Top Cryptocurrencies for the Week of Feb. 19, 2018 (LSK, VEN, ZCL, ETC, GAS, LTC, PRL)

To read our previous installment of ‘Top Coins for the Week,’ click here.

Top cryptocurrencies for the week can be fairly easily selected by analyzing the future calendar for the upcoming week. Events that trigger significant publicity or major changes to a coin’s structure have a tendency to greatly increase or decrease the cryptocurrency’s value. The question is which specific events will positively or negatively impact cryptocurrencies in the upcoming week. This week has major developments for ZCL, ETC, VEN, LSK, GAS, LTC, and PRL.

Less Conferences, More Coin Specific Events

Last week included conferences on multiple continents spreading the blockchain and cryptocurrency philosophy across the world. Many companies along with individuals were introduced to the benefits of the blockchain and how they can personally benefit from using it. This week is slightly different as there are much fewer conferences, but still many events that will drive the value of specific cryptocurrencies. This week includes two major rebranding events, upcoming forks, coin burns, airdrops, and major platform updates. Conferences were last week; this week are significant events that will dramatically increase the value of the underlying cryptocurrency.

LSK: Lisk Rebranding February 20, 2018

LISK (LSK) is going through a major makeover on February 20, 2018, via live stream. They currently have a cryptocurrency value of $30.40 per coin and a market cap of $3.5 billion. LSK is not a small cap by any means but rebranding efforts usually lead to a spike in the value of the crypto being rebranded.

LSK is a decentralized network with its own blockchain that was specifically launched to allow developers to create Dapps on the LSK network by developing side chains. LSK has some similarities to NEO and ETH. However, unlike NEO and ETH, LSK was not built to create smart contracts but instead is a platform to develop different apps using the Lisk App SDK framework. LSK is a cryptocurrency but was never supposed to be used as a digital currency but instead the cryptocurrency that fuels the LSK network. Developers require them to build on the LSK network, driving the demand from them as the LSK network has more and more Dapps.

LSK differentiates itself due to its use of sidechains to ensure the “mainchain” remains agile and uncluttered. This creates a world where endless sidechains can run applications on the LSK core without impacting the speed of the LSK network. The speed of the LSK network should actually grow faster over time as more sidechains are built.

A rebranding occurring this week and an ETH-like product that is greatly differentiated are reasons why LSK is not only a great long-term play but a great short-term play. Look for LSK to have a fairly decent percentage increase in the days following the rebranding if the cryptocurrency community approves of the rebranding. LSK’s rebranding lands them on the weekly list of great cryptocurrencies while their roadmap allows them to be long-term holds for those that believe in their business model.

VEN: VeChain Rebranding Feb 26, 2018, in Singapore

VeChain (VEN), similarly to LSK, is also going through a major rebranding. VEN is doing it in a more public forum February 26, 2018, in Singapore. Currently, each VEN is trading at $5.65 with a market cap of $2.68 million. VEN is one of the cryptocurrencies having significant market adoption having successfully entered the Supply Chain Management sector. VEN’s rebranding coupled with their significant market adoption and strong partnerships make them a strong play in the long term but also a focus of the week. The rebranding is the most important event occurring this week as their new image is very important to critique, as the entire cryptocurrency world will be doing just that.

The company behind VEN is a Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) firm focused on the Internet of Things (IOT). VEN’s main purpose is ensuring the authenticity of a company’s supply chain. By using the blockchain company’s good can be guaranteed authentic as they can be monitored from production to sale. VEN is able to accomplish this authentication of goods in a decentralized, global network, which uses smart chips to monitor products as they are tracked through their life cycles.

VEN currently has many very impressive partnerships. On January 18, 2018, VEN partnered with Fanghuwang, an online lending platform in China with $3.3 billion in managed assets. Renault is another one of the major names on VEN’s long list of impressive partnerships. VEN has successfully entered the financial markets providing solutions to businesses on the blockchain while also entering the supply chain management arena.

VEN’s rebranding February 26 makes it a very strong play for the week. The reality VEN has already accomplished market adoption, and partnerships with many multi-billion dollar companies demonstrate their long-term importance. This should be a strong week for VEN with a stronger 2018 to come.

