I've been in the community since 2012, writing for NxT in 2013/14 and for Core Magazine in 2015/16. I've watched the community grow, not just in size, but have also seen a slight transition from petty, greedy, and arrogant behavior to a less hostile, even sometimes professional attitude. When you have the most controversial currency on the planet, 10X the volatility of anything else, primary adoption by 20 something males, in the internet era of twitter, facebook, discord, and forums, people shouldn't be surprised to discover more negative behavior then in the Corporate Executive Boardroom. Yet still, there is a an element of honor and morality in the Crypto-sphere that doesn't seem to be at the Corporate Level. In the Crypto-sphere there is both the "me me me" and the "win-win" sitting side by side. The Crypto-sphere is Open Source and Collaborative, and generally a win for any Crypto is a win for all.
An immutable Ledger such as Bitcoin was a huge step towards modern day financial autonomy for the aggregate populous, but the next wave of tech will include more Privacy options for every aspect of human autonomous digital life. Humans do so much more than simple financial transactions that some added privacy depth and breadth is needed.
Beyond the Immutable Ledger and Financial Autonomy, are technologies providing entire Eco-Systems and Platforms full of Internet Autonomy. The Financial Autonomy provided by the Immutable ledger acts as an anchor for everything else. When teams of developers, legal, marketing, etc. can earn a viable income, then it's only a matter of time before the rest of the Autonomous technology is spawned. In development are Blockchain Privacy, Network Privacy, Asset Tokenization, Chat, Video, Talk, Cross Chain Swaps, Cross Chain Contracts, Governance Models, Marketplaces, Blockchain Nation Building, File Sharing, Content Delivery, Oracles, Prediction Market Forecasting, Provably Fair Non-Custodial Gambling and Betting, Smart Contract Exposure/Shorts/Longs, Smart Contract Credit, Digital Identity, Cloud Based Super Computing, Supply Chain Verification, Dis-Intermediation, P2P, Permission-less, Exclusion-less, etc. etc. etc. They sky is the limit, and great tech is reaching for it.
The following is probably the most controversial of my opinions:
While I appreciate what Bitcoin and Mining has accomplished for Immutable Consensus, I prefer some sort of Staking or Masternode Hybrid to a pure hashing solution. Some say it (Staking/Masternodes) make the rich richer. But, you either pay for mining hardware and electricity, thus concentrating wealth in the asic makers and electricity producers, or you buy the actual coins and be directly compensated for securing the Network. Thus far, most of the network attacks have occurred on mining networks. Apparently, buying up 51% of the Staking Power to attack the network and thus trash the speculative value of the Coin you just bought 51% of, seems to be very effective at reducing attack. Staking/Masternodes also allow more of the computing power to go towards services that will hopefully one day super-cede the Centralized Internet of Money, instead of using all the computing power for merely hashing. I do suspect that one day mining can be multi purpose, and that hash power can be used for Cloud Based Super Computing or Neural Networks. Maybe it could be automatic, in that during times of less demand, GPUs are hashing and then when demand comes, they switch-over to Super Computer Cloud mode. Plus, throw in what happened to GigaWatt as they attempted to create more populous based distributed and yet still competitive Mining Farms, and it makes more and more sense that new tech is moving away from mining. It's also easy to imagine Bitcoin remaining the top dog, and it's hashing power being utilized to secure many more projects.
Also important to me is some sort of plan to move from the initial team to a Governance Model, whether it's 2 years or 10 years. We've already seen hundreds of teams implode and coins, chains, and tokens become obsolete. I think we'll learn that Governance Models can recover from complete team abandonment. For this reason, although I appreciate many of the coins and tokens that are controlled by for profit companies, I lean towards tech that has a Governance Model in it's future. Blockchain tech controlled by for profit companies can leverage others to secure their network, yet keep the underlying intention of little regard for coin/token holders. While a motivated and brilliant team will outperform an aggregate populous model, those people will eventually move on, and the speculative value can crumble to the level that the ecosystem can't recover. For those reasons, I prefer a Team with a Governance Model in the works.
Lastly, and possibly the most important of all, is the community. A community composed of fickle, trite, petty, greedy, arrogant, me me mes, may be the biggest indicator of coin in decline. I look for positive communities and very professional and empathetic team members. They can feed off of each other, amplifying a positive culture. When a worry troll posts some irrational diatribe and much of the community jumps to caustic and arrogant replies, I see that as indication that the coin is in decline.
My 5 favorite coins, in order of their CAP.
Komodo: Zk-Snarks privacy - already offers a gazillion features, with an entire ecosystem just on the verge. My only (slight) negative is the notary node voting model. I prefer coins where anyone who wants to contribute to the security, can. With the notary voting model, you only have 64 nodes, possibly controlled by even less people. Don't get me wrong, I like Governance Models for making decisions, but for securing the network, anyone should be able to participate. I look forward to one day running Komodo / SuperNET nodes. The team is really good at selecting and adopting great tech when it's available vs always inventing their own, yet team Komodo has also invented excellent tech of their own and should be a top 10 Coin.
ZenCash: Zk-Snarks privacy - I personally run several Secure and Super Nodes. Zen is working on so many great things, with my only slight complaint being that mining is 70% of the rewards. I'm anxiously awaiting the possible use of Secure or Super Nodes to complement the mining security and ultimately a better distribution of rewards. Similar to Komodo, they also have a lot in the works, just not quite as far along. Zen is really good at leveraging and collaborating with other teams. Working "with" is better than working "against". They may also have the most positive overall community and team in all of Crypto and should be a top 10 coin.
ZCoin: Zero Coin Protocol - was my first ever Masternode. While they have not yet ventured towards an entire eco-system, they are patiently perfecting privacy and usability before moving forward. I struggled just a bit getting my 1st Masternode running, and the CEO of ZCoin personally intervened to help, the day before his wedding. It left a very good impression. ZCoin deserves a much higher rating, closer to ZCash or Monero.
PIVX: Zero Coin Protocol - I run PIVX Masternodes. PIVX is in nearly the same boat as ZCoin and they do a very good job of polishing their tech before moving on. With Cold Staking, Hardware Wallet Masternode Control, Privacy staking, Hardware Wallet Voting, Governance Models, etc. they are certainly a community deserving a much higher ranking. Like ZCoin, PIVX should be up there with ZCash or Monero.
Particl: RingCT - I really really like Hardware Cold Staking, and it was literally just released in the last week. With RingCT running on Bitcoin Core, thus inheriting all great Bitcoin Tech, a Marketplace on Test Net, and their RingCT having been analyzed by at least 2 high powered security teams without finding any significant flaws, I haven't a clue why Particl isn't significantly higher than #150. Part should be near the top 10, with Komodo, ZenCash, ZCoin and PIVX.
There are a great many other coins. If you think I've missed one fitting my above parameters, please let me know.