PriyankaWe recently curated an extensive list of the 12 Best Cryptocurrencies to Invest in According to Reddit. In this analysis, we will delve into the position of Donut (DONUT) among other notable cryptocurrencies.
The past year has been a tumultuous journey for cryptocurrency investors. Following the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in Q1, the market needed time to adjust to the SEC’s groundwork for spot Ethereum ETFs, which received the green light in May. Consequently, spot Bitcoin ETFs amassed over $50 billion in combined assets within just six months. Some industry analysts regard this as the most successful ETF category ever introduced.
Beyond spot offerings, crypto-themed ETFs have shown remarkable performance in the first half of 2024. For instance, the First Trust SkyBridge Crypto Industry & Digital Economy ETF experienced a healthy year-to-date growth of approximately 20%. Blockchain-centric products also saw substantial interest from enthusiasts, with the Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF rising by roughly 19% year-to-date.
In recent months, the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the crypto world has emerged as a significant trend. AI tokens are cryptocurrencies directly tied to AI ventures, designed to support AI-based projects, applications, and services. These include decentralized AI marketplaces and AI-driven decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), among others. Users can utilize these tokens for service payments or accessing data on the platform, while platforms can leverage tokens as rewards to incentivize user engagement. Such tokens may also grant governance rights to holders. CoinMarketCap reported a robust increase of more than 70% in market capitalization for AI and big data cryptocurrency projects within a few weeks, indicating renewed investor confidence.
The cryptocurrency industry has faced significant meltdowns, such as the collapse of FTX, which underscored the pressing need for regulatory oversight. The downfall of this major exchange was largely due to insufficient regulation at the time. However, regulatory bodies are now more proactive in enforcing rules. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) remains a vigilant watchdog in the crypto market.
CNBC highlighted that the US has been a leading regulator, taking legal actions against several crypto companies. The SEC has sued two prominent crypto exchanges, establishing clear regulatory standards that could pave the way for institutional investors like banks and asset management firms to enter the crypto space.
A bi-annual survey by KPMG in Canada and the Canadian Association of Alternative Assets and Strategies (CAASA) revealed that 22% more financial services organizations offered crypto-asset products and services to clients in 2023 compared to 2021. Additionally, 26% more institutional investors included crypto-related assets in their portfolios during this period.
Coinbase’s updated Q2 2024 13-F filings showed a significant increase in institutional inflows into US spot Bitcoin ETFs. This is considered a “promising indicator” for the Bitcoin market. The recent 13-F filings indicated that institutional ownership of these ETFs rose from 21.4% to 24.0% between Q1 and Q2 of 2024.
According to the United States International Trade Commission, global revenues from tokenized asset exchanges amounted to approximately $26.5 billion in 2022, with around 76% derived from cryptocurrencies.
Revenues from tokenized assets surged in 2021 due to the growth of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and rising prices of major cryptocurrencies. McKinsey projects that total tokenized market capitalization will reach around $2 trillion by 2030, excluding leading cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. This growth is expected to be driven by mutual funds (MFs), bonds, exchange-traded notes (ETNs), loans, securitization, and alternative funds.
Globally, the cryptocurrency market capitalization surpassed $2.5 trillion, with Bitcoin setting a record high of over $73,000 and its market cap reaching $1.4 trillion in mid-March 2024. Forbes projects that the cryptocurrency market will reach around $6.6 billion by 2024, with users expected to grow to 107.30 million by 2025.
The growth in the cryptocurrency market is anticipated to be fueled by greater acceptance and adoption by institutions and individuals, increased usage of decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, advancements in blockchain technology, and heightened use for cross-border transactions.
Our methodology involved sifting through various communities, subreddits, and threads to narrow down our list to the top 12 trending cryptocurrencies. These were then ranked based on their market capitalization as of August 29.
At Insider Monkey, we are passionate about tracking stocks favored by hedge funds. Our research indicates that mimicking the top stock picks of leading hedge funds can lead to market outperformance. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks each quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, outperforming its benchmark by 150 percentage points.
Market capitalization as of August 29: $0.70 million
Donut (DONUT) is an ERC-20 token representing community points within r/ethtrader. It was the first cryptocurrency token distributed based on user submissions’ quality and activity. Donut tokens are allocated monthly based on upvotes received by users’ content.
Donut rewards r/ethtrader users for their contributions, with tokens used for voting in governance polls—more Donuts equate to greater voting weight. Thus, Donut’s primary use cases are within r/ethtrader. As an ERC-20 token, it benefits from Ethereum’s robust network of miners ensuring quick and irreversible transactions.
Overall, DONUT ranks 12th on our list of best cryptocurrencies to invest in right now. While we recognize DONUT’s potential as an investment, we believe some undervalued AI stocks offer greater promise for higher returns in a shorter timeframe. If you seek a deeply undervalued AI stock trading at less than five times its earnings, explore our report on the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: $30 Trillion Opportunity: 15 Best Humanoid Robot Stocks to Buy According to Morgan Stanley and Jim Cramer Says NVIDIA ‘Has Become A Wasteland’
Disclosure: None.
