Image source: venturebeat.com

We could not be more satisfied with the thrills and chills the digital currency world has given us in 2017. What a time to be alive! So, as the year comes to an end, we’ve already started thinking about the months ahead and what projects have growth potential in the short term, specially after this massive dump due to BTC price rise.

Catered just for you, here are our “top cryptocurrency to follow” picks for January 2018:

What is the project about?

NEO ($NEO) runs its own blockchain, which improves on Ethereum’s algorithm, making it more efficient and secure. It aims at supporting a smart economy using digital identity technology to allow for the digitization of assets and, like Ethereum, supports smart contracts, which allow for the management of those same assets.

Why we believe in it:

NEO ($NEO) recently started to gain more attention from investors. Its price more than doubled since the beginning of December. In January, the team will further distribute the network, guaranteeing no single group of node operators can control the network. It will also have a number of ICOs launching on its platform in the months to come, which will further strengthen the network’s position.

What is the project about?

0x ($ZRX) backs the 0X project, which is creating a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange for ERC20 tokens established on top of the Ethereum blockchain. It aims at overcoming security issues related to the centralization of current exchanges like Bitifinex or Coinbase, which makes them more exposed to threats.

Why we believe in it:

The constant attacks on major centralized exchanges in the last few months have made the issues of security for investors ever more apparent, with increasing attention been given to decentralized exchanges. 0x ($ZRX) boasts a solid project and from our view, with a market cap ranging at USD$200 million and at a token cost of USD$.50, it has a lot of room to grow.

What is the project about?

Cardano ($ADA), the project behind the ADA coin, offers a blockchain environment that supports financial applications in an efficient and secure way. It boosts an architecture that has both users and regulators in mind, an unusual set up. Cardano ($ADA) could come to offer e-commerce providers a structure where they can operate with the benefits of the blockchain while obeying by the rules of the regulators overseeing them.

Why we believe in it:

Cardano ($ADA) has managed to gather an amazing amount of attention in December, skyrocketing into the top 10 currencies by market capitalization and multiplying its value by five. The team is updating their roadmap in January, which should further focus attention on the project. We expect a lot of activity around Cardano ($ADA) in January.

What is the project about?

Substratum ($SUB) develops a platform that aims at rewarding users, rather than miners, for the work of the blockchain. On the one hand, it serves businesses, groups and individuals that which to host apps or websites on their network. On the other, individuals can easily allocate part of their CPU’s capacity to run the nodes that forward the content from the website hosts, paying them back in Substratum ($SUB). It provides a safe and private way of accessing the Internet without censorship.

Why we believe in it:

Substratum ($SUB)’s project could come to do away with the need to use VPNs or systems like TOR to bypass internet censorship in a private way. The node operating application is designed to be very easy to install and run by non-techy users, opening the door for large adoption motivated by the financial reward. It more than doubled in price in December but we believe it still has a long way to go. The team is launching the platform’s beta version in early January which should rally the price up.

What is the project about:

EOS ($EOS) runs its own blockchain architecture, designed to enable “vertical and horizontal scaling of decentralized applications”. This means that EOS’s system is designed to scale, is capable of supporting accounts, authentication, databases, asynchronous communication and any type of application on top of its blockchain, processing millions of transactions per second at nearly zero cost.

Why we believe in it:

EOS ($EOS) is running the most unique ICO of 2017. It will will run for 341 days, until June 2018, allowing plenty of time for scrutiny and for investors to become acquainted with the project. Just in December 2017, EOS’s price has already tripled. The fact that the project has high transaction speeds, no fees and no need for forks to perform upgrades, make it a highly interesting coin to follow.

What is the project about?

Cindicator ($CND) is a project focused on the use of hybrid intelligence to make financial projections on the price of crypto assets. It uses the collective reasoning from its thousands of users coupled with machine learning capabilities, to reach its conclusions.

Why we believe in it:

Cindicator ($CND) explores Hybrid Intelligence, a very interesting field of research that has had fantastic results in problem solving for scientific studies in the past. Using it to predict crypto prices makes it a project to follow, particularly with a community as active and galvanized as this project has. With a market cap of USD$90 million, it has a lot of room to grow.

What is the project about?

IOTA ($IOTA) identifies itself as a third generation crypto. It is designed to serve developments within the Internet of Things and is structured on a blockchain transaction confirmation structure called Tangle. What this means is that instead of node operators confirming other transactions, IOTA uses the transactions themselves to confirm other transactions, eliminating the need for transaction fees.

Why we believe in it:

Despite some FUD over the last few months due to some false partnerships announcements, IOTA ($IOTA) is picking up pace and gathering attention. The December partnership with the corporate venture capital company of the Bosch Group brought the project into the spotlight. The last few weeks saw the price of IOTA ($IOTA) multiply by 5-fold, but there is still a lot of room to grow.

What is the project about?

Salt Lending ($SALT) is a blockchain-based cash lending structure. It allows users to acquire loans in fiat currency using their cryptocurrency assets as collateral. This permits borrowers to maintain their positions in crypto, instead of liquidating their positions when they need cash. The loans are based on the assets held by the user, so transactions forgo credit checks which streamlines the lending process.

Why we believe in it:

Salt Lending ($SALT) already gathered quite a bit of attention in recent weeks more than doubling in price in December. Coming the last days of 2017, the team will release the actual platform, which will bring even further attention to the project and likely, an even stronger price hike. Keep your eye on this one.

And there you go folks. These are our picks for the bold new world that January 2018 will bring. Each month we’ll be sharing info about the coins we’re watching to help you comb through the sea of confusion that the crypto world always offers. Don’t forget to use our coin index to see which projects are drawing the most attention from influencers, and to find the credible coins you should put your money in. And always remember, aim for a balance portfolio management strategy and never invest funds you can not afford to loose.

Merry trading and happy new year from all of us at Coinvision.

This article was first sent as an alert for Coinvision’s subscribers.