Altcoin Outlook for 2024

Altcoins are more prone to price fluctuations than Bitcoin. Recently, we have seen many stocks experiencing significant price increases due to the expansion of their use in the real world and the Web 3.0 field, as well as trends in AI.

Here we will list some altcoins that are worth paying attention to right now.

The current state of altcoins

Other altcoins, including major brands, are also currently performing well, influenced by the spot Bitcoin ETF and the major upgrade of Ethereum.

The cryptocurrency market has always seen a tendency for funds to flow in the following order: Bitcoin → Ethereum → other altcoins.

In particular, cryptocurrencies known as "meme coins" have often recorded higher rates of increase than other altcoins.

Such price increases in cryptocurrencies can be considered a symbol of a bubble. However, meme coins are often seen as typical speculative targets and tend to be very volatile, so caution is required when investing funds.

Solana

Unlike meme coins, there are some altcoins that are likely to continue to attract attention in the future. One of the most prominent examples is Solana (SOL).

At the time of writing, Solana has risen to the fourth place in market capitalization, approaching Tether (USDT). The price has exceeded $200, and in Japanese yen terms, it has exceeded 30,000 yen, breaking its all-time high.

It has been attracting attention as one of the leading altcoins with momentum, with an increase of over 800% over the past year.

The reason why Solana has attracted so much funds is the expansion of its use in DeFi and other fields.

Solana processes more transactions per second than other blockchains, reaching a maximum of 65,000. Considering that Bitcoin processes about 7 transactions per second and Ethereum processes about 15 transactions per second, you can see that the difference is overwhelming.

In addition, it has long been known as the "Ethereum killer" because of its very low fees.

Solana had close ties to the cryptocurrency exchange FTX and its de facto subsidiary Arameda Research, which collapsed in 2022, and at one point fell to the $9 range.

However, since then, the use of Solana has steadily expanded, and there have even been days when it recorded trading volumes that exceeded those of Ethereum.

The Solana ecosystem is expected to continue to expand for the time being, and if token issuance on Solana becomes more active, it is expected to have a positive impact on prices.

Avalanche

In addition, Avalanche (AVAX), which is characterized by high-speed transaction processing like Solana, may also see increased demand in terms of technology in the future.

Avalanche is known as a blockchain that balances high-speed processing and high security.

As the demand for dApps (decentralized apps) and DeFi is expected to increase further in the future, Avalanche's strengths in both areas are increasing the demand for Avalanche.

On March 7, an upgrade called "Durango" was implemented. This is said to strengthen the collaboration of "subnets," which play an important role in Avalanche, and to improve the network of the entire ecosystem.

The major factor behind the recent price increase was the announcement that a blockchain game version of the popular online RPG "MapleStory" by major Korean game company Nexon will be built on Avalanche.

The game is being developed as "MapleStory Universe N" and is aimed to be released in 2024. Although it was originally planned to be built on the Polygon (MATIC) blockchain, the decision was made to switch to Avalanche after considering its technology and track record to date.

Going forward, it is expected that the price will be determined by the progress of the game's development, as well as the increasing use of Avalanche, just like Solana.

Aptos

Aptos (APT) and Sui (SUI), which have been gaining momentum since last year, are also projects that are attracting attention for their future prospects.

What these two projects have in common is that they use the programming language "Move" developed by engineers at Facebook (now Meta).

They also use consensus algorithms such as PoS in terms of sustainability. Both have become available for trading in Japan in the past few months.

In particular, Aptos has partnered with major companies, and last year it announced a strengthened partnership with Microsoft, and more recently with a subsidiary of Lotte Korea. Aptos has expanded its functions by utilizing Microsoft's AI services, so its price movements may continue to attract attention depending on AI-related trends.

The altcoins introduced here are only a small part of the list, but there are actually projects that have the potential to be further utilized in the real world in the future.

If you find a stock that you would like to support or would like to know about in your area of ​​interest, it may be worth looking into it.

Another characteristic of these altcoins, excluding Ethereum and stablecoins, is that they tend to be highly volatile. Caution is required, especially when there is a partnership with a major company or when a scandal involving a project is uncovered, as prices can fluctuate greatly.

Column

Noriaki Yagi Editor-in-Chief

Projects started by Telegram

"TON Coin (TON)" was developed under the name "Telegram Open Network". At the time of writing in March, it was being handled by the domestic cryptocurrency exchange BITPOINT.

Development was started in 2018 by the Durov brothers, founders of Telegram, but in March 2020, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov decided to discontinue the project due to regulations from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

It has now been renamed "The Open Network" and is being developed and operated by a non-profit organization called the TON Foundation.

As originally led by the CEO of the messenger app Telegram, the project seems to provide various value experiences such as wallets, dApps, and DEXs through Telegram.

If wallets, dApps, and DEXs can be easily used on LINE, which is likely to be used frequently, it is easy to imagine that it will become popular at a considerable speed.

"SNS x crypto assets" has long been a combination that has attracted attention, and if X (formerly Twitter) or Discord were to develop their own blockchain platforms, this would also attract a lot of attention.

Column

Shogo Kurobe Duputy editor

Attention on the trends of Near and Lender as AI-related stocks

AI-related stocks remain strong in the stock market. The same is true in the cryptocurrency market, where we have seen many instances of AI-related projects reacting sensitively since last year.

As for trends in AI-related stocks, I personally want to pay attention to the trends of Near and Render. Near has increased in price significantly at the time of writing this article due to its participation in a conference hosted by NVIDIA, a major US semiconductor company.

The release of "Near Task" as an AI-related learning data product is approaching, which has boosted its price.

Render is also a project that allows users to share GPU resources, and the token used for this is RNDR.

Demand is steadily increasing, and the price has also reached an all-time high as of the time of writing. Render is expected to attract demand especially from creators, and it would not be surprising if its price were to rise at an accelerated rate in the future, given the current trends.

Summary

Factors that will affect the future prices of the three stocks

Solana...Solana is currently gaining popularity, and the key to its future success is whether it will continue to be actively used in DeFi and other areas. In addition, token issuance using Solana is also becoming more active, so this is also worth paying attention to.

Avalanche…It is important that dApps that utilize Avalanche become more active. In addition, the progress of products such as "MapleStory Universe N" built on Avalanche is likely to have a strong impact on the price.

Aptos…Aptos' price is steadily increasing and is on track to surpass its all-time high in dollar terms recorded in 2023. Further developments related to AI and trends in strengthening collaboration with companies are likely to be key to its future performance.

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