The Best Cryptocurrencies for Feb. 26, 2018 (LTC, HIRE, ZCL, ETC, ADX, PRL, and VEN)

To read out previous installment of ‘Top Coins for the Week,’ click here.

Top cryptocurrencies for the week are a straightforward selection; we can do this by analyzing the future calendar for the upcoming week. Events that trigger significant publicity or major changes to a coin’s structure tend to increase or decrease the cryptocurrency’s value greatly. The question is which specific events will positively or negatively impact cryptocurrencies in the upcoming week. This week has significant developments for; LTC, HIRE, ETC, ADX, PRL, and VEN.

Preparing for the Week

There are multiple major events in the crypto space happening in the last week of February. These events will likely trigger massive amounts of publicity surrounding specific coins leading to their pump in value. If the event is smaller, it may provide a unique buying opportunity that had not previously existed. This week’s events are stacked with one of the top five major cryptocurrencies releasing fantastic news while many other smaller cryptocurrencies have events that should not go unnoticed.

The summary of the great upcoming news would be as follows; litecoin (LTC) is releasing the first completely legal crypto-backed debit card and payment system. Hirematch (HIRE) is being listed on their first exchange following the successful completion of their ICO (HitBTC). PRL has an upcoming airdrop and has seen a dramatic decrease in value the last 48 hours. Ethereum Classic is having an airdrop with ever-growing hype surrounding it. AdEx (ADX) is having their Beta platform released and has already had successful partnerships with Easyjet. VeChain is one of the largest names in supply chain management and is undergoing a rebranding this week.

The upcoming week seems to have significant events that can shape the cryptocurrency market for years to come.

Litecoin: LTC

Hopefully, you have heard the Litecoin (LTC) news. Otherwise, it is likely you are living under a rock. Charlie Lee sold all of his LTC back in December causing an immediate crash in the price to work on Litepay and other LTC related projects full time. Many harassed Mr. Lee for this move as it seemed he was abandoning his project. It is likely Mr. Lee was one step ahead of 2018 regulations and wanted to make sure his comments were not influencing the value of his holdings and possibly have an SEC regulatory issue. Either way, Mr. Lee did not abandon LTC and their associated projects but has been working on them full force and is clearly very excited about the upcoming launch of Litepay.

LTC is currently trading at $222 with a market cap of $12.3 billion. This is compared to the other Top 5 Large-Cap Cryptos which all have market caps starting at $24 billion (Bitcoin Cash – BCH) all the way to Bitcoin’s (BTC) with a market cap $163 billion. LTC has the smallest market cap by far of the “Top 5,” and this was because until recently LTC lacked utility. BTC has the brand name and was “first” making it the dominating player in the market. Ethereum (ETH) is number two due to the increasing number of ICOs and DApps launched on their network. Ripple (XRP) is number four because of the market adoption by money service providers and banks. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) solved BTC’s flaws but now should fade into oblivion as BTC has solved its own flaws. Leaving us with LTC. LTC had no real utility until February 26, 2018.

Yes, it could be traded on exchanges and used as a store of wealth. Real value is created when a coin becomes truly utilizable. Litepay makes LTC have complete utility. Litepay intends to undercut every major credit card company by solely charging a one percent flat fee to merchants. This will cut their fees by more than 50 percent. Litepay also promises instant transfer of funds. Merchants will no longer have to wait three to five business days for credit card purchases to “clear.” For the consumer Litepay allows the user to load their debit card with LTCs to be able to be converted at the live market rate across the globe at ATMs and stores. The benefits of this are truly endless. There will be no need for exorbitant foreign exchange fees for the consumer or ridiculous credit card transaction fees for the merchant.

The future of crypto banking is here, and LTC is taking the first steps to fully implement a crypto-system that can circumvent the “centralized” system. Welcome to the world Litepay, and for all the LTC holders out there, this should be a $1000 coin by the end of 2018 assuming no hiccups from the Litepay team. If consumers can transfer LTC to be used at ATMs and stores worldwide; while merchants have lower fees and instant receipt of funds, $1000 will be the low-end evaluation for LTC.

