Creating a concise list of tokens that are worth following can often be challenging for investors of all kinds thanks to the countless available options. In this article, which is the fifth installment of a series, we’ll try to present three to four tokens for investors to follow during the next seven days. Algorand (ALGO), Polygon (MATIC), Fantom (FTM), and Ethereum (ETH) are the assets we chose this week—read on and discover them.

Algorand (ALGO): The Next Ethereum?

Algorand (ALGO) is a next-generation blockchain ecosystem that has a clear, but ambitious vision, that is, dethroning Ethereum and becoming the world’s go-to decentralized smart contract platform. Algorand aims high, however, saying that its target is out of reach would be a stretch. That is because Algorand is actually able to provide most of the loved features of Ethereum, such as powerful smart contracts, fungible, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), DAOs, DeFi DApps, and everything in between, all at much lower rates.

To compare, Ethereum’s gas (transaction) fees have reached tens of U.S. dollars many times to date, while Algorand only charges $0.001 or less for the same task. Ethereum Upgrades would level the field, however, the project has just delayed the update yet again which could mean an opportunity for Algorand to snitch some of its competitor’s audience.

Polygon (MATIC): Bringing Ethereum Up To Speed 

Polygon (MATIC) is an Ethereum Layer-2 scaling solution that is becoming more and more adopted thanks to its attractive offering. Polygon shines thanks to its simple, but useful mission, that is, making Ethereum’s features more affordable, scalable, and more secure than their original form. Polygon achieves this through a carefully designed blockchain architecture that includes an EVM-compatible Proof-of-Stake (PoS) sidechain for smoother and faster DApps. As Ethereum’s newest version got delayed, Polygon might gain more exposure in upcoming days, so keeping an eye on it could be a great idea.

Fantom (FTM): An Unhyped, Universal Beast

Fantom (FTM) is a project that only the more tech-savvy investors tend to know about, however, its numbers suggest otherwise. This is because Fantom is quite simply an Ethereum that is faster, more scalable, and is way more affordable in its current form than its greatest competitor. The only downside of Fantom is that, frankly, many investors have never heard of the project and thus had no way of investing in it. This could change any minute as investors’ patience in Ethereum could run out after the latest delay announcement.

Ethereum (ETH): The Sovereign Of Smart Contracts

Despite the offer of other projects on this list, it is still Ethereum who is the unquestionable ruler among all smart contract platforms. The original inventor of most popular smart contract features, such as DAOs, DeFi, DApps, and many more, has been getting a lot of attention lately thanks to its difficulty bomb delay, which could have effects on ETH’s valuation, too. The bottom line is, while some argue that the delay will hurt the project, others claim that it was a necessary step to guarantee a smooth and efficient transition around 100 days from now.

Ending Remarks

Following the news, scanning the entire market, and selecting just a few assets to follow is tough, but after this article, we do hope it becomes a tad easier. This week, watch ALGO, MATIC, FTM, and ETH to be the first to react to their potential breakouts in light of recent project developments.