Q1 2022 wrapped up with the crypto markets at a total market capitalization approaching $2 trillion, leaving some bears in disbelief. Bitcoin is currently trading back above $44,000, higher than it was when Russia invaded Ukraine, and closing daily candles above where it crashed to $33,000 from in January.
Part of the reason for the improved bullish outlook is news that the Fed would hike interest rates by six basis points, the first rate increase since 2018. That was announced by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell at a press conference after March’s FOMC meeting on economic policy and spiked a price rally in both stocks and crypto as investors re-entered the markets, favoring ‘risk on’ assets over cash.
Ethereum is also strong, back above $3,100 and still outperforming Bitcoin on the ETH / BTC pair. That leads many crypto investors wondering – ‘when altcoin season’?. The market conditions are right for an alt season where altcoins with the most potential start pumping. In this guide we’ll list and review some that have already shown signs of an upcoming bull run.
Altcoins with most potential in 2022
ApeCoin
Apecoin (APE) was first airdropped to Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT holders and is now listed for trading on most major cryptocurrency exchanges. It’s said to be the governance token of the planned Bored Apes Metaverse being built by Yuga Labs, the makers of BAYC.
With such a large company behind it – Yuga Labs is valued at $5 billion and has raised $450 in seed round funding for its metaverse project already from celebrities like Shaq and Snoop Dogg and big brands like Google, Adidas and FTX exchange – APE arguably has the most potential of any altcoin this year. One concern though is its high total supply.
Launched for trading – Mar 2022
Current price range – $12 – $14
Market cap (fully diluted) –
Where to buy – Coinbase, FTX
Use case – P2E crypto gaming, metaverse token
Lucky Block
Lucky Block (LBLOCK) is one of the newest and least known potential altcoin gems, and the lowest by market cap. Hoping to capture a slice of the global lottery gambling market, valued in the hundreds of billions, Lucky Block is a decentralized crypto lottery project.
Traditional fiat currencies lotteries often have unfair odds, a lack of transparency, and are embroiled in corruption scandals, as the National Lottery and Camelot have been in the UK where the LBLOCK team is based. As the saying goes, crypto fixes this, and LBLOCK holders will be able to either participate in the lottery or generate passive income by holding LBLOCK, the native token of the crypto lottery format. LBLOCK went on a 65x run in Q1 2022 and is currently around 73% off its all-time high.
Launched for trading – Jan 2022
Current price range – $0.0025 – $0.003
Market cap (fully diluted) – $275 million
Where to buy – Pancakeswap, LBank
Use case – Decentralized gaming, staking
Ethereum Classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) was in a downtrend for nine months – usually a good time to buy, and sure enough this month it pumped 100% from $25 to $50. That’s still almost 75% down from its all-time high (ATH) of $180 set in May 2021.
Seen the the ‘OG’ Ethereum, it had something of a cult following in early 2021 and if that is rekindled it could easily pump again, especially as it’s a relatively low cap coin, especially compared to ETH itself.
Launched for trading – July 2016
Current price range – $45 – $50
Market cap (fully diluted) – $10 billion
Where to buy – Binance, Crypto.com
Use case – The original Ethereum
Cardano
Similar to ETC, Cardano (ADA) also appears to have bottomed out and pumped 40% from $0.80 to over $1.10 this month, helped by news Coinbase would support Cardano staking.
If you’ve been following the push for a digital ID, Cardano are one of the blockchain projects at the centre of that, already striking strategic business partnerships to implement ways to store information on a digital ledger in Africa. ADA has stood the test of time, being a top 10 coin by marketcap since the 2017 bull run. ADA is still about 66% down from its ATH with potential to retest the $3 level and its ATH of $3.10.
Launched for trading – Oct 2017
Current price range – $1 – $1.15
Market cap (fully diluted) – $51 billion
Where to buy – eToro
Use case – Digital ID, Dapps
Is it Altcoin Season?
Bitcoin still needs to be close above the $45,000 resistance level, which has rejected it several times since January, to break out of its current sideways trading range. If would then print a convincing higher low on the monthly chart and the next crypto bull run could be on the cards.