ZCL: ZClassic Fork on February 28, 2018

ZClassic (ZCL) is forking with BTC on February 28, 2018. The fork is providing a 1:1 ratio of Bitcoin Private (BTCP) to both ZCL and BTC holders. BTCP is a Bitcoin-branded privacy coin, the first of its kind. The Dev team announced on February 18, 2018, that the Electrum Wallet v1.1.0 would be receiving an immediate update. It is very positive to see the Devs so hard at work! The fork is approaching quickly and generally not having a finalized whitepaper, and block height announced on the website would be reason for alarm. However, the King has personally contacted members of the ZCL and BTCP team to ask these poignant questions. Their answers settled all concerns that had previously existed.

My main concerns were when will the whitepaper be released, and when will the block height for the snapshot be released. The King was surprised with how quickly and eloquently he received a response. Besides the questions, the King had there were also many positives noticed. Bitcoin Private (BTCP) is the forked coin being given to ZCL and BTC holders on February 28. Both the BTCP and ZCL Telegram channels have added thousands of new members in the last week (demonstrating an increasing curiosity and demand for BTCP and ZCL). This public demand is coupled with a team that was 70 contributors and handful of developers the first time the King reported on the ZCL fork. Now the BTCP team has over 350 contributors and 20 engineers. ZCL should rally straight through the BTCP fork if they manage to produce their whitepaper and block heights promptly.

While discussing the whitepaper release with members of the BTCP and ZCL team they continued stating the release was “imminent.” While this discussion was ongoing, they posted updates to their Twitter, on February 18, highlighting the last peer review of their whitepaper has been complete, and it will be released shortly. February 17, almost every coin lost value with BTC finally pulling back from its weeklong rally. However, ZCL continued to rally to over $190 per coin. When the whitepaper is released which is supposed to happen “imminently,” the price of ZCL should rally as legitimacy will be provided to the fork occurring in under two weeks.

The King’s concerns regarding the block height were alleviated when the reasoning for why the specific block height had not been announced yet was given. Two coins are being forked, through a “co-fork.” By forking two coins simultaneously, BTC and ZCL, a snapshot has to occur on both blockchains at the same time. Because ZCL and BTC have unrelated block heights and times, it is exceptionally difficult to predict in advance what block height BTC and ZCL will be on simultaneously. For example, at 1 pm on February 28, BTC may be on block height 12,000,002 while ZCL is on 150,900, the snapshot must occur on both blocks simultaneously. The ZCL and BTCP team have already successfully pulled off two practice snapshots of both blockchains but knowing the specific block height this far in advance is almost impossible. There is no way to ensure what block height both ZCL and BTC will be on at a specific time on February 28, until the date is closer. Therefore, their response successfully answered the block height question.

BTCP is holding meetups on February 21 in San Francisco and February 22 in Detroit. A scam coin does not hold meet ups the entire month leading up to their ICO or fork. The only way to attain BTCP is to purchase BTC or ZCL. With ZCL costing $184 per coin with a market cap of $620 million it is likely it pierces the $1 billion market cap prior to the fork if the whitepaper is successfully released and a block height is soon announced. If any exchange support from Bittrex or Binance (or any other major exchange) is announced, this will create the value of ZCL to explode North. ZCL should have one of the strongest weeks out of any coin on this list.

ETC Upcoming Fork at Block Height 5,500,000 (Approximately Mar. 2, 2018)

Even as the majority of coins lost value on February 17, Ethereum Classic (ETC) remained strong. ETC will be having an airdrop of Callisto (CLO) at block 5,500,000. Because the snapshot is occurring at a specific block height, only an estimated date can be given until the block height approaches, and it becomes clear specifically what time the snapshot will take place on. Every holder of ETC will receive a 1:1 ratio of CLO. CLO is unique as it is a separate blockchain based on ETC protocols. CLO introduces a Cold staking protocol that rewards coin holders for being network participants. Cold staking creates benefits for coin holders to aid the network and work to ensure there are long-term holders versus those solely looking to the moon.

