There is a lot happening in the crypto space this year, and I’m not just talking regulation, adoption, stablecoins, DEXs and what not. I’m talking about serious development with respect to certain projects. Things that I think are going to attract a lot of attention for what they are going to achieve in the following months.

I think keeping an eye on these and monitoring their progress could lead to some healthy investment profits (particularly for QASH, as I explain later). As you’ll notice, each of these tokens are working on something different and that helps with diversifying your portfolio. If you think that there are some better alternatives to this, just post a comment and maybe I’ll do some research on those and write something about it! :)

Here we go:

1. Nexo

Nexo is an interesting token because it lets you make passive income. And if you read crypto-focused social media a lot, you’ll know that that is a big thing for investors.

It lets you borrow over 45 fiat currencies after you select a crypto asset to offer in exchange. There are some big statements, like that you can earn 8% interest per year and get your 100% of your assets back. 23 different assets can be used. They have also partnered with the Liquid exchange, the QASH token of which is also mentioned in this list below.

There are a couple of interesting developments happening with the project including deposit accounts, installment loans and an enterprise API. Recently, they released their mobile wallet app and launched OTC trading, steps in the right direction for growth.

I wish that the team would release more specifics about their current development initiatives on their social media platforms. Right now, it is mostly just some general details about their initiatives for the year. Keep an eye on them though, as I think they can make headway with their use case.

2. iExec RLC

Cloud computing is what iExec RLC focuses on and this is another popular use case for decentralized systems. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of competition in this space, but this project is still worth keeping an eye on.

Despite competition from the likes of Golem Network (GNT), iExec is making some progress that should not disappoint investors, however hesitant they are. This year will see the release of iExec 3.0 and iExec 4.0, two developments which focus on a hybrid public-private infrastructure and high performance computing respectively.

Version 3 has already been released and this brought improvements to security and performance, as well as letting users earn money for renting out computing resources.

Some positive news is that the team has said they are expecting to release version 4.0 sooner than expected. This phase would let miners participate in the marketplace and provide “true supercomputing capabilities”, according to the roadmap.

Cloud computing will definitely be one of the big applications of DLTs, so don’t forget about iExec, even if there are multiple competing projects.

3. QASH

QASH is a token that has been developed by the Liquid team for their exchange. The token lets holders receive discounts on trading and stuff on the platform. What’s even better is that the Liquid exchange is focusing on fiat trades and their world order book (which gathers orders from other exchanges) make investing through different fiat currencies a real possibility.

There is definitely a void in fiat features in the crypto market, although that is being changed slowly. I think Liquid is one of the platforms making a difference here. One other big exchange that the QASH token is available on is Huobi.

Currently, the team is working on two major things: a mobile app and a decentralized ledger for the platform. These are both big moves in getting more people onto the platform. The first for greater reach, while the second lets businesses and individuals bring financial projects on top of their ledger. I can see this becoming a comprehensive ecosystem that is supported by the token and the exchange.

As the Liquid brings in more features, I expect the platform will grow. And as more users arrive, and Liquid focusing on increasing liquidity, I believe that will also attract more users, especially for those who want a single space with sufficient liquidity.

The QASH token then I think will be a good sign of the exchange’s quality. And like the BNB token, the price will do well, I hope.

4. Civic

The Civic platform is one of the better platforms aimed at digital identity management. You hear a lot about this particular use case in crypto media and there’s a good reason for it: digital identity management, in a time where almost all of our lives are conducted digitally, are an absolute necessity.

I’ll jump straight into what they’re developing currently. Unfortunately, there aren’t as many updates from the team as I would like, but they do have a roadmap available. The key takeaways from it for the year 2019 is interoperability and a direct integration with identity.com through its requestor toolkit.

Despite some lack of updates, I am hopeful for the team is doing this year. Digital Identity Management will revolutionize how we conduct all of our administrative processes, so if Civic can cement their position as the top solution, then I know profits are coming.

There are more tokens to be investing in, that’s for sure, but I like these because they are mostly under the radar. And that makes for good investment returns. I would recommend reading about a few other projects on this site, like HYDRO, BAT and XSPEC. You should probably know about BAT already, but it is really looking like it’s going somewhere.