Through cryptocurrency, I plan to become a millionaire. But as David Bowie once hollered over the microphone, “it ain’t easy!”

Investing in innovation is never smooth sailing. Few understand this.

Amazon wildly swung between $50 and $10 dollars the first years it was on the market. Google lost half its value in 2008 dropping to $130 a share.

“Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.” — Warren Buffet

Cryptocurrency is highly volatile because we are on the cusp of web 3.0. 20 to 50% gains could happen on any given day in the crypto markets. The same goes for losses, unfortunately. Some days I can’t even look at my portfolio. I’d tear my hair out if I did.

All of the anxiety, the gray hairs (that aren’t torn out yet ) — it’ll all be worth it, one day.

If you want safe steady money — crypto ain’t it. Look into your 401(k) or government-issued bonds. If you want to invest in innovation, however, look no further than the projects I hold in my own crypto portfolio.

Ethereum (ETH)

Two months ago I sold all my Bitcoin. People were not happy with me.

I could silently hear all the Bitcoin deniers cheering as they clicked on that article, and the FUD (Fear Uncertainty Doubt) overwhelming crypto investors.

It wasn’t that I didn’t believe in Bitcoin —

It will reach $100,000 by year’s end.
And it will one day overtake gold’s market cap.

These things are certain. However, I was much more engrossed in Ethereum’s narrative and where it would head to next. As Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin expertly puts it, Bitcoin does one thing really really well. While Ethereum aims to do one hundred things really well.

Ethereum consists of 40% of my cryptocurrency portfolio and I continue to dollar-cost average into it every week. Furthermore, a leaked Goldman Sachs prediction estimates a ‘high chance’ Ethereum eclipses Bitcoin in market cap.

I guess we’ll see.

Cardano (ADA)

These next two projects are my hedges against any unforeseen problems with Ethereum.

Cardano has serious potential to become the second-strongest smart contract platform on the market, in turn, creating millionaires out of ADA investors.

My only qualm with Cardano is that there are no dApps on the platform. It’s had five years of peer-reviewed research to build up its foundation, but doesn’t have much else to show for it.

If Cardano blows up it’s going to reshape third-world countries and enable sound economics worldwide through its deflationary ADA token. However, Cardano has a long way to go. Its ecosystem is a desert.

That’s why it only makes up 15% of my portfolio.

Polkadot (DOT)

If you asked me last year whether I was more bullish on Cardano or Polkadot the answer would have been simple. ‘Cardano — duh.’

Oh, how the tables have turned.

Gavin Wood, the creator of Polkadot, has become my favorite person in the world of cryptocurrency. More than Vitalik, more than CEO of Binance Changpeng Zhao, or even Charles Hoskinson for that matter.

In fact, the first time Gavin met Charles Hoskinson, the Cardano founder bet him that he couldn’t program a working smart contract blockchain in one week’s time. The bet was one bottle of fine red wine.

Gavin did it, of course. And that barebones blockchain ended up being the first working version of Ethereum. Even Vitalik Buterin, someone who doesn’t express emotions often, cheered over Gavin’s success.

One man engineered the most innovative cryptocurrency on the planet while the other creators watched. It’s for this reason — and more — that DOT is now 15% of my portfolio.

Ripple (XRP)

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I mentioned XRP in an article. Gasp. Quick! Get the garlic. Say your prayers and recite the alphabet backward.

Even the slight hint of this cryptocurrency sent some readers wild.

‘How could you mention that shit coin?’ some asked.

Full disclosure, I do not own any XRP. But I have kept track of XRP for a long while now. This is because it’s one of the most important cryptocurrencies on the market.

Besides 10xing in value from the start of this year, XRP is involved in the most important lawsuit in cryptocurrency history. The SEC is arguing that XRP is a security, not a commodity.

Securities: Represent ownership in a publicly traded corporation. The expectations of profit are driven by a third party.

Commodities: Assets, property or goods that can be bought or sold on an exchange. They have much less regulation than securities.

