Bitcoin, the first crypto to come to mind when hearing the term “cryptocurrency”, isn’t just a trendsetter, harbingering a range of cryptos on decentralized peer networks. It is the standard for digital money, igniting ideas in developers to create an ever-rising legion of readaptations, like Binance Coin, Ethereum, Tron, and boundless others.

Since numerous cryptocurrencies boast a lot of potential, looking into them is the logical thing to do when seeking to diversify the investment portfolio. Ethereum, for instance, has built on Bitcoin’s technology and became a massive decentralized ledger where other famed cryptocurrencies caught life. Binance Coin is one of the best examples to look into when pondering how far crypto technology has come, being initially built on Ethereum before migrating to Binance’s own blockchain and boasting a BNB prediction that conveys the potential for a successful future ahead. 

Your options abound, so let’s see what cryptocurrencies that aren’t Bitcoin have made an excellent name for themselves and enjoy rising demand. 

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TRON (TRX)
Developed in 2017 by Singaporean Justin Sun, TRON is an ERC-20 cryptocurrency released as a placeholder token on one of the world’s most popular blockchains, Ethereum. A year later, it was relocated to its own network. 

Tron (TRX) boasts a market cap of over $9 billion, seeing the tokens grow from a humble $0.0019 each the year they were launched to a promising $0.2245 the following year. The asset registered a rise of 11,715% in just a few months, which triggered the continuous demand that followed and led it to a current valuation of around $0.10.

Since its debut, the independent peer-to-peer network founded by the Singaporean developer has been monitored by the TRON Foundation – a national NGO. Interestingly, the tycoon behind the project has already ranked twice in Forbes’ Asian top “30-Under-30”, having founded other big-hit platforms like Peiqo and acting as a representative for the Ripple platform two years before Tron’s debut. 

TRX is a unique crypto because of the unique perspective and objectives it brings to the market. The platform has zero transaction fees and can handle 2000 transactions/second, an awe-inspiring feat that demonstrates a promising future. 

Binance Coin (BNB)

Initially an Ethereum-based product, Binance Coin worked with the token ERC-20 before resettling on the blockchain of one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges to date, Binance. The platform behind BNB is the first to support users recouping non-supported tokens transferred accidentally, also boasting the title of the introductory app to prop exchange-based forks and airdrops up.

It debuted at $0.10 and registered a rise of almost 230% in the months leading to 2023’s November. Fast forward, Binance Coin (BNB) stood out as the token that succeeded in retaining 600% of its ICO valuation. Ranking fourth in the CoinMarketCap with a market capitalization of $34BN and a circulating supply of around 150M tokens, BNB is now among the most promising cryptocurrencies you can look to. It’s used to settle transactions on the parent exchange, Binance Smart Chain, partake in upscale token sales, pay for travel and entertainment services, and many more use cases.

So, can you afford not to consider a token with countless functionalities and massive user and investor demand?

Polygon (MATIC) 

Originally created as a layer-2 solution to tackle Ethereum’s traffic jam problems, Polygon grew to become one of the biggest cryptocurrencies in the star-studded tops. The latest upgrades permitted it to become a multi-chain system, enabling distributed ledgers to co-work through the prowess of the Ethereum virtual machine. 

Three layers support Polygon and its native token, MATIC, namely Bor, Heidmall, and the renowned Ethereum. It can now support NFTs, dApps, smart contracts, and several other popular applications for devs to make use of.

Polygon is valued at a little over 0.6$ at the moment of writing and has a market cap of around $6,795. The fact that MATIC, like BTC, has a maximum supply of tokens that can be released boosts its price growth credentials. There are 9.28B MATIC coins out there, a little under the upper limit of 10.00B MATIC that history will see. Its price peak was reached last year in July, when it traded at around $0.76 and flaunted a market cap of $7.09BN.

Chainlink (LINK)
Given that Chainlink (LINK) works as a decentralized oracle network and unlocks blockchain’s potential in boundless industries, from supply chain management to DeFI, it secures its position as one of the weightiest crypto investments. Other advantages that give Chainlink the upper hand are the data feeds, smart contract expandability, and constant technological progress demonstrated. Moreover, LINK has proven to be a lucrative crypto investment when approached through the lenses of a HODLer, keeping it on in the long term to see decent gains. This makes it a great option if you seek cryptocurrencies with the potential to be included in your investment portfolio and let them lie dormant until the time to cash in on your holdings comes.

Chainlink makes a powerful investment opportunity with evident prospects of expanding and registering rising adoption rates.

Avalanche (AVAX)

AVAX recently made the news as a compelling crypto investment despite making its debut four years ago. The asset has quickly risen through the ranks to become one of the most promising cryptocurrencies for ROI, but it’s the month of March of this year that it established the latest ATH. AVAX was valued at $60K for a few days, a critical price point that not many cryptocurrencies can boast. Lately, it has witnessed downturns, like all the other cryptocurrencies on the market, so dropping it now may not be the smartest choice if you’ve bought AVAX tokens when they are ascending.

Furthermore, AVAX diminishes the gaps between upcoming innovations and a well-rooted network, building a thriving ecosystem for value creation. With the rising demand for interconnected blockchain, this network is in the right place to entice more future-looking investors and developers. 

As you can see, there’s a wide range of compelling cryptos you can choose from this year. So, which one will make it into your portfolio?