Hirematch: HIRE

LTC was one of the top five largest cryptocurrencies in the market. What about one of the smallest ones? Hirematch (HIRE) just completed their ICO raising multiple millions of dollars. Their entire market cap is just under $5 million, so this is a coin with genuine “moon” potential. They have an exceptionally solid team based out of the United States. This same team built the web platform Recruiter.com and has already solidified partnerships based on their prior network and connections. Their listing goes live on February 26, 2018, on HitBTC. Therefore, the readers reading this have the first opportunity to purchase if they missed the ICO.

HIRE was featured in a recent piece regarding how blockchain technologies are disrupting the Freelance Marketplace. It seems they are one of the early entrants to bringing job opportunities to the blockchain. By removing intermediaries associated with the recruitment industry, HIRE is able to dramatically reduce the costs of helping individuals find work while allowing other individuals to work as intermediaries. Why do high paid recruiters have to help individual A find a job? If you are working in an office and there is an opening shouldn’t you receive the same credit for helping fill that position as a recruiter? Of course! The recruitment fee is generally over ten percent and by placing this on the blockchain one’s job history can be monitored, individuals can receive credit for referring job seekers to opportunities, all while saving each party a significant percentage of their earned wage.

HIRE is the smallest cap crypto attempting to revolutionize the freelance marketplace and is likely to have success because of their partnerships. Any degree of success will drive this coin with a market cap of $5 million to well over $20 million. Currently only traded on HitBTC, the options are very limited to procure it but if you are able to prior to it being listed on a larger exchange the returns will be well worth it.

AdEx: ADX

AdEx (ADX) is a blockchain-based marketplace for advertisements. Currently, the online advertising marketplace is plagued with major problems surrounding ad fraud, privacy issues, and consent regarding specific sponsored messages. AdEx is both a company and the ADX currency. The AdEx network has multiple layers. The first consists of the Ad Exchange based on Ethereum Smart Contracts. The ADX cryptocurrency is used within this Ad Exchange ecosystem to buy and sell advertising space.

What is so unique about ADX, is within this blockchain-based marketplace advertisers can create ads and then place bids for them and set the bid in the ADX token. This provides actual utility for the ADX token while having provided a significant amount of investment capital to build the platform and blockchain. ADX has previously partnered with companies like Easyjet to place ads on their tickets. ADX is not in its infancy like most cryptocurrencies and has already solidified major partnerships. However, even with major partners, ADX is trading at $1.56 per token with a market cap of $14.7 million.

This week is notable for ADX for one main reason. ADX has the BETA release of their platform occurring on February 26, 2018. This is very important news for a crypto trying to build its market cap and mass adoption by mainstream businesses.

ZClassic: ZCL

ZClassic (ZCL) has been written about a few times as their fork quickly approaches. Significant developments that occurred this week are that there are currently three wallets/exchanges supporting the fork and the whitepaper was released. The fork countdown can be found here. The snapshot is occurring for the first blocks occuring after February 28, 2018, at 5:00 pm UTC, with the fork itself due a couple of days after. If you intend to hold your ZCL through the fork make sure they are located on; Coinomi, Electrum or Tradesatoshi. This list is likely to change as ZCL, and Bitcoin Private (BTCP) had great news recently!

The BTCP test net became fully operational on February 23, 2018. The reason this is so important is that it is one of the main requirements to be traded on an exchange like Binance or Bittrex. BTCP may have a nice surprise this week as an exchange, even like Cryptopia, may surprise many with a last minute announcement providing support. Many new nodes are being added daily, strengthening the test net and preparing for the main net launch two days following the February 28, 2018, BTC and ZCL fork. As more nodes are added, and the testnet is strengthened, and it becomes increasingly likely other exchanges provide support for this upcoming ZCL and BTC fork. For each ZCL and BTC you hold in a supported wallet you will receive a 1:1 ratio of BTCP. A bitcoin-branded privacy coin.