Essentially the SEC is arguing that XRP is centralized by their parent company Ripple and is dependent on them. If the SEC wins and XRP becomes an asset like a stock it would be much more regulated and scrutinized. This could have ugly ramifications for the crypto market as a whole.

Thankfully, the SEC is on the losing side of this battle for now. Keep an eye on how this case develops — and I’ll do a deep dive on XRP in the future.

Chainlink (LINK)

In order for decentralized finance (DeFi) to function properly, Chainlink must have a future in cryptocurrency.

Chainlink is a decentralized oracle network on Ethereum that provides real-world data to smart contracts.

Cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Polkadot need this service because they function within a vacuum. This is intended. But it means they need projects like Chainlink to bridge the gap between traditional data and blockchain.

Unless Uniswap or other DeFi protocols become oracles in and of themselves — which Vitalik Buterin has considered — then Chainlink’s future is certain. It makes up 5% of my portfolio and I earn interest on it through BlockFi.

Dogecoin (DOGE)

Hahaha, no.

Ok — actually, yes. Dogecoin is headed to the moon. Seriously, no tricks. Nothing up my sleeves.

Dogecoin will eventually break $1 due to feverish hype and internet memes. It doesn’t mean, however, that I’ll ever hold a single cent Doge or not roll my eyes whenever someone asks me to explain it.

But it does have a future, in a strange way.

Elon Musk is a clown.

1inch (INCH)

1inch is my favorite decentralized exchange (DEX) in the entire cryptocurrency space.

More so than Uniswap, Pancakeswap or Sushiswap.

I was recently talking crypto with a friend who works in PR, and we both agreed, the UI for many of these DeFi projects is shit. However, it’s clear that 1inch is trying to set itself apart and make DeFi easy to use for everyone.

Further, through smart contracts, 1inch automagically completes your transaction through the cheapest exchange or reduces your order into smaller ones to cut back on high Ethereum gas fees.

The future of DeFi is determined by protocols that make the industry simple and more efficient to use. 1inch does both of these things effortlessly.

This is why it makes up 5% of my portfolio.

Basic Attention Token (BAT)

Basic Attention Token is still one of my favorite cryptocurrency projects, point black period end of story.

The Brave browser in and of itself is the best on the market. It’s fast, more private, and awards me $5 to $10 each month for viewing ads. When I order a carnitas Chipotle burrito I thank Brave for allowing this to happen.

This project has less room to grow in the intermediary as other cryptocurrencies steal the limelight. However, I do believe Brave can eventually overthrow the $330 billion ad industry and revolutionize how we transact on the internet.

BAT makes up 5% of my portfolio.

VeChain (VET)

VeChain is an enterprise blockchain with aims of providing a full view of a company’s supply chain.

Imagine this: The supply chain is tracked from the time a fish is caught at sea until it’s in your shopping cart getting ready to be thrown into the frying pan.

VeChain better ensures that ethical guidelines and safety standards are being met in any industry with a supply chain. So, basically every industry.

Moreover, it enables more practical usage of supply chain data for everyday people like you and me. No more having to blindly trust a supplier. You can actively manage where your supplies are coming from.

Pretty cool if you ask me.

Practical projects like VeChain are some of my favorites; it’s why I hold 5% of it in my portfolio.

The Takeaway

What — no Bitcoin?

There’s one important reason:

Not only do these projects possess the lower market caps necessary to grow much more than Bitcoin, but they are projects I had an attachment to much earlier into their lifecycles.

Win or lose, these are the projects I’m backing.

Bitcoin will never go away. I’m certain of that. It’s the market mover and still the best at what it does — be digital gold.

But it isn’t one of the projects I’m banking on to make me a millionaire.

Ever since I was a child it was my dream to become a financial advisor. Unfortunately, it never came true. Therefore I am not a financial advisor and you should do your own research and not just listen to random people on the internet. Nothing contained in this publication should be construed as investment advice.

Other projects I own that I didn’t mention were Uniswap, Bondly, and Ecomi.