Altcoins to watch out for in December

It has been a rough year for the digital asset industry. The crypto winter that began in December 2021 continues to grip the market, and an end seems nowhere in sight. There are plenty of reasons for this extended bear run, such as the war in Ukraine, escalating energy prices, regulatory concerns, upcoming inflation, and, very recently, the collapse of FTX.

However, even in these dire conditions, some cryptocurrencies seem well-positioned to buck the trend and register handsome gains in the short term. Here’s a look at three such coins and the factors that could send them to the moon in the coming days.

The Orbeon Protocol (ORBN) is an exciting new project that aims to revolutionise decentralised investments. The protocol enables users to purchase fractionalised NFTs representing stakes in budding start-ups.

The Orbeon protocol wants to simplify the process of investing in start-ups and make it more accessible to people regardless of their place of origin, experience, or wealth. People can start investing from as little as $1, which makes an enormous difference as investing in start-ups otherwise requires a generous amount of capital.

The platform boasts advanced blockchain technology with services compatible with the Metaverse and Web3. A unique 'Fill or Kill' mechanism has been added to the protocol’s smart contract, which acts as proof of guarantee that if a company fails to generate the minimum funds to start the business, then investors will get their money back.

The Orbeon protocol offers substantial benefits to ORBN holders, such as access to funding rounds, bonuses, rewards, stakes, investor groups, and much more. Phase 1 of the ORBN token presale was quite successful, and now the second phase is ongoing. Investors see enormous potential in the token value, which according to several market predictions, can increase up to sixty times to reach $0.24 from $0.004, the token’s initial launch price.

Apecoin (APE) is one of the top trending tokens in the market. As a token launched by one of the most popular NFT projects, the Bored Ape Yacht Club, APE, enjoys a special place among investors. APE gained over 31 percent during the previous week, and investors speculate that the coin will go up even higher in 2023.

This is because ApeCoin is gearing up to launch its staking mechanism. As a result, the Ethereum-based token is eyeing some serious gains before this new feature is introduced. Over the past week, the floor prices of BAYC and Mutant Ape NFTs have also shot up by 34 percent.

At the time of writing, APE was priced at $3.95. Although the coin was hit pretty hard due to the FTX collapse, it still rebounded from its all-time low of $2.63 on Nov 14. APE has outperformed most of the cryptocurrencies in the market in the past week, and investors are eyeing further gains in the coming days.

Some experts have even estimated that, based on the ApeCoin ecosystem and the price performance over the past few days, the token has the potential to reach resistance levels at $11 as well.

Blockchains are essentially shut off from the outside world. While this is good for security and integrity, it limits the availability of real-world data. This can be a huge problem, as blockchains depend on 'off-chain' forces that influence markets to function. This includes fiat currencies, credit cards, weather forecasts and even sports updates.

This is where Chainlink comes into play. It is a decentralised oracle network that feeds real-world data to smart contracts on the blockchain. In simple terms, it acts like a bridge that helps blockchain systems interpret external information. It provides smart contracts with the data they need to execute the agreements coded within them.

Over the last seven days, the blockchain’s native cryptocurrency, LINK, has registered a significant upswing. At the time of writing, LINK was trading at $7.55, registering a 1.52 percent spike in the last 24 hours and a 13.11 percent rise in the last week. The growth spurt could be attributed to several positive updates from Chainlink’s Twitter account.

A November 19 tweet cited test results from RoboVault, which showed that Chainlink is significantly more reliable than its peers. This reinforces the network’s reputation as the 'go-to' option for developers building advanced DeFi protocols. On the same day, Chainlink also posted some impressive network numbers.

“Over 1,000 #Chainlink decentralized oracle networks have launched to power #Web3. Enabling 6T+ in transaction volume. Delivering 5B+ data points on-chain. Supporting 14+ blockchains and L2s,” the tweet read.

Moreover, the network is getting ready to launch its staking mechanism on December 6. This could cause the price of LINK to see a further upswing. Trusted market analyst and founder of trading platform, Eight Global, Michaël van de Poppe, anticipates LINK to hit or cross above $9 in the coming days. Technical indicators back this notion, pointing to a price valuation of $9.40 by the second week of December.

No matter how strong the signs are, cryptocurrencies are highly volatile and can fluctuate wildly in days or even hours. Therefore, it is essential to do your own research and invest only as much as you are comfortable with losing completely.