A popular crypto analyst names his top altcoin picks as the crypto markets head into a new year.
In a new interview with Altcoin Daily, Into the Cryptoverse founder Benjamin Cowen tells the channel’s 1.8 million YouTube subscribers that Layer 1 blockchain projects are its primary interest.
First and foremost is the leading smart contract platform Ethereum (ETH).
“Of course there is Ethereum, but it’s a kind of ‘altcoin index’.
You want your altcoins to surpass, or at least swing against, Ethereum. Take a look at your ETH values using the macro scale.
I think MATIC is a good project, I think layer 2 scaling is important.
But also Cardano, Polkadot, Avalanche. “
The polygon (MATIC) multi-chain scaling solution had an epic run in 2021, climbing from $ 0.03 to a new all-time high of $ 2.88 last Saturday. MATIC has since corrected and is currently trading at $ 2.49.
Also at the top of Cowen’s list is the scalable decentralized blockchain platform Cardano, whose native ADA token is in 6th place in terms of market capitalization. The altcoin took a roller coaster ride in price action, rising from $ 0.18 to a summer high of $ 2.91. Currently, ADA is valued at $ 1.33.
The Polkadot Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (DOT) went from a January low of below $ 10 to highs of over $ 47 in May and $ 54 in November, but has seen a major correction since then, and DOT is now trading at $ 26.56.
The last thing on Cowen’s favorites list is the Layer 1 smart contract platform Avalanche (AVAX). The AVAX token started trading for around $ 3.50 in 2021, but saw a series of epic rallies, eventually reaching an all-time high of $ 144.96 in late November. The 11th crypto asset swaps hands for $ 101.04.
On to his Honorable Mentions, the popular charting guru likes the Solana (SOL) smart contract platform, which started the year under $ 2 and soared to nearly $ 260 in November. The altcoin is valued at $ 170.84 at the time of writing.
“Solana, I think it’s decent, it’s a bit more centralized than I’d like.
But that doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily bad for some people, because some people just prefer it. “
Despite the disappointing numbers of the native LINK token, Cowen remains interested in the Oracle network Chainlink (LINK) with regard to ETH.
“Chainlink is interesting because it did really well in the bear market.
I hold it and it has not lived up to my expectations in this market cycle.
I’m looking for this one to do something good in 2022 because honestly it’s down 90% versus Ethereum in the last 18 months.
Chainlink started the year below $ 12, hitting an all-time high of $ 52.70 in May before tumbling to $ 20.10 and finally $ 13.88 in July, before climbing back up in recent months.
LINK had a rocky last month, hitting a high of $ 26.81 before crashing to $ 17.61 and then briefly climbing back above $ 24. Chainlink is trading at $ 19.62 at the time of writing.
In contrast, Ethereum has had a breakout year, climbing over 400% from $ 730 to its current valuation of $ 3,647.
The last one on the list of runners-up is the Ethereum competitor Terra (LUNA), whose native token LUNA underpins a number of decentralized stablecoins. LUNA started the year trading at $ 0.64 and made significant gains. It is currently trading for $ 83.41.
Cowen concludes with the words:
“The most important projects that I am pursuing are Cardano, Polkadot, Avalanche, MATIC, LUNA, Solana.
It’s really hard to go wrong just looking at the top 10 or 20. Get Layer-1s, a couple of Layer-2s, an oracle.
I think this is a great crypto portfolio. “
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