Remember ZCL has provided two forks. ZCash (ZEC) and BTCP. ZCash paid huge dividends to its holders and miners in the past. ZCL is a long-term hold as each fork it has provided is of exceptional value. Rumors are already swirling that because this BTC and ZCL fork went so smoothly that the same concept could be applied to LTC and other major cryptos adding privacy features while forking with ZCL. There will undoubtedly be a dump of ZCL shares following the fork snapshot, but the real winner will be the individual accumulating at the bottom waiting for the next surprise ZCL announcement, or the individual holding long term.

Ethereum Classic: ETC

Ethereum Classic (ETC) is having a similar occurrence to ZCL. No, it is not having a “fork,” but it is having an airdrop, which to an investor means almost the same thing. The result is the cryptocurrency you currently hold is providing a dividend essentially in the form of a new coin on the “snapshot” date. ZCL is doing this through a “fork” process while ETC is doing this through an “airdrop.” An airdrop provides a specific new coin at a ratio to current holders. ETC is providing a ratio of 1:1 Callisto (CLO) at block height 5.5 million.

CLO is unique as it is a separate blockchain based on ETC protocols. CLO introduces a Cold staking protocol that rewards coin holders for being network participants. Cold staking creates benefits for coin holders to aid the network and work to ensure there are long-term holders versus those solely looking to moon. Currently, ETC is trading at $37.01 with a market cap of $3.7 billion. The expected date of the CLO airdrop is March 4, 2018. With a strong team already in place and no recent setbacks, it seems ETC is slow in correcting to its January high even as the airdrop approaches. January 15, 2018, ETC spiked to $46 per coin. This number should be approached prior to the airdrop at the predetermined block height.

Oyster: PRL

Oyster (PRL) follows the likes of ETC and ZCL providing an “airdrop” or “fork” in the coming months. PRL’s airdrop happens to be April 6, 2018, of the SHL token. However, PRL is not on this list due to an airdrop occurring a month away, although it is recommended to purchase long before the airdrop to take advantage of the rise in hype as the date approaches. PRL makes the list of top coins for the week because they have two major events occurring very soon. They have their implementation of test net b while also having a token burn of over ten percent of the coins in circulation on March 1, 2018. Expect PRL to rally very hard following the token burn and Test Net B launch. Following the token burn, the countdown will begin leading up to the SHL airdrop, and people who were holding ZCL and ETC will be rotating profits into the next airdrop, PRL.

The SHL token is not having an ICO and will not be sold at a future date. SHL will be provided on a 1:1 ratio to all PRL holders. The SHL whitepaper is on the horizon of being release. The purpose of the SHL is to be a form of payment on the PRL meshnet. If the user wants to make a call using a WhatsApp equivalent, on a decentralized secure network, their form of payment would be SHL tokens.

SHL and PRL specialize in providing methods for web hosts to profit from users visiting their sites. They are accomplishing this while removing advertisements! By removing advertisements but using a small percentage of the web visitors processing power to provide confirmations for PRL transactions, the web host can still benefit from page views. This income is derived from the web host being paid in PRL and SHL allowing them to profit while not having annoying advertisements. The user will not even notice their processing power being borrowed in the short term. The second step for PRL and SHL is to develop a world without ISPs, centralized web monitoring, and centralized infrastructure. What PRL and SHL are trying to do is revolutionary, even for the blockchain sector.

PRL has a second version of their test net being released this week. A token burn amounting to over ten percent of the coins in circulation in the middle of next week. And most importantly the money that follows airdrops and forks is riding ETC and ZCL right now. Once they complete February 28 and March 4, a majority of those funds will flow into PRL. This week is the perfect opportunity to buy into PRL before the ZCL and ETC money pushes it higher on the news of a token burn and Test Net release.

