If you thought the incredible rise of bitcoin was crazy, you ain't seen nothing yet. When it comes to cryptocurrencies, we're just getting started.
If you had invested just $1 in bitcoin as late as 2015, your investment would be worth $13,000 (as of the writing of this article). In an era where most people are thrilled to see a consistent 8 percent return on their investments, a 13,000 percent return feels crazy. But bitcoin is not alone in this incredible digital currency growth. The gains in digital currencies appear to be experiencing their own bubble. In 2017 alone, currency traders and speculative investors are pointing out the following returns:
8,294% in Quark
13,595% in FastCoin
5,683% in Asch
8,313% in MediterraneanCoin
5,248% in NoLimitCoin
6,045% in MaxCoin
7,477% in Golem coins
11,328% in Decred coins
6,792% in WorldCoin
75,063% in Cryptonite
59,577% in Influxcoin
And 823,750% in DubaiCoin
Many see cryptocurrencies as the next gold rush, and for different reasons. Some like the idea that these cryptocurrencies allow you to "put a bank in your pocket". Others support the global "democratization of technology." And still others have lost faith in the ludicrous and growing debt crisis in the U.S. that doesn't appear to have any possibility of recovery. If you fear hyperinflation, cryptocurrency seems like one possible solution.
Here are the top companies to watch that have either had an ICO or are likely to have an ICO heading into 2018.
Twinkle
Rainbow currency, with it's smallest denomination Twinkle, the global convenient household currency for shopping instantly, both online and offline, with no transaction fees, is powered by the SafeZone open network of online and offline quality businesses worldwide. Rainbow Currency is the first cryptocurrency to be incorporated by a non-profit organisation, the Rainbow Foundation, which has been formed by more than 3,000 co-founders ranging from 157 different countries.
For the first time in cryptocurrency's nascent history, Rainbow Currency will introduce cryptocurrencies to the rest of the 99.8% population of the world who do not use cryptocurrencies, and therefore, becomes the first cryptocurrency to go mainstream as a result of the global economic backup that Rainbow Currency through its global open network of quality businesses, is hosting in the SafeZone.
Thanks to a unique 2-wallet solution, Rainbow Currency is always fully transparent, decentralised, and safe in the blockchain, while everyday payments for shopping and services can be made online and at Point of Sales (POS) quickly, securely, privately, and without fees.
Rainbow Currency is designed to discourage the 'bad guys' out there from trading and shopping in Rainbow Currency since you need to identify yourself formally before you can start spending it through POS.
Sether
Sether opens up the blockchain to marketers everywhere, using a previously unavailable tool - Smart Contracts. They bring transparency, thus trustworthiness, but are isolated from social networks. Sether brings social networks data, intelligently analyzed, into the smart contracts. Integrating smart contracts into your marketing strategy offers your business an amazingly efficient and transparent crowd-powered advertising engine, providing your clients with a new way to interact with your brand, while cutting supervising and monitoring costs at the same time.
They use big data analytics, artificial intelligence and behavioural science to understand every individual within your audience, enabling you to connect with them on a personal level. They understand group behaviors through community voices, enabling you to take holistic decisions.
Cypherium
Cypherium, a team constructed of developers with backgrounds at Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, is developing a new blockchain, that will be highly scalable and permissionless. Their multi-level governance design, an absolutely unique feature, has been designed and implemented from the ground up. The Cypherium blockchain separates governance at both the protocol and application layers.
CEO Sky Guo notes, "There are very few teams who can build what we are attempting to build. We believe that Cypherium will not only resolve scalability issues, but also help blockchain technology break into the mainstream."
Rentberry
Rentberry is a decentralized long-term rental platform that has been disrupting the rental industry since 2015. Rentberry's platform has the power to automate steps within the renting process, from signing contracts to paying rent. This saves the tenant and landlord time and money, while expediting the legal agreements between parties. Moreover, Rentberry's blockchain and smart contracts technology offers tenants the ability to save thousands of dollars in rental security deposits.
Rentberry CEO Alex Lubinsky says, "$500 billion dollars are frozen in rental security deposits. Rentberry is the first international solution to help quality renters unlock billions of dollars, while streamlining the process of finding apartments, paying rent, and everything in between."
RightMesh
RightMesh is a platform and protocol that is poised to change the way the world connects. Blockchain technology enables RightMesh networks to identify nodes with secure Ethereum accounts, and tokenization will grow the network by incentivizing users to share their device resources, such as internet, data, and storage.
"RightMesh is the first truly decentralized network and platform that is actually peer-to-peer. We put the power of connectivity directly into the hands of the people by mesh-enabling smartphones and devices they already own," says CEO John Lyotier.
Experty
Experty is a decentralized consulting platform that allows knowledge experts to be paid securely and instantly for the time they spend on a call, without third party intermediaries. The consultant sets their rate per minute, and shares their Experty profile wherever they market themselves. The person looking for advice contacts them through that profile, and payment is made automatically through blockchain smart contracts.
"Decentralization is the key to what we are doing," explains Experty founder and CEO Kamil Prezeorski. "There is already a massive and active knowledge marketplace out there. Instead of building our own, where users could search for experts, we have created a way for the experts to share their profile information anywhere they currently market their services."
Coinlancer
Coinlancer is an Ethereum-based freelancing platform based on a smart contract escrow system. Existing freelance marketplaces have several drawbacks, including transaction fees as high as 15-20 percent, and risks associated with payments and delivery. The Coinlancer system eliminates these problems, with a peer-review system for dispute mediation and a much smaller (3 percent) fee on each transaction.
"The freelance economy is booming," says Coinlancer CEO Ian Viner. "With the rising gig economy, freelancing could grow to $10 billion annually in the next six years. We have to curb some of the challenges that freelancers are facing. We see blockchain technology as the smart way to do this."