On January 15, 2018, ETC spiked to $46. Currently, ETC is trading at $34.14 with a market cap of $3.4 billion. The expected date of the CLO airdrop is March 2. With a strong team already in place and no recent setbacks, it seems ETC is slow in correcting to its January high even as the airdrop approaches. At 13-15 days, depending on block times, ETC should see an epic rally occurring for the next two weeks. Most traders are trying to ride the ZCL wave and then rotate into ETC after selling ZCL following the snapshot. Those that are intelligent will remain diversified holding both ZCL and ETC. ETC should see a significant boost in price this week, and an even more significant boost in price following the ZCL fork. The investors trying to capitalize on the ZCL fork will similarly look to capitalize on the ETC airdrop.

ETC was trading at over $45 when the airdrop details were updated in January. There should be no reason that by the airdrop date ETC does not approach this $45 number. ZCL was trading at approximately $220 in early January and has since risen from a low of under $90 two weeks ago to a high of over $190 on February 18. ZCL should surpass its prior high of $220 in the next few days with ETC following suit shortly after.

PRL: Oyster Protocol (SHL Airdrop April 6, 2018, Coin Burn, Week 4 Moonshot)

Some cryptocurrencies happen to be exponentially more versatile than others. Oyster Protocol (PRL) happens to be Week 4’s Moonshot. Even though it is one of the few needle in a haystack coins (a moonshot), it is also a very strong play this week. ETC is on this list because of the building hype surrounding their upcoming airdrop of CLO. ZCL is on this list because of their co-fork with BTC, creating BTCP, occurring in nine days. PRL is on this list for their airdrop of the SHL token and coin burn happening immediately before the airdrop. PRL has a market cap of $89 million and a coin value of $1.27, which is dramatically lower than the $4 it was trading above in early January.

SHL and PRL are providing ways for web hosts to profit from users visiting their sites while removing advertisements. This is accomplished through removing advertisements but using a small percentage of the web visitors processing power to provide an income. This income is derived from the web host being paid in PRL and SHL allowing them to profit while not having annoying advertisements. The user will not even notice their processing power being borrowed in the short term. The second step for PRL and SHL is to develop a world without ISPs, centralized web monitoring, and centralized infrastructure. What PRL and SHL are trying to do is revolutionary, even for the blockchain sector.

SHL is not having an ICO and will not be sold at a future date. SHL will be provided on a 1:1 ratio to all PRL holders on April 6, 2018. The SHL whitepaper is on the horizon of being released, although its release is not as imminent as BTCP’s. The purpose of the SHL is to be a form of payment on the PRL meshnet. If the user wants to make a call using a WhatsApp equivalent, on a decentralized secure network, their form of payment would be SHL tokens.

Currently, PRL can be purchased on very few exchanges. KuCoin has the highest volume of PRL by a long shot. PRL has stated they are already in discussions for exchanges to support SHL and expect a major announcement prior to the airdrop in 46 days. News regarding exchange support will provide a significant boost to PRL’s current value.

A coin burn reduces the total number of outstanding tokens. Less supply means the total market cap is distributed among fewer coins. For example, if the total value of 10 PRLs were $100 and a token burn occurred. A select percentage or number would be “burned.” In this case, PRL is burning 10 million coins. Therefore, out of the 10 PRL worth $100, one is burned. Therefore, there are now nine coins worth the same $100. This increases the value of each coin by slightly more than ten percent (the amount of burnt coins). PRL has 108 million tokens issued and by burning 10 millions of them they are decreasing the total number of PRL by almost ten percent. This token burn will take place on March 1.

Lastly, PRL is having their Testnet Release B by February 28, 2018. By completing this new phase of their testnet new uploads will be functional for the first time. This is a major software update that will yield huge returns for PRL if successfully completed by their self-set deadline of February 28, 2018.

PRL has their Testnet B being released in ten days or less. They are having a token burn amounting to almost ten percent of the total supply on March 1, 2018. The whitepaper and exchange support is intending to be released and announced prior to the April 6 airdrop. With a coin burn, new Testnet updates, an airdrop, and major press releases all month PRL looks like a “Moonshot” that has the ability to moon in a month or two, instead of a year.

