Introduction

After researching the most promising coins in and around the top 100, I have compiled my favourite 20 alt-coins for long-term investment through 2018. I have also included a brief summary of the coin's USP and why they are, to me, interesting investments.

My Top 20 for 2018

Vertcoin : the people's Bitcoin, mineable and great, devoted community - very strong outlook.

: the people's Bitcoin, mineable and great, devoted community - very strong outlook. Groestlcoin : Similar to Vertcoin, great development team and low price (at time of writing).

: Similar to Vertcoin, great development team and low price (at time of writing). Stellar Lumens : Recently obtained contracts with big clients and great marketing.

: Recently obtained contracts with big clients and great marketing. Ark : Smart bridge between Ethereum, Lisk and Bitcoin - great development team.

: Smart bridge between Ethereum, Lisk and Bitcoin - great development team. Lisk : German based Blockchain application platform with great development team and marketing.

: German based Blockchain application platform with great development team and marketing. OmiseGO : ERC20 Ethereum based financial service platform + big in Asia and lots of momentum.

: ERC20 Ethereum based financial service platform + big in Asia and lots of momentum. NAV Coin : New Zealand based company offering fast online payments based on Bitcoin core code. Supports SegWit.

: New Zealand based company offering fast online payments based on Bitcoin core code. Supports SegWit. Stratis : UK based company providing Blockchain solutions for financial sector

: UK based company providing Blockchain solutions for financial sector Steem : Reddit-esq social media with integrated reward system

: Reddit-esq social media with integrated reward system PeerCoin : Energy efficient cryptocoin, utilizes both proof-of-stake and proof-of-work systems - also possible to mine and mint

: Energy efficient cryptocoin, utilizes both proof-of-stake and proof-of-work systems - also possible to mine and mint UBIQ : The Windows 7 of Ethereum. Only uses tried and tested features making it "enterprise-ready"

: The Windows 7 of Ethereum. Only uses tried and tested features making it "enterprise-ready" PivX : privacy-centric Proof-of-Stake cryptocurrency forked from DASH

: privacy-centric Proof-of-Stake cryptocurrency forked from DASH Syscoin : Cheap financial transactions, speed and an infrastructure to trade goods, assets, digital certificates and data securely

: Cheap financial transactions, speed and an infrastructure to trade goods, assets, digital certificates and data securely Verge : Privacy-centric cryptocurrency built on an improved Bitcoin code for everyday use

: Privacy-centric cryptocurrency built on an improved Bitcoin code for everyday use Waves : A platform and decentralised exchange for people to create their own cryptocurrency

: A platform and decentralised exchange for people to create their own cryptocurrency IOTA * : Next generation public distributed ledger - competition to the Blockchain

: Next generation public distributed ledger - competition to the Blockchain Einsteinium * : Bitcoin-esq, focussed on funding scientific research, cutting edge IT and crypto currency projects.

: Bitcoin-esq, focussed on funding scientific research, cutting edge IT and crypto currency projects. PotCoin * : PotCoin is the first digital currency created to facilitate transactions within the legalized cannabis industry

: PotCoin is the first digital currency created to facilitate transactions within the legalized cannabis industry Power Ledger * : P2P energy-centric trading application allowing businesses a transparent, auditable and automated market trading mechanism

: P2P energy-centric trading application allowing businesses a transparent, auditable and automated market trading mechanism BitShares * : Industrial grade crypto-equity, peer to peer distributed ledger and network based on a Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) algorithm

Honourable mentions

DigiByte : Super fast, no-fee payment with links to gaming industry

: Super fast, no-fee payment with links to gaming industry ByteCoin : Privacy-centric cryptocurrency, seems to

: Privacy-centric cryptocurrency, seems to Cardano * : Technological platform capable of running financial applications

: Technological platform capable of running financial applications EOS * : Smart contracts from Steem

nb. * = Cryptocurrencies I do not (currently) hold.

About the list

In making this list I left out bigger altcoins such as DASH, Monero, Zcash, Decred etc. This is because I wanted to focus on coins that have the most potential based on their current price point. If any of the information here has been somewhat helpful, I urge you to look into your chosen coins carefully. Looking at the development team and the service provided is very important. I also think it is useful to take the geographical location of a coin into consideration. For example, there are many Asian spin-offs of western crypto protocol/platforms because the Asian market will invest in "homegrown" products and services. I imagine the same is true for Lisk in Germany and Stratis in the UK.

This list is not based purely on financial gains. It takes into consideration the technology and problem the team is solving, environmental issues and community. There are a lot of people out there looking for investment opportunities putting greed at the forefront of their throught process. Of course, being mindful of technology at an early stage can be profitable - cryptocurrency has also shown its potential for use in many communities where money and capitalism have failed the people. With Bitcoin offering an olive branch in these situations we have only scratched the surface of what is possible.

Conclusion

As always, it is important to do your own due dilligence prior to investing in cryptocurrencies. Again, these are just my inner ramblings put out online. If anyone reads this it would be cool to hear your thoughts and perspectives.