You are right "Protocol" coins will be the biggest players!
ETH
ETH is the biggest right now cause he takes all the job and supports ERC-20 tokens!!
ADA cardano
ADA looks like is going to be big, But he is not doing much yet! There is not enough working things yet If you toke out Hype and Charles Hoskinson.
XLM
XLM is big super fast secure but has not much ICO's running on it!
EOS
EOS says it will support ERC -20 But again has not much going yet! Actually "EOS tokens" are now on ETH network...
IOTA
IOTA is promising a lot but when you read what MIT wrote on them and the hype vs product stage... It is ?? I don't know.. Check it yourself.
ETC
ETC- you can buy about ETC at 3% of ETH price you can get the similar abilities? Are they still similar or took different paths?
I have my answers I just want you to think and have yours...
What do I think?
I think if you support a coin that is a platform support also the ICO's running on it.. And support the programmers the team the Forum do much more than just investing money in the coin! If you can...