Crypto Investing Starter Guide to Cardano, Polkadot, Cosmos, and Fetch
With over 15,700 cryptos listed on CoinMarketCap.com – and counting – you have a lot of choices for your first cryptocurrencies to buy.
Of course, not all of those choices are good investments, and a lot of folks who want to start investing are sitting on the sidelines because they don’t want to pick the wrong ones.
According to a Pew Research poll released in November 2021, only 16% of Americans say they have invested, traded, or used cryptocurrency.
If you’re ready to invest in crypto but don’t know where to start, we’re here for you.
To make it as easy as possible to get started, American Institute for Crypto Investors Chief Crypto Strategist Nick Black has a starter pack of six cryptocurrencies to buy.
The Starter Crypto Portfolio
Nick chooses these coins for two reasons: how easy they are to buy and their ability to make you money.
Now, Bitcoin and Ethereum may be familiar names on this list, but the other four may be new names to you.
That’s why we’re going to break down everything you need to know about Cardano, Polkadot, Cosmos, and Fetch to show you why they offer so much moneymaking potential.
Cardano (ADA)
Team: Charles Hoskinson, Gavin Wood, Anthony Di Iorio, and Joseph Lubin
Website: Cardano.org
Social Media: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit
Nick Black 2022 Price Prediction: $15
Created by Charles Hoskinson, the co-founder of Ethereum in 2015, Cardano is the first cryptocurrency founded on peer-reviewed research and developed through evidence-based models. Cardano stakes its name on being secure, ethical, and sustainable.
Using a peer-reviewed, proof-of-stake platform, Cardano provides immense security and sustainability.
The beauty of using proof-of-stake is that the ‘block validator’ stakes their own coins for the opportunity to ‘mint’ the new block. This uses significantly less energy than proof-of-work, and the validator will lose the coins they stake if they create a fraudulent block.
If all of that sounds a little techy, don’t worry. Here are some real-world examples of Cardano in action.
On April 19, the Cardano announced that it is going to upgrade Ethiopia‘s education system.
Cardano will use its technology to grade students’ work digitally, monitor the school’s performance, and even create a tamper-proof system for recording information.
This technology will significantly benefit the country’s 3,500 schools and every student and teacher in them.
Polkadot (DOT)
Team: Gavin Wood, Robert Habermeier, and Peter Czaban
Website: Polkadot.network
Social Media: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit
Created by Gavin Wood, the co-founder of Ethereum, the
best way to visually describe Polkadot is to imagine a group of, well, polka dots.
Each polka dot represents a single blockchain independent of all other blockchains. Not by choice, but because they can’t connect with each other on their own.
Polkadot wants to connect these blockchains together to make a secure and connected blockchain where cryptos like Cardano, Ethereum, and Bitcoin can share data and information.
Since Polkadot connects these larger cryptos with smaller parachains, they can process more than 1,000 transactions per second. This is beyond impressive considering that Ethereum processes 30 transactions per second and Bitcoin only processes 7.
With Polkadot’s innovative and secure platform, they’ve been able to create something called a Layer-0 function.
Layer-0 is basically a road connecting all cryptos and creating an interconnected crypto ecosystem. This makes creating and using a blockchain significantly more accessible than before, allowing for even more technological crypto advancements in the very near future.
Cosmos (ATOM)
Team: Jae Kwon and Ethan Buchman
Website: Cosmos.network
Social Media: YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, Discord
Nick Black 2022 Price Prediction: $200
Cosmos has the incredibly ambitious goal of hosting the entire planet’s cryptocurrency population through something called interoperability.
Interoperability means each cryptocurrency will be able to maintain its individuality while interacting with all the other cryptocurrencies on the market.
Cosmos will allow for every cryptocurrency to interact through one or more hubs. When connected to these hubs, the currencies can easily trade and transfer multiple tokens between blockchains without having expensive fees.
The Cosmos Software Developer Kit allows developers to securely create new cryptocurrencies at a fraction of the time. In fact, they can process tens of thousands of transactions per second.
This will take crypto into a newer and faster world of trading.
