcoin in its current restricted state, which will eventually lead to its demise. The ecosystem is managed by rent seekers that make huge profits from the congested broken state of Bitcoin.

Cardano

I respect that Cardano takes a very research forward approach to development, but as of right now I don't think it does anything better than the other smart contract platforms.

Solana

This is where all the American Venture Capital has gone for the past few hype cycles. On paper Solana is an incredibly performant coin, but this is achieved because its nodes are on a datacenter scale. In practice this means that the blockchain is not actually distributed or verifiable. If you believe in a Cyperpunk future where mega corps own everything then you should hold some Solana.

The bull run of March 2024 has seen meme coins reach a new low, but with much larger explosions in price. The Solana team has really been pushing these coins, and even making some themselves. 🚩

Doge

Elon likes it so it isn't cool anymore. Honestly I think the team behind Doge is very competent, but the forces of memes are way stronger. So, holding Doge is always going to be a massive gamble.

Ripple

Centralized. The foundation owns 2/3 of all the coins. The CEO has a very poor track record. Banks are the target customers of Ripple but I don't see any path to mass adoption.

Tether

Stablecoins in general require extra caution, but Tether deserves extra scrutiny. Tether is the largest stablecoin by market cap and has yet to prove that its reserves actually exist. The US government is well aware of the issue and has taken many actions so hopefully we get some closure on whether they can be trusted in the near future.

Polkadot

I think that the leadership is full of snake oil salesmen, but even dismissing that cross chain transactions are a very bad idea and I don't think Polkadot has a working solution.

{Insert Meme Coin Name}

Do I even need to say this? It doesn't matter if Dave Portnoy or Reddit or Twitter is hyping up some shitcoin, its pretty much a given that you will lose all of your money. The creators of these coins aren't doing it to be funny. They are carefully crafting a community and an image that they can grow until they rug pull.