Ethereum is a worldwide decentralized computer. Or at least that’s what it’s trying to be. It has many competitors, most notably EOS and (dare I say it) TRON.

There’s a lot of development left before Ethereum reaches a new level of adoption, like the Casper and sharding upgrades due in 2021, I think. What that means is you can’t be assured that one project will succeed over another because of how early this all is - Ethereum is ahead of others in terms of research and development, so you can be even more unsure of other projects like EOS.

The question then becomes: which project with this intention is most likely to become commonplace and which one should I invest in?

The trick is to invest in a few of them, if you ask me (cash out if something comes up and you think it’s going downhill). This early on, there is no way to tell if one project will win over another or how something will become mainstream. Best to HODL.

I’m not going to list EOS and TRON here. Rather, I’m going to list 2 projects that are offering some new level of technology, and Ethereum itself.

Ethereum

It’s a no-brainer to invest in Ethereum. I mean, after Bitcoin, you want to invest in Ethereum. End of discussion.

Why? Because Ethereum is still at the top of the research game when it comes to implementing a viable decentralized world computer. No matter how much crap it gets from rival communities about its lack of security, or scalability issues, Ethereum is at least properly, actively, thoroughly working on solutions to improve the network. For every problem that Ethereum has, other networks have multiple.

I won’t say much about Ethereum - a lot has been said already, and Vitalik Buterin and Ethereum’s developers themselves say a lot more a lot better.

I will say this however: Ethereum is the most likely to succeed with its efforts over others. It has already established a strong alliance with several major entities, and established companies like Ernst and Young are working with it. I think it has an air of legitimacy that other projects just haven’t attained. If there’s one to hope for, it’s Etheruem.

IOTA

IOTA is very well known but the development is still in its early stages. The main selling point of IOTA is its use of a completely different DLT, namely the Tangle. The Tangle is a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) which IOTA claims will process transactions faster as the network gets bigger.

IOTA is thinking long-term with respect to the use of cryptocurrencies. You can see the use of this technology that gets faster with more users as they join in a space like the Internet of Things, which is exactly what IOTA is focusing on.

They have already partnered with Volkswagen and joined the Mobility Open Blockchain Initiative (MOBI), which features some major car manufacturers like Ford and Renault. Cars are sure to be a part of the IoT network and given that the world is expected to cross 75 billion devices by 2025, should IOTA successfully develop their platform, we could have a project with very lucrative potential.

Development is currently going well (they are working on making the network more decentralized). Other development milestones that you can look forward to include Qubic, which will allow smart contracts and oracles to run on the network.

Keep an eye on IOTA because there is much promise in what they are doing. The technology is a unicorn one, and if they successfully go through with their partnerships with some major established entities, then I can see adoption and price growth definitely happening.

ADA

Cardano is the brainchild of Charles Hoskinson and governed by a three-entity government: IOHK, Emurgo and the Cardano Foundation. The project prides itself on its scientific approach to development and its new proof-of-stake protocol is something to take note of.

Cardano is taking a very structured approach to its development and implementation. The project runs on multiple layers that allows for soft forks. It is also putting a focus on both supporting end users and satisfying authorities. Combining privacy with regulation, as they say.

When the time is right for this development, I expect that the Cardano network will run multiple financial dapps (a whole ecosystem of dapps with the express purpose of financial inclusion) that will give the network added legitimacy and weight. If I’m not mistaken, Cardano has already worked on education, awareness and adoption initiatives in multiple continents.

It is expected to launch its Shelley phase onto the mainnet by the end of the year, so expect the price to grow if things go well.

Just take an in-depth look at these projects and you’ll see that they are genuinely some of hte best projects in the space. Budget your funds cleverly and you’ll mostly likely see some profit.