LTC: Litecoin (Litepay released Feb. 26, 2018)

Litecoin (LTC) has had rumors swirling since the beginning of February regarding their upcoming payment system, Litepay. The goal of Litepay is to offer lower settlement charges for payments than credit cards currently offer. Merchants will be able to accept LTC while being able to immediately cash out directly to fiat without any risk of price volatility. Litepay intends to charge a flat one percent fee for merchants. Credit card companies currently charge merchants between two and five percent depending on the specific credit card. The merchant will have the ability to accept Litecoin while also having their fees associated with transactions greatly reduced. However, how will the consumer benefit

The consumers have as many benefits, if not more, than the merchants. Each customer orders a debit card and pays the associated fee for it. Once activated the card can be used and spent at a location where debit cards are accepted. This means not only can the credit card linked to a Litecoin account be used at a retail store, but it can also be used at ATMs to withdraw fiat. Litepay seems to have integrated the ability to use crypto seamlessly in the “real” world. Crypto has been able to be used in the digital world for quite some time, but this seems to be the first real significant entrant for crypto into the credit card and transacting space on a massive scale. The other cryptocurrencies dabbling in the space do not have the market adoption or publicity that LTC has.

With Litepay on the horizon expect LTC to have a very strong week leading up to the launch of Litepay. Most coins rise on hype and fall on underwhelming news. Litepay may be one of the few outliers as Litepay creates true utility for LTC. The King expects LTC to continue to rise even through the announcement and implementation of Litepay, as long as there are no major setbacks or flaws with the Litepay system.

GAS: That Time of the Month

A few weeks ago GAS was discussed as the coin to accumulate on Binance at the beginning of each month when Binance pays out their GAS dividend. By the middle of the month, GAS is usually trading much higher, peaking at the end of the month when GAS has not been paid on Binance for almost thirty days. The NEO network requires GAS even if Binance does not pay their dividends daily. Therefore, like clockwork, GAS spikes in the last ten days of each month and dips when Binance releases it in droves to NEO holders the first few days of the following month. Currently, we are in the second half of the month with GAS already beginning to show signs of significant price movement.

For those of you who have been accumulating GAS at the beginning of February, it has already paid significant dividends. For those who have yet to get on the GAS train, there is still approximately ten days left to ride the momentum North. Trends show GAS peaking at the end of each month, and we are quickly approaching the end of February! Prior to GAS peaking, it is important to have a portion of your portfolio allocated to an essential aspect of the NEO network, which has demonstrated clear-cut trends on Binance.

Conclusion: Rebranding, Airdrops, Forks, Coin Burns, Timing is Everything

This week is full of major rebranding events, airdrops, forks, coin burns and a very important note. Timing is everything. Having purchased ZCL the first time, it was discussed would have yielded the reader almost 100 percent returns in one week. In the cryptocurrency markets, timing is everything. The coins listed, LSK, VEN, ZCL, ETC, GAS, LTC, and PRL all remain in a position where significant returns can be attained in the next week or month. LSK and VEN are going through a major rebranding which should drive significant value and publicity. ZCL and ETC both have major forks or airdrops in the next few weeks making them highly sought after coins. GAS peaks every month in the last ten days, especially on Binance. LTC has Litepay coming out which will revolutionize the cryptocurrency payment system. PRL has a coin burn, airdrop, white paper, and exchange support all coming soon.

This list of coins all should outperform bitcoin and the general cryptocurrency markets in the next week due to their significant events. Some are short-term plays while others can be held long term, the decision is to be made by each individual investor. Remember very carefully; pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. We all want to be pigs; if you are a hog, this market will slaughter you. Look for the rebound to continue this week with specific coins leading the cryptocurrency market from a percentage perspective.

If the King had to pick one coin from the above list to acquire in mass quantities this week, it would be ZCL. Once the white paper which will be “imminently” released is public, and their block heights are announced ZCL should be trading in the mid $200s, possibly surpassing the $300 mark by the time of the co-fork. Very few coins can provide fairly safe returns in the twenty plus percent range in under ten days. ZCL is one of the few that can for this week. The only risk is if ZCL delays their fork which according to the team is not occurring. With the whitepaper being released imminently, meetups all week, and a fork in under ten days ZCL should continue to trend North at a rapid pace.

To read the King’s prior articles, to find out which ICOs he currently recommends, or to get in contact directly with the King, you can on Twitter (@JbtheCryptoKing) or Reddit (ICO updates and Daily Reports).

To read the entire ‘Top Coins for the Week’ series, click here.

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