Fetch.ai (FET)
Team: Humayun Sheikh, Thomas Hain, and Toby Simpson
Website: Fetch.ai
Social Media: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit
Nick Black 2022 Price Prediction: $15
Founded by Humayun Sheikh, Thomas Hain, and Toby Simpson in 2017, Fetch was created in an artificial intelligence (A.I.) lab in Cambridge, England. Fetch is a decentralized, machine-learning platform that enables secure sharing, connection, and transactions based on global data.
To put it simply, Fetch’s is using A.I. combined with global data to make your life significantly easier.
Fetch is currently working with the German automotive company Bosch, using A.I. to make finding a parking spot a frustrating task of the past. Wondering why they’re doing this? It’s because German scientists realized that using this software will save 41 hours and 900€ per year just by eliminating looking for a parking spot.
Of course, Fetch’s technology goes beyond just parking spaces. It can help financial companies optimize trading, cities could restructure their public transportation system to be more efficient, and energy networks could be connected to a smart energy grid.
The possibilities are endless.
Now, here’s how to buy each of these cryptos.
How to Buy Cardano (ADA), Polkadot (DOT), Cosmo (ATOM), and Fetch (FET) on Coinbase
Step 1:
Go to the Coinbase website (www.coinbase.com). Fill in your email address, and click the “Get Started” button.
Step 2:
You will see a “Create Your Account” dialog box. Fill in the blanks,
make sure to create a strong password (use a mix of letters, numbers, capital letters, and special characters). Coinbase will send you a verification email. You’ll need to check your email and click on the link in the Coinbase email to continue. Clicking on the verification email will take you back to the Coinbase site.
Step 3:
You will be walked through a series of screens that ask you for additional information. First, it will ask if you’re setting up an account for an individual or a business. After you click on “Individual,” you will be asked for a phone number. Be sure to use a mobile phone number – not a landline – as Coinbase sometimes uses the text messaging feature to send the security codes required in two-step verification.
Step 4:
Now, you’ve arrived at the “Add Account” page. This is how you’ll get U.S. dollars into your account to buy Cardano (ADA), Polkadot (DOT), Cosmo (ATOM), and Fetch (FET). You have three options: a bank account, a credit card, or a wire transfer. A bank account gives you higher limits than a credit card. (Coinbase has limits on how much cryptocurrency a customer can buy or sell in a given time period.) The link to a bank account also works both ways – when you sell, you can transfer the proceeds back into your account, which isn’t possible with a credit or debit card. But using a credit card gives you the ability to buy instantly.
Fund transfers via bank accounts take four to five days to confirm – not ideal when you want to buy now. However, you can link both types if you like – as well as more than one of each type. To link a bank account, click on that option and scroll through the list to find your bank. Then, all you have to do is type in the online ID and password you use when logging in to your bank’s website. The credit card option asks for the number, expiration date, CVC code (a three-digit code – usually on the back), and your zip code – pretty similar to how you’d make a credit card purchase on a retailer’s website. You may also need to submit an image of a photo ID – such as a driver’s license – to confirm your identity.
Step 5:
To enable your Coinbase U.S.- dollar wallet, you need to do another verification step. (I know all this verification seems burdensome, but it’s necessary to prevent fraud – and much of it is required by law.) Click on your name in the upper-right corner of the Coinbase screen and select “Settings” from the drop-down menu. To verify your U.S.-dollar wallet, click on the link highlighted with the light blue background (the words are “Verifying Your Identity”). You’ll be taken to a page that asks for your personal identification data as well as your occupation.
Step 6:
At this point, you’re ready to use the Coinbase service and buy ADA, DOT, ATOM, and FET.
You can also set up recurring buys here if you want to purchase a set amount of a particular cryptocurrency at a set interval of a day, week, every two weeks, or monthly.
Once you hit the “Buy” button, the cryptocurrency is deposited directly in your Coinbase wallet (immediately, if you used a credit card – several days later, if you used a bank account).
That’s it!
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To your investing success,
The American Institute for Crypto Investors Research Team
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