When Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB) went live in August 2020, it lost nearly 95% of its value before hitting a bottom in November. But what happened next was mind-boggling, and investors will likely retell the tale for years to come. After going viral on social media, the meme token's price skyrocketed 153,000,000% over the next eleven months, growing at a pace that turned pocket change into million-dollar fortunes.
Since then, Shiba Inu has lost over 70% of its value, but it's still up 43,000,000% from its low point 15 months ago. Unfortunately, those remarkable returns were probably a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, but there are still plenty of cryptocurrencies with tremendous upside potential. For instance, Fantom (FTM -3.51%) and Internet Computer (ICP -9.95%) aim to be more scalable versions of Ethereum, and if either crypto were to surpass Ethereum's peak valuation, it would mean 150x returns for investors.
Here's what you should know.
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1. Fantom
Fantom is a programmable blockchain powered by the FTM token. The platform is secured by a unique proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus protocol known as Lachesis, which allows validator nodes (computers) to verify transactions independently rather than waiting for each node to confirm every transaction. That innovation makes Fantom fast.
The platform can process thousands of transactions per second, and it can finalize those transactions (i.e., irreversibly add them to the blockchain) in approximately one second. Thanks to that scalability, transactions on Fantom cost a fraction of a cent. By comparison, Ethereum currently handles about 15 transactions per second (TPS), it takes up to six minutes to achieve finality, and transaction fees have exceeded $60 in the past.
Also noteworthy, Fantom is compatible with the Solidity programming language, which is used to code smart contracts on Ethereum. That's significant because Ethereum is the largest ecosystem of decentralized applications (dApps) and decentralized finance (DeFi) products in the cryptoeconomy. That means developers can easily port Ethereum-based dApps and DeFi products to the Fantom blockchain, which offers faster and cheaper transactions.
To that end, the platform is growing quickly. Fantom currently ranks as the fifth-largest DeFi ecosystem, with $8 billion invested on the blockchain. That's nearly double the amount invested in Fantom DeFi products at the beginning of 2022, which is especially impressive because the crypto market has lost 20% of its value over that time period. Going forward, as dApps and DeFi products on Fantom continue to gain traction with consumers, demand for the FTM token should rise, pushing its price higher.
How high could it go? If Fantom were to surpass Ethereum's peak market value of $569 billion, that would mean 150x returns from its current valuation of $3.6 billion. Of course, there are no guarantees when it comes to investing, but given the potential upside, I think this cryptocurrency is worth buying.
2. Internet Computer
The Internet Computer protocol is a blockchain project working to decentralize the internet. Currently, countless enterprises and developers rely on centralized vendors like Microsoft and Alphabet's Google for cloud services, meaning those tech titans have access to (and to some extent, control over) troves of sensitive data and proprietary applications. That doesn't mean anything nefarious is happening, but it's never smart to put all your eggs in one basket.
At scale, the Internet Computer blockchain can access millions of specialized machines located in independent data centers around the world, creating a programmable compute platform that isn't controlled by any single corporate entity. And using that platform, developers can build websites, applications, enterprise systems, and all manner of cloud services.
The Internet Computer's core innovation is Chain Key technology, a set of protocols that make the network fast and scalable. In fact, it can process 11,500 transactions per second, and the Internet Computer achieves finality in one or two seconds. Better yet, transactions cost a fraction of a cent on the platform, and thanks to its "reverse gas" model, the Internet Computer is far more user-friendly than other blockchains.
Specifically, consumers don't need external wallets or crypto tokens to use software and services on the Internet Computer. Instead, developers pay for the compute resources consumed by their applications using the ICP coin. So what's in it for developers? They can charge consumers like any other software vendor, and they also benefit from the fast, decentralized nature of the Internet Computer. To that end, despite going live in May 2021, over 1,000 developers are already building products on the Internet Computer blockchain. And as more consumers use those products, demand for the ICP coin should rise, driving its price higher.
How high could it go? If the Internet Computer were to surpass Ethereum's peak market value of $569 billion, that would mean 150x returns from its current valuation of $3.6 billion. That's why this cryptocurrency could make you significantly richer in the long run.
