Our best cryptocurrencies to invest in had a monster August, with an average gain of 71% for the month.
In late July, Money Morning named the 12 best cryptocurrencies for investors interested in diversifying into this new and rising sector. With more than 1,000 cryptocurrencies to choose from, investors need help sorting out the bona fide prospects from the scams and the also-rans.
So far the Money Morning dozen are proving to be winners. Only one of the 12, Gnosis, fell in August. And that was only by 7.5%.
The best cryptocurrency was Monero, which notched a stunning 250% gain.
Had you spread $10,000 evenly across all 12 cryptocurrencies on Aug. 1, by the end of the month your investment would have grown to $17,100.
Here's exactly how each of the cryptocurrencies we recommended fared in the month of August. Since the recent pullback happened after Sept. 1, it's not included in these results (but will be part of next month's update).
Also, I'm using the prices from CoinMarketCap.com, which aggregates cryptocurrency prices from multiple exchanges.
The cryptocurrencies are listed in reverse order, with the best performers last...
A Great Start for Our Best Cryptocurrencies to Invest In
12. Gnosis (GNO)
Aug. 1 price: $192.09
Aug. 31 price: $177.76 (down 7.46%)
Highlights: The Gnosis price has been consolidating since the June run-up in all cryptocurrency prices. The debut of a rival cryptocurrency, Stox, may have contributed to the gradual decline in the Gnosis price. Like Gnosis, Stox is a prediction market platform.
11. SiaCoin (SC)
Aug. 1 price: $0.008052
Aug. 31 price: $0.008354 (up 3.75%)
Highlights: The SiaCoin price slumped mid-month but rose steadily from Aug. 22 on. SiaCoin might have ended the month with bigger gains but for the hype around the Aug. 10 FileCoin ICO. (FileCoin is a cryptocurrency that helps manage cloud storage, much like SiaCoin.)
10. Golem (GNT)
Aug. 1 price: $$0.232346
Aug. 31 price: $0.335727 (up 44.5%)
Highlights: The Golem price spiked 23% on Aug. 24 following the new release of a new version of the Brass Golem software. It represents a major step toward the goal of Golem splitting off from its simulated "testnet" to the actual Ethereum network.
9. Stratis (STRAT)
Aug. 1 price: $5.02
Aug. 31 price: $7.28 (up 45%)
Highlights: The Stratis price jumped 22% on Aug. 10 when the Stratis team announced a major upgrade to their Breeze Wallet, technology that enhances the anonymity of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
Related: How to Buy Bitcoins - Your Guide to Digital Profits
8. Ripple (XRP)
Aug. 1 price: $$0.170
Aug. 31 price: $0.256 (up 50%)
Highlights: The Ripple price soared 50% on Aug. 22 following rumors the Ripple company was in talks to form a partnership with a major bank or corporation. A week later officials from the People's Bank of China met with Ripple executives at the company's San Francisco headquarters.
7. ZCash (ZEC)
Aug. 1 price: $172.93
Aug. 31 price: $282.95 (up 63.6%)
Highlights: On Aug. 7, WikiLeaks announced it would accept donations in ZCash, citing its high level of user anonymity. On Aug. 17, the ZCash Foundation offered $80,000 worth of grants to attract innovative ZCash-based proposals from developers.
6. Bitcoin (BTC)
Aug. 1 price: $2,863.72
Aug. 31 price: $4,703.39 (up 64%)
Highlights: On Aug. 1, a hard fork created a duplicate version of Bitcoin called Bitcoin Cash. The Bitcoin price shrugged off the disruption and had one of its best months of the year.
5. Litecoin (LTC)
Aug. 1 price: $43.01
Aug. 31 price: $71.50 (up 66%)
Highlights: The Litecoin price took off near the end of the month, driven by surging interest from South Korean investors. Litecoin rose 36% in the last week of August alone.
4. Factom (FCT)
Aug. 1 price: $16.25
Aug. 31 price: $29.66 (up 82.5%)
Highlights: An Aug. 16 article on Nasdaq.com cited Factom as "the first practical blockchain solution for the mortgage industry that allows users to store and create immutable mortgage records." Over the next 10 days, the Factom price rose 75%.
3. Ethereum (ETH)
Aug. 1 price: $208.79
Aug. 31 price: $383.76 (up 84%)
Highlights: The Ethereum price spent much of August trying to get back to the $400 level and nearly got there. As with Litecoin, growing demand from South Korea was behind Ethereum's relentless drive higher.
2. Dash (DASH)
Aug. 1 price: $179.20
Aug. 31 price: $378.94 (up 111%)
Highlights: On Aug. 17, Dash announced a partnership with Arizona State University's engineering school to create a Blockchain Research Lab. That and buying from South Korea was enough to more than double the Dash price last month.
1. Monero (XMR)
Aug. 1 price: $39.94
Aug. 31 price: $140.07 (up 250%)
Highlights: The news that set the Monero price on fire was the Aug. 21 announcement by South Korean exchange Bithumb that it would add Monero trading as of Aug. 27. That was good for an 80% gain just on the day of the announcement. It just kept riding higher after that.
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About the Author
David Zeiler, Associate Editor for Money Morning at Money Map Press, has been a journalist for more than 35 years, including 18 spent at The Baltimore Sun. He has worked as a writer, editor, and page designer at different times in his career. He's interviewed a number of well-known personalities - ranging from punk rock icon Joey Ramone to Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak.
Over the course of his journalistic career, Dave has covered many diverse subjects. Since arriving at Money Morning in 2011, he has focused primarily on technology. He's an expert on both Apple and cryptocurrencies. He started writing about Apple for The Sun in the mid-1990s, and had an Apple blog on The Sun's web site from 2007-2009. Dave's been writing about Bitcoin since 2011 - long before most people had even heard of it. He even mined it for a short time.
Dave has a BA in English and Mass Communications from Loyola University Maryland.