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Remember Radioshack? The old tech store where you (or maybe one of your parents) got your first CD player?
After its stores closed for more than five years, it's now relaunching the brand. And it's coming back a different way than it left.
Analysts predict cryptocurrency will go from $3 trillion market value to $250 trillion over the next several years. And Radioshack, like so many other brands, wants a piece.
Maybe you've heard of a Radioshack cryptocurrency on the horizon, and it sounds like a viable project. The company wants to make its own crypto market featuring an exclusive currency called RADIO tokens.
What shape the crypto industry will take is anyone's guess. It's still very new - but the good news is that it's been around long enough to carve out a couple solid, less speculative investment opportunities.
The one we have for you today comes from Money Morning's Shah Gilani. And it could very well relate to the performance of this new Radioshack endeavor...
Is Radioshack DeFi a Metaverse Play?
Radioshack is targeting finance (DeFi) shortly after switching its focus from brick-and-mortar to online. More importantly, it's right after Facebook Inc. (NYSE: FB), now Meta, announced the coming metaverse, a possible avenue for blockchain to thrive and make use of new cryptocurrencies.
The unique thing Radioshack wants to do is inspire older generations to adopt cryptocurrency. It believes a century-old brand can make that happen.
Radioshack's website suggests that it's "primed to sell old CEOs" on crypto. This makes sense, given how many young people have piled into new trends like NFTs, Dogecoin, and meme stock trading. While those have stolen headlines, older generations might not be all the way there yet.
In support of its case, Radioshack boasts its network of corporate connections including Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) and Mercedes-Benz. Radioshack wants to get the ball rolling so these other brands can run their own DeFi projects in its ecosystem.
Will other giant brands launch their own tokens through Radioshack? Maybe.
But as with all other things crypto, this will have to do with the utility and efficacy of the coin.
About the RADIO Token
The Radioshack DeFi ecosystem will run on its own RADIO token. RADIO will aim to be used to buy Radioshack products backed by non-fungible tokens (NFTs) - digital blockchain assets to prove ownership.
People speculate that, with the metaverse, Radioshack could even open virtual reality stores to facilitate these transactions. And really, anything is possible.
The company is working with Atlas USV to establish the base layer of their DeFi system. Radioshack will get a constant flow of value thanks to the USV Bartering mechanism, which helps with long-term liquidity.
Again, however, whether or not RADIO proves useful is yet to be seen. You can't even buy RADIO token yet - there's no official launch date.
We're still waiting on Radioshack to release more details on its crypto plans as a whole. But the good news is there's already a similar investment that looks cheap if you consider the long-term value of crypto.
Here's the crypto investment Shah Gilani prefers...
The Best Metaverse Stock to Buy Now
We mentioned the value of Radioshack joining the metaverse. That would sure be great news for the company and its crypto aspirations.
But so much is yet to be discovered when it comes to the metaverse and the crypto market. And a part-competitor of Radioshack could stay as others crypto ecosystems get shaken out long-term.
We're talking about Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN). While it's true that younger generations adopted Coinbase before anyone else, its first-mover advantage on top of a blend of current and future revenue streams makes it a force to be reckoned with.
The threat it poses to a company like Radioshack is that it could swoop in an do the same thing - target older generations - with little trouble.
Coinbase is profitable, with a 53% margin when we last reported. This gives Coinbase a nice cushion amid the turbulence of crypto trading. It also gives it room to dive into new projects and stay atop the latest trends.
Right now, the stock is at a record-low $176, almost down to half its opening price after the IPO. But we believe that's a discount given the ebb and flow seen in crypto over the last several years.
CNN analysts give Coinbase a $600 target over the next 12 months. That's more than triple today's price.
Two Stocks, One Crypto: The Metaverse
The metaverse is creating a new world... from artificial intelligence to the Internet of Things, even cryptocurrencies, and augmented reality.
The transition will take billions - $753 billion to be exact.
Three small players - two stocks and one crypto - are rumored to reap the heftiest rewards.
Each one is trading for less than $30. Click here to learn more.
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About the Author
Mike Stenger, Associate Editor for Money Morning at Money Map Press, graduated from the Perdue School of Business at Salisbury University. He has combined his degree in Economics with an interest in emerging technologies by finding where tech and finance overlap. Today, he studies the cybersecurity sector, AI, streaming, and the Cloud.