We’re still in a bear market. Congrats to you if you’re still here. It looks like we’re on the last legs of this bear. However, that doesn’t mean that the pain is over. Be prepared for more pain to come, before the bull gets a free-range.
At the same time, this is the ultimate and best time to set yourself up for maximum profits during that bull run. If you’re smart now, and pick the right projects, you may count your profits during the next bull run. That’s why I’m looking at some fire sales today. Three altcoin gems whose tokens are down by 90%. It’s not going to get much better than this.
#1: Cosmos Hub (ATOM)
My first pick for today’s altcoin gems is the Cosmos Hub. The Cosmos Hub and its ATOM token are the foundation for the whole Cosmos ecosystem. This is layer zero where all other chains in the ecosystem are built.
Cosmos has the IBC or the Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol. This allows all other layer 1 chains that are built on top of Cosmos, to communicate with each other. You can also watch our Cosmos and ATOM explanation video.
Bitcoin is coming to the #interchain via @nomicbtc
Nomic enables a bridge for Bitcoin, allowing users to turn their native BTC into nBTC, an IBC-compatible token.
nBTC launch is estimated for October 30 – The interchain expansion continues ⚛️ pic.twitter.com/aa6qSIKyHb
— Cosmos – Internet of Blockchains ⚛️ (@cosmos) October 9, 2023
Cosmos is a solid and proven ecosystem. It performed well during the last bull run and reached its current ATH of $44.45. That was in January 2022. The ATOM token kept peaking between September 2021 and April 2022.
However, that’s when Terra Luna crashed and the entire crypto market followed suit. ATOM went from $32 to $6.41 in around 5 weeks. But it recovered and did well. Until June this year, 2023, it stayed above $10. However, now it seems to be on a slide. It stopped just above the $6 range.
Cosmos Hub Growing Ecosystem
Nonetheless, the fundamentals haven’t changed, they are as strong as ever. There are great additions to the ecosystem and they are also innovative. For example:
- Atom Economic Zone (AEZ), which adds consumer chains to the ecosystem. For example, Neutron and Stride.
- Liquid staking arrived in September. This eliminates the 21-day unlocking period for staking your ATOM. You can now stake your ATOM and use the liquid ATOM token in DeFi. This was part of the v12 upgrade #12.
- The 2024 roadmap is available. Cosmos keeps building, and they try to better their tokenomics.
- There’s also the recent Gaia v13 upgrade, in October. This updates, among others, the interchain security provider module for Cosmos Hub.
Provenance Blockchain used @Cosmos SDK as the starting point for creating a #blockchain purpose-built for #financialservices. Several of the reasons why are captured in an @gbaglobal article by @rpchamria of @0xZeeve, who breaks down why the Cosmos AppChain ecosystem is an… pic.twitter.com/fYAOjiOoBr
— Provenance Blockchain Foundation (@provenancefdn) October 19, 2023
So, there’s plenty of positive news coming from Cosmos. I see the current price of $7.11 as a great entry point. Even though it’s 85% down from its ATH.
#2: Solana (SOL)
Solana is a layer 1 blockchain and the second of today’s altcoin gems. It’s also labeled as one of the supposed Ethereum killers. We published a comparison article about two weeks ago. However, that’s no reason to ditch Solana. By no means at all. Solana has some advantages that Ethereum, or other chains, don’t have. It’s fast and scalable, and transaction fees are very low. Above all, it has a great community. For example, you can find that back in their NFT space.
It's a great time to onboard to Solana with @MetaMask and Solflare, with 0% fees for bridging, thanks to @deBridgeFinance and @solflare_wallet 🦊https://t.co/wpGOsUeYyM
— MetaMask 🦊🫰 (@MetaMask) October 23, 2023
Now, SOL did really well during the last bull run. This resulted in an ATH of $259.96 in November 2021. It pulled back until March 2022 when it fell back to $79. Just when SOL started to recover, and reached $137 again, the Terra Luna crash happened. It didn’t stop there, though, for Solana. When FTX came tumbling down, Solana took another hit, and found itself back under $10. That was a recent low point.
However, the tables are turning, and since January SOL managed mostly to stay above the $20 range. Currently, it’s doing well with a $26.45 price tag. The future is looking good again for Solana.
- Their new campaign ‘Only Possible On Solana’ does well.
- In DeFi, out of all chains, they take the #8 spot for TVL. 9 Marinade Finance (liquid staking), Solend (Lending), and Orca (DEX) are thriving.
- Projects like Audius, Stepn, Hivemapper, and Star Atlas keep growing.
- Solana Pay integrated with Shopify, as a new payment office.
- Besides one hick-up in February this year, the chain has not been offline.
1/ This year's #Breakpoint2023 will be one to remember because Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (#CCTP) is now available on devnet for @Solana!
Save the date as we'll be showcasing devnet demos from several special guests live at the Circle Lounge.
Learn more about CCTP 👇 pic.twitter.com/7iYmTos8xj
— Circle (@circle) October 18, 2023
So, plenty of great news and developments are coming from Solana. They sure are positioning themselves well for the next bull run.
#3: Near Protocol (NEAR)
Near Protocol is also named an Ethereum killer and the last one of today’s altcoin gems. But we saw already with Solana, it’s hard to get near Ethereum. But, Near already uses sharding, something that Ethereum is still working on.
Web3🤝AI🤝Umm.. traditional Japanese art?!
Yep, @ProofOfJapan and Masahiro Inoue are reimagining traditional Japanese art with blockchain tech.
The fusion of the past and the future is mesmerizing.
Delivered by @RoveWorldApp.
Powered by the NEAR Protocol. https://t.co/LOSCdf6Q1t
— NEAR Protocol | NEARCON | November 7-10 | Lisbon! (@NEARProtocol) October 19, 2023
You can compare sharding with a busy store. If there’s only one cashier open, there will be a queue. However, when more cashiers open, the queue will disappear. So, in short, sharding makes a chain more secure, faster, and scalable.
During the last bull run, the NEAR token enjoyed an ATH of $20.44. However, it dropped to $8.59 in February 2022. When it picked up steam again, Terra Luna happened. It was back at $15.24 in April 2022 but dropped to $3.38. Like the whole market, it found itself back on a continuous slide. Now it sits at $1.01 or 95% down from the ATH.
The chain keeps building, though. In March 2023, we saw BOS. Their Blockchain Operating System. This bridges Web2 to Web3. It’s their vision of the Open Web. It’s for and by the people and offers free and open communication. You can compare it to a decentralized app store.
Hey developers (we love you),
Unlock instant insights with the NEAR BigQuery Public Dataset from @databricks & @googlecloud!
Query historic on-chain data at scale, without the hassle.https://t.co/VsJEGqXfIe pic.twitter.com/mfYq4KGK69
— NEAR Protocol | NEARCON | November 7-10 | Lisbon! (@NEARProtocol) September 22, 2023
Near is seriously undervalued. I expect it to do well during the next bull run. Keep an eye out for it!