One Cryptocurrency Everyone Is Talking About in 2018

The Nano cryptocurrency is currently a hot topic on everyone’s lips. This emerging crypto got the social media world abuzz after the founder of a rival cryptocurrency gave it a thumbs-up. This week’s biggest Nano news is that Litecoin founder Charlie Lee has bought some NANO coins. But we’re speculating something bigger for NANO, which may cause Nano prices to skyrocket this year.

But first, let’s quickly rehash the two events that caused a stir this week. Two days ago, the founder of Litecoin (which is supposedly a competitor of Nano) took to Nano’s subreddit to question its technology. The comments he left on the discussion thread made it obvious that Lee was impressed with Nano’s tech after receiving convincing answers. Read more about it here.

A day later, Lee revealed to his Twitter family that he has, in fact, bought NANO coins. Here’s what he had to say;

“I took a look at Nano currency recently. Pretty neat. Every account has it’s own blockchain. It focuses on fast and free transactions for payments. Uses PoS for double spend protection and PoW to fight spam. The challenge is to keep it decentralized. Disclaimer: I own some NANO.“ Advertisement



(Source: “Charlie Lee Tweet,” @SatoshiLite, February 28, 2018.)

In case you’re new to this crypto, Nano, which trades as “NANO,” is touted to be a Bitcoin killer because it solves two of Bitcoin’s biggest existing problems pertaining to speed and cost.

Nano’s underlying technology is slightly different than Bitcoin’s technology blockchain. NANO is built on the concept of “block lattice,” under which every user has their own mini blockchain where they validate their transactions. This cuts out the need for having miners validate transactions.

No miners means no fees. And since validation is individualized, transactions process nearly instantly. On top of that, NANO is more environmentally friendly than Bitcoin since it doesn’t require the extensive use of electricity for mining.

So, to sum it all up, NANO’s block lattice technology seems more promising than Bitcoin’s slow and expensive blockchain tech.

But if this technology is so great, what’s keeping back its prices? We say it’s a lack of good marketing and limited exposure to investors.

Addition to a Major Exchange May Bring in New Buyers

Let’s be honest, NANO’s brand recognition pales in comparison to the likes of Bitcoin and Litecoin. Very few average investors, if any, have heard of this crypto. The majority of those who own or trade it are hardcore crypto enthusiasts.

Limited market exposure has put a cap on prices. On top of that, its rebranding has left some investors confused, especially those who haven’t followed NANO closely. Just to be clear, NANO was formerly known as RaiBlocks and traded as “XRB.” The developer team rebranded it last month to boost investor appeal.

But rebranding alone is not enough when NANO’s reach to new buyers is limited.

Take note that Binance is the only major exchange where this coin is listed. Previously, Italian exchange BitGrail used to drive high volumes in NANO, but after the NANO coin heist, the exchange shut down.

In fact, the drop in the NANO price in the past month is partly owed to the BitGrail fiasco and partly to the broader crypto market crash that affected all cryptocurrencies across the board.

So coming back to the issue of exchanges; new investors are facing barriers to entry since the coin is not listed on most major exchanges like Coinbase, Bitfinex, Bithumb, and a bunch of others.

So, imagine if NANO were to be listed on one of these major exchanges. What would happen to prices? Naturally, with added visibility will come new buyers, followed by much higher prices.

Granted, getting listed on the major exchanges would require more than just Charlie Lee’s endorsement. But at the pace this underdog is stealing the limelight, we’re foreseeing it emerging as a leading crypto in the coming months.

Chart courtesy of TradingView.com

At the time of writing, the NANO coin price surged more than 14% in the trailing 24 hours to reattain its $2.0-billion market valuation.

Analyst Take

To achieve more visibility, NANO must find a way to enter the league of top cryptocurrencies. At the very least, NANO would have to attain a market capitalization in excess of $5.0 billion or a price close to $40.00 to secure a place in the top 10 ranks.

Since we know that NANO coin traded for as high as $34.00 just two months ago, a price target of $40.00 is not unfathomable.

Long story short; we’re bullish in our NANO price forecast for 2018.