VeChain: VEN

VeChain (VEN) is going through a major rebranding February 26, 2018, in Singapore. Currently, each VEN is trading at $5.83 with a market cap of $2.77 billion. VEN is one of the cryptocurrencies having significant market adoption having successfully entered the Supply Chain Management sector. VEN’s rebranding coupled with their significant market adoption and strong partnerships make them a strong play in the long term but also a focus of the week. The rebranding is the most important event occurring this week as their new image is very important to critique, as the entire cryptocurrency world will be doing just that. If the new rebranding is viewed in a positive light, expect the price of VEN to trend North. If the rebranding is deemed unsatisfactory, the price will likely crash.

The company behind VEN is a Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) firm focused on the Internet of Things (IoT). VEN’s primary purpose is ensuring the authenticity of a company’s supply chain. By using the blockchain, a company’s goods can be guaranteed authentic as they can be monitored from production to sale. VEN is able to accomplish this authentication of goods in a decentralized, global network, which uses smart chips to monitor products as they are tracked through their life cycles.

The list of VEN partnership with real-world production firms is what makes VEN standout from many other cryptocurrencies. January 18, 2018, VEN partnered with Fanghuwang, an online lending platform in China with $3.3 billion in managed assets. Renault is another one of the major names on VEN’s long list of impressive partnerships. VEN has successfully entered the financial markets providing solutions to businesses on the blockchain while also entering the supply chain management arena.

VEN’s rebranding February 26 makes it a very strong play for the week. The reality VEN has already accomplished market adoption, and partnerships with many multi-billion dollar companies demonstrate their long-term importance. This should be a strong week for VEN with a stronger 2018 to come. This week hinges on the cryptocurrency markets approval or disapproval of the rebranding. Look to the market’s reaction on February 26 for tell-tale signs.

Other Notable Events This Week

February 26

AppCoins (APPC) – Is having their App Store Foundation Website launch. This should provide a boost for what has been a relatively quiet crypto until now.

Dent (DENT) – Is having their Android Application release at MWC2018 in Barcelona. The market reaction occurring February 26 will be telling if the public approves or disapproves of the Android application.

February 28

Polymath (POLY) – Hosting Polycon 2018 in Nassau, Bahamas. This event is meant for security tokens and should provide significant exposure for what was originally an airdropped coin demonstrating major potential.

CME Group BTC Settlement Date on Futures – Volatility always surrounds the days of futures expiration. Expect nothing less from February 28, 2018.

Conclusion: It Is a Great Week For Cryptocurrencies

LTC is clearly the headliner this week with their release of Litepay. However, if you are holding ZCL be very vigilant if it is worth it to hold through the fork or sell prior when ZCL peaks in the next few days. If you are interested in buying HIRE for a moon opportunity make sure to have a HitBTC account set up on February 26, 2018, to be able to purchase when it hits the first exchange since their ICO.

If you enjoy riding rebranding hype and have faith in VEN today is a perfect day have purchased prior to the rebranding occurring. ADX has major updates to their already successful platform coming in the next few days while ETC is holding an airdrop in under ten days. PRL should not be forgotten as they are holding a token burn, upgrading their test net, and having an airdrop April 6, 2018. Each of these coins have major events occurring very soon making them prime targets for immediate purchase.

A trader’s perspective to note; money in these markets rotate around very carefully. They rotate between riding the hype of specific events, airdrops, conferences, big releases, and updates, etc. This week money will be rotating out of ZCL and into ETC, following that it will be switching out of ETC and into PRL. This allows the investor to take advantage of the rises leading up to these highlighted events. Stay ahead of the curve, and you will make significant money. Or select the airdrops you have the most faith in and HODL for the three months to let the team develop the coin and the market to price it appropriately.

To read the King’s prior articles, to find out which ICOs he currently recommends, or to get in contact directly with the King, you can on Twitter (@JbtheCryptoKing) or Reddit (ICO updates and Daily Reports).

To read the entire ‘Top Coins for the Week’ series, click here.