• Altcoins that spiked by more than a million percent two years ago are almost unheard of today. 
• Whether that experience will repeat itself remains to be seen. 
• Regardless of the uncertainty, crypto influencers each have a favorite pick that they believe in.

Investing in cryptocurrencies isn't like investing in stocks. There aren't many analysts from legacy firms who are putting out monthly projections on price growth, or companies releasing quarterly earnings reports.

The open-source, community-based, and decentralized nature of blockchains means a project's success is anyone's guess. The infancy and lack of fundamentals for many of the platforms also make it hard to predict which ones will stick around for the long haul. 

Many altcoins, like reddcoin (RDD) or Verge (XVG) saw gains in 2017 and 2018 as high as 1,581,942%. But today, they are almost unheard of. Whether this experience will be repeated with today's popular altcoins remains to be seