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There is no market like the cryptocurrency market.
This market has likely created more millionaires than any other industry in the world (it's difficult to tell since most transactions are anonymous, yet this industry has gone from non-existent to over 2 trillion dollars in just 11 years).
It’s for this reason, cryptocurrency investing has become one of the hottest trends in the last few years and it will likely only continue to grow.
Many cryptocurrencies have already created many multimillionaires and will likely continue to do so for many years to come.
So, you may be asking — What are the cryptocurrencies that could have made you a millionaire and what are the lessons can we learn from them?
1. Binance Coin (BNB)
ROI ~360,713%*
This exchange coin has shown us the growth potential possible when a coin is matched with one of the largest exchanges in the world. As far as use-cases go, this is an excellent use case for cryptocurrency and as we have seen with other exchanges which have done similar, the growth potential can be extraordinary.
Launched in 2017, this four-year-old company has become one of the largest exchanges in the world and as a consequence, this exchange coin offers one of the highest ROIs in the world of cryptocurrency.
In early 2017, the price of BNB was $0.10
Five months ago, the coin reached an all-time high of $690
Today, it is trading around: $420
A $500 investment in BNB four years ago would have yield 5,000 BNB
At today’s price, this would be worth: ~$2,100,000
Not bad for a $500 investment — in just 4 years!
2. Ethereum (ETH)
ROI ~122,203%*
Both a cryptocurrency and a blockchain platform, this token offers the market smart contracts and non-fungible-tokens (NFTs). Since its inception, this token has exploded in both popularity and market price.
Six years ago (Oct 21, 2015) ETH was $0.42
Five months ago, the token reached an all-time high of $4,262.
Today, it is trading around: $3,600
A $500 investment in Ethereum six years ago would have yield 1,190 ETH
At today’s price, this would be worth: $4,200,000
Not bad for a $500 investment — Over a six-year period!
3. Solana (SOL)
ROI ~68,336%*
Considered by some as an Ethereum killer, this project offers decentralized finance (DeFi), decentralized apps (DApps) and smart contracts.
This project runs on a unique hybrid proof-of-stake and proof-of-history mechanisms that help it process transactions quickly, securely and with low transaction fees.
Launched in March of 2020, the cryptocurrency has been one of the fastest-growing ROI’s in the last year.
Just over a year ago, (May 11th, 2020) SOL was $0.50
A month ago, the coin reached an all-time high of $214
Today, it is trading around: $150
A $500 investment in Solana a year ago would have yield 1,000 SOL
At today’s price, this would be worth: $150,000
Not bad for a $500 investment (in about a year)!
4. Dogecoin (DOGE)
ROI ~41,544%*
This joke coin has made many millionaires. Popularized by celebrities and millionaires (like Elon Musk), this coin has grown in popularity mainly due to its international meme appeal. Dogecoin has broken all the rules, including having no limit to the supply, yet it has still been able to achieve one of the highest ROI’s we have seen in any cryptocurrency.
Six years ago (May 7, 2015) Dogecoin was trading at $0.00008547
Earlier this year (May 8, 2021), its price peaked at $0.7376
Today, it’s trading around $0.2479
A $500 investment in this meme coin six years ago when it was trading at an all-time low of $0.00008547 would have yield 5,850,005 Doge.
At today’s market price, it would be worth: $1,450,216
If you were lucky to sell at the all-time high, the investment would have been worth $4,314,963.
Not bad for a $500 dollar investment — over about six years!
5. XRP (XRP)
ROI ~41,024%*
Created over seven years ago, this digital currency was built to handle the high-volume processing of international fund transfers by international banks.
Six years ago (June 7, 2014) XRP was $0.002802
Four years ago, the coin reached an all-time high of $3.84
Today, it is trading around: $1.15
A $500 investment in XRP seven years ago would have yield 178,443 XRP
If you were lucky to sell at the all-time high (4 years ago), the investment would have been worth $685,221.
At today’s price, this would be worth: $205,209
Not bad for a $500 investment! — Even though it's over seven years.
6. Cardano (ADA)
ROI ~10,077%*
Cardano, in many ways similar to Ethereum, offering decentralized apps (DApps) and smart contracts. It was founded in 2017 and it’s also worth mentioning, Cardano was an early adopter of proof-of-stake validation.
Four years ago (Oct 1, 2017), Cardano was trading at $0.017
Last month (Sept 2, 2021), its price peaked at $3.10
Today, it’s trading around $2.21
A $500 investment in Cardano four years ago when it was trading at an all-time low of $0.017 would have yield 29,411 ADA.
At today’s market price, it would be worth: $64,998
Not bad for a $500 dollar investment — over 4 years!
What lessons can we learn from these projects?
While these returns on investments are spectacular (to say the least), there are a few lessons we can learn from these highly successful projects.
1. You Need to be in the Game to Benefit
It’s one thing to watch these markets. It’s another to be in the game. While these extraordinary gains are in the minority, if you are not in the game, your gains will be exactly zero.
2. The Time Value of Money — It pays to HODL
Many of these gains took place over a series of many years. While it would have been possible to trade in and out of these positions many times and potentially do even better, the most basic method of buying low, holding, and then selling is a method where the gains will take many years to achieve.
3. Even a Small Investment Can Turn into a Fortune (overtime)
In this article, I have used the arbitrary value of a $500 investment. Equally, a $100 or $1,000 investment could have been used. There is no minimum or maximum amount required to invest. The point is, even a small investment can transform into massive gains. This doesn't even take into consideration the additional fringe benefits of holding many of these coins which could include airdrops, forks, staking benefits and the many other mechanisms employed to benefits holders.
4. Have an Exit Strategy — Realize Your Gains
This is a highly volatile market. Gains and or losses are not realized until you exit the market. Until you exit the market, you haven’t realized your gains.
5. Keep it Simple & Leverage time — Buy Early & Buy Low
Before these coins made it into the top 10 cryptocurrencies (by market capitalization), they started their life as small-cap projects. Over time, they grew into some of the largest cryptocurrencies in the world. To fully take advantage of the gains available, get in early — while they are still classified as small-cap projects.
*ROI calculations are derived from CoinMarketCap at the time of writing.
