With thousands of options for altcoins out there, investors need to do quite a bit of research to figure out which cryptocurrencies are the best to invest in. With scammers seemingly lurking around every crypto-corner, greed at the forefront of people’s priorities, how can you know which coins will be the most lucrative?

For the purpose of this article, all altcoins outlined are in the top 40 (mostly top 10) for market cap. This article is a short list of altcoins that I DO NOT believe will hold any value at the end of 2019. It is worth noting that I believe the vast majority of altcoins will fail and will have no value by the end of 2019. I base my views on a number of criteria.

Purpose of Network & Currency as Outlined in the Project’s White Paper

This is a critical aspect in defining a shitcoin. While this is highly subjective, it is worth noting that if you do not believe in a coins purpose, it’s probably not worth investing in.



Technology



What innovations are involved in the network? Is this (yet another) Ethereum copy? How will this technology benefit it’s users? Is it scalable? How secure is the network? All of these questions answers are critical to predicting a coins value over time.



Project Team



Perhaps an underrated aspect in the hunt for crypto, a project’s team is critical to its success. It’s always worth researching the people a project advertises on its team section of their website/s. If they do not advertise a team at all… This should be a major red flag.

Use of Funding

How a project uses their funding could be an indicator of its future practices. If your possible investment is an ICO, it’s good practice to find out what their funding goal is and how they plan to use those funds.

Wealth Distribution

Who controls the majority of the wealth among the network? Is this a Proof of Stake, Proof of Work, or other network? Who is the voting majority among the network? How do their transaction fees work?

This list of criteria is by no means comprehensive. Research anything and everything. A tokens 24hr volume is another indicator of how the token is used.The devil is in the details, find out every nugget of information you can before investing.

With this out of the way, here is my list of 5 altcoins I don’t believe are going to hold value by the end of 2019.

Please note: The coins listed below DO NOT necessarily reflect ALL of the criteria listed above

Verge (XVG)

Verge has an ecstatic community who take their verge coins very seriously. But why…? The Verge team has repeatedly made questionable decisions (including developer’s team moving over 18m verge coins for immediate liquidation after launch) and they’re not even out of year one yet. The developer team’s failure to conjure up a reasonable story for their shady practices leaves me very skeptical of Verge. Their founder has quite a criminal history as well. With a lengthy arrest record from 2003-2010. Will Verge go down as one of the successful scams? Whatever your views are, I can’t imagine a world where verge sticks around.

Ripple (XRP)

Okay, will XRP be worthless by the end of 2019…? Probably not. While many will be angered by this, hear me out. XRP is basically the opposite of what the current crypto community believes. XRP is not decentralized, not by a longshot. Ripples been around for quite a while, yet banks refuse to use it. A number of these banks, mostly in eastern Asia, are using Ripple’s technology. Some see this as a green light to invest. Some, like myself, see the opposite. Ripple’s solution that enables cross-border transfers does not even rely on their currency. So, what’s the purpose of their currency? Ripple’s price volatility deters big money from using their store of value. I have NO DOUBT that the XRP network will be huge in the future of banking. But while their network may be a success, your Ripple… will be worthless.

Tether (USDT)

Where to begin with Tether… An altcoin that’s pretending to be USD has the potential to be dangerous for this community. I see many red flags with Tether. For one, the coin is deliberately misleading. The big claim to fame with Tether is that your Tethers are backed by USD, hence making this a “stable coin”. Just because this claim is made does NOT make this true. With market fluctuations from -9% to +9%, this alone is by no means stable. Another point worth mentioning is that the only exchange you can exchange Tether for USD either charge you HUGE fees to do so (Kraken, 7%). Tether’s sister company Bitfinex Exchange, an exchange that has had serious banking issues, known to have liquidity problems, has been a constantly attacked by hackers. Beware of Tether. Make sure you do A LOT of research before you Tether up.

IOTA (IOTA)

The Tangle Network is, well, a tangled mess. Security flaws abound in this project. This altcoin project’s big claim to fame is its scalability potential. On paper, IOTA seems great. In reality, the node interface is flawed. IOTA holders generate their own private keys in their IOTA wallet (not a secure crypto wallet by any means). This is a massive issue for newcomers to the space unfamiliar with internet security. Nodes on the Tangle Network clearly do not communicate well enough with each other, as there have been many cases of IOTA being purchased and funds not showing up in consumer’s “wallets.” I could go on about IOTA, but do your own due diligence. Make sure you know exactly what you’re buying into before purchasing this altcoin.

BCash (BCH)

Most members of the community see right through the Bitcoin Cash antics. The Bitcoin Cash team is made up of children pretending to be adults. Constantly picking fights on Twitter, throwing out insults to crypto purists, and general unprofessionalism screams warning signs all over. Deliberately confusing the public, calling themselves “the real Bitcoin,” is an excellent way of deterring newcomers to the space. The cryptocurrency world has a steep learning curve. Most exchanges are complex to use, TA is highly opinionated and often very misleading, intangible money is also difficult to wrap your head around. The space does not need the hostility and drama that revolves around BCH. Forking is not a bad thing and will continue to happen. But what BCash has done is create so much hate and confusion in the space. If a fork is necessary, great. Once you fork, don’t scam people into thinking you’re the original. I don’t see a world where this altcoin survives.

I do not expect many members of the community to agree with my thoughts on this. This list is by no means comprehensive. Your opinions are welcome in the comments below. Which altcoins do you think are doomed for failure?