There are too many cryptocurrencies in the world. There are over 8,000 coins and tokens ranked by CoinMarketCap, and thousands more too small or unnoteworthy for the site to keep watch over. It’s obviously a hyper-competitive market; the idea of each one of these cryptocurrencies having their own unique use case and sizable base of traders is highly unlikely. And with investors preparing for a crypto winter, many are seeking out which cryptos to sell to soften the damage.
The market is ripe for a correction. The Federal Reserve is planning to accelerate its tapering, making investors generally more risk-averse in their investments. Beyond this, China is continuing to harshly regulate digital assets. Meanwhile, India is dragging down digital currency with proposed legislation, and the U.S. is targeting regulations as Congress convenes to debate crypto. These factors add up to a fair bit of fear among crypto holders.
That fear is being magnified by today’s downturn in crypto prices. Just a month after hitting its all-time high, Bitcoin (CCC:BTC-USD) is down by over $20,000. Ethereum (CCC:ETH-USD) is down 10% just today, and recent favorites Avalanche (CCC:AVAX-USD) and Polygon (CCC:MATIC-USD) are down 14% and 15%, respectively. These are massive cryptos too; each of the projects listed has billions of dollars in market capitalization.
With all of this in mind, it’s clear that not every crypto will survive a significant market downturn. Which are the cryptos to sell, though?
Here are a few to watch if you want to trim the fat ahead of hard times:
- Internet Computer (CCC:ICP-USD)
- SushiSwap (CCC:SUSHI-USD)
- SafeMoon (CCC:SAFEMOON-USD)
Cryptos to Sell: Internet Computer (ICP-USD)
If you’re holding onto Internet Computer’s ICP coin right now, you’re probably extremely bullish on the tech the network offers. Or, you’re holding for the long term and praying for a turnaround. ICP has had a rough go for basically its entire history as a publicly traded crypto. With the market shaping up for yet another downturn, it could be a good time to let it go and move that money elsewhere.
Internet Computer aims to be the next major wave of blockchain; it takes smart contracts and ramps up their efficiency to internet speeds. It’s a very attractive idea, but it has not proven successful in attracting new capital. In fact, it is only really proving consistent at losing value. ICP launched in early May at a price of around $360; it quickly flew north of $700, but ever since the first week, the coin has been on a steep and steady downward spiral. It currently trades at just over $25. Just two months ago that price stood at $45, which shows just how sharp the decline has been.
Beyond these simple price woes, investors have have plenty of gripes aimed at the Dfinity Foundation — the institution behind Internet Computer. Many users allege Dfinity mishandled the allotment of coins upon launch. This is in turn spawning hard forks of the currency; of course, with new options to invest in this technology via these hard forks, there’s little incentive to keep money in ICP.
SushiSwap (SUSHI-USD)
Decentralized exchange (DEX) token SushiSwap is a noteworthy project; it’s the fifth-largest DEX by trading volume and it has a dedicated community.
However, it is also undergoing some obvious internal drama. This could easily unseat SUSHI from its spot among the top DEX platforms, especially in the event of a serious market correction.
Drama has been following SushiSwap ever since the end of 2020. The platform’s creator — the pseudonymous Chef Nomi – was caught in September 2020 taking millions of dollars in Ethereum from the protocol’s development fund wallet. Ever since, there are murmurs that keep escaping from within the project of power struggles.
In September 2021, the platform’s then-leader, the pseudonymous 0xMaki, stepped down from their leadership role to take an advisory role in the community. Core developer Mudit Gupta left earlier this month as well; Gupta came into the spotlight this fall after denying the existence of what some crypto influencers had identified as a bug which could put over $1 billion at risk.
If this is all not enough, there’s also the exit of the platform’s CTO. Joseph Delong is the last CTO of the SushiSwap network; he’s also the most recent and one of the most notable team members to step away from the project. Delong’s resignation tweet from last week warns of much infighting still at the company; he calls the platform “imperiled.”
SUSHI popped briefly today after a major DApp developer published a proposal to absorb the network into his ecosystem. However, with the community torn on the idea, it did not last long. SUSHI is now down 4%.
Cryptos to Sell: SafeMoon (SAFEMOON-USD)
Speaking of cryptos seeing internal drama, it appears as though SushiSwap is in good company. A token that had a heck of a spring is now in some hot water, with its 2.0 launch drawing critique. As such, there’s a lot of bearish sentiment to be levied at the SafeMoon token.
SafeMoon’s big SafeMoon 2.0 launch happened over the weekend. While the event meant to be a huge catalyst for the token, it has brought more red than green. The overhaul, which reconsolidated the circulating supply of tokens and laid the groundwork for future upgrades, preceded a loss of 11% today.
It seems this connects to former Chief Business Officer Thomas Smith’s comments directly after the launch of the 2.0 token. Smith joined the “SafeMoon After Dark” Twitter space and shared his opinion on the project. There, he said that SafeMoon leader John Karony has had his personal devices hacked, implying SafeMoon may not be secure. Moreover, he directly criticized the state of SafeMoon 2.0, saying the upgraded protocol would never pass an audit.
Smith also discussed the recent high of SafeMoon team members, saying these employees were either fired or quit before they could be fired.
But in addition to the SushiSwap-esque internal drama, SafeMoon also has an ICP-esque price chart. Since the token peaked at an all-time high in late April, it has remained in steady decline. The token is down nearly 90% from its all-time high.
On the date of publication, Brenden Rearick did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
