Alternative tokens should not only offer a solution to either the blockchain industry limitations or real-world problems but also have a loyal audience.
Over the last few years, Bitcoin has become a “Google” of the crypto industry. Not taking into account people that don’t have access to the internet, pretty much everyone has heard of both. And the reason for their popularity lies in the technology or service they have offered to the world. In the first case, we would be talking about peer-to-peer transactions that eliminate the need in any intermediary, whereas the second gave the world a path-breaking search engine, which leaves no information elusive.
Too Big to Grow? Let It Go!
The only problem is that the bigger the company or cryptocurrency, the harder is to achieve new highs unless penetrating new areas of interest. The question then arises, what should investors do. The answer is quite simple – search for new opportunities and diversify the portfolio.
Looking at the top cryptocurrencies, one could say that the prices are too high and the growth potential is close to reaching its limit. For example, Bitcoin began its correction after reaching $64,000, whereas Ethereum is on the path to break the all-time highs set earlier in the year. Great if it reaches the goal, but what next? Can it go to $3000? Theoretically, everything is possible but what if the reality goes the other way around as it always does? Risks are too high…
It’s Time to Look for Something New
In this context, the time has come to turn an eye on something new, something equally prominent as Bitcoin or Ethereum. Thus, alternative tokens should not only offer a solution to either the blockchain industry limitations or real-world problems but also have a loyal audience. To find “the golden eggs” that meet our criteria, we will need to go to CoinMarketCap, the world’s most-referenced price-tracking website for crypto assets, and check out some recently listed coins.
Nimbus Platform
The first project in our list would be without any doubt Nimbus – a DAO-governed ecosystem that offers users 15 earning strategies based on time-honored financial instruments, including classic IPO, Crowdfunding, P2P Lending, and Crypto Arbitrage-Trading. All of them are based on well-balanced yet diversified value generation strategies which mitigates risks for users. All you need to do to start gaining rewards of up to 100% APY is pick the preferred pool and provide liquidity. This way, you can earn a passive income instead of simply holding your crypto in your wallet and waiting for its market value to grow.
After a successful launch of its utility token NBU, which reached a market cap of $35mln within two days after the release, Nimbus listed its GNBU governance token on Uniswap – the biggest decentralized exchange. The coolest thing about GNBU is that it distributes the 10+ revenue streams of the Nimbus Platform between the GNBU holders. That’s taking the diversification to a whole new level!
For those interested, here is one more cool update from the Nimbus team: recently they have announced increased reward levels for staking of the NBU. To be more precise, starting from 24th March 2021, and up until 24th May 2021, you can receive up to 40% APY on NBU staking at the Nimbus Platform.
Finally, it should be mentioned that in the long term, Nimbus is expected to transform into a one-stop-shop bridging investment products and DeFi – and offering even more revenue channels for users. But right now, anyone can become a part of the project while it’s still in the growth phase!
FC Barcelona Fan Token (BAR)
You may have never been to Barcelona but most probably, you know the football team led by Lionel Messi, also known as “Messia”. Despite the recent scandal with Super League, the Spanish team boasts one of the largest fan clubs in the world. From now on, you can use ‘Fan Tokens’ to participate in Club surveys.
According to the press release, in addition to offering the possibility of giving their opinion and voting on the different questions raised in the Club’s polls each season, fans will be able to obtain exclusive prizes when they take part in the polls. Thus, in exchange for their participation, they will earn points with which they will be able to get prizes related to digital experiences and activations, such as the possibility of participating in a meet & greet with the players or watching a game at the Camp Nou and enjoying a VIP experience in the stadium.
It is worth mentioning that this Wednesday Binance announced on its official Twitter account that it will list FC Barcelona Fan Tokens in its Innovation Zone. The tweet also added that users will be able to buy the tokens with BNB at a 30% discount. In the beginning, the exchange will offer trading pairs including BAR/BTC, BAR/BUSD, and BAR/USDT.
Ampleforth Governance Token (AMPL)
Long story short, the goal of Ampleforth is to incentivize a network of users to maintain a crypto asset with a value equal to the US dollar. You may think it is another stablecoin but you will be quite far from the truth. Ampleforth differs in its method of maintaining price stability. As well noted by Kraken, instead of relying on deposits or issuing and redeeming debt, the software programmatically adjusts the supply of its AMPL cryptocurrency every 24 hours in a process called “rebasing.”
Thus, we are talking about a simple monetary rule: If demand for AMPL tokens is high, and each AMPL token exceeds $1, the supply will increase. If demand is low, supply will decrease. The elasticity of the overall supply makes it much more sustainable and most importantly decentralized as the supply of AMPL is managed by the software and not humans.
Also, Ampleforth announced that any wallet that has ever “touched” AMPL will be eligible to collect its portion of the new FORTH tokens through the next year. Active participants in the protocol should expect a higher proportion. FORTH token holders will be able to propose and vote on changes to Ampleforth’s protocol.
Helena is a crypto, financial journalist based in London. She is a believer in decentralized finance and supporter of innovations.