I'd say there a few different sub-sectors within the crypto-currency space:
- The backbone currencies: bitcoin and ethereum. Everything else is going to be highly correlated to these two: if they fail, everything else is going down in value with them, at least in the medium term.
- The social network tokens. Yours (assuming they raise funds with their own altcoin), Synero and Steemit. At some point, one of these "the-users-own-the-network" things is going to come off, but it may not happen for a while. I'm happy to earn Steem but probably wouldn't buy any given the user engagement trajectory right now. I think that Synero is priced like it is already a success. Maybe the most interesting project in this space is Akasha; it's Ethereum-backed and they haven't even decided on whether they'll have their own token yet.
- App coins. These seem crazily over-priced to me right now - a full-on ICO bubble. Augur is a pretty good example of a business-model that has failed multiple times before (for regulatory reasons and for simple lack of demand) but is now being priced as a sure-fire winner...because blockchain? That's not to say there won't be some amazing, profitable apps running on Ethereum in 20 years time: but the ones being bid up now are more Pets.com than Amazon.
- Platform/service coins. These are much more interesting because they are grounded in real economic demand. I'd put Factom and Stratis in that category, and am keeping a close eye on whatever is coming out of Colony (an Ethereum project, not a coin, but one that is going to start producing interesting ideas, I think). This category also includes "AirBnB on the blockchain"-type ideas: this has huge potential - because why pay 20% to AirBnB when you can own a chunk of the network yourself and drive the margins down? - but I'd want to see something more than vaporware promises before parting with any cash.
And, if you like moonshots, it's definitely worth keeping up to date with @hexayurt's new VC venture: blockchain, VR and everything in between.
This is a great comment. Thank you. Followed!
You're welcome - it was helpful to actually write that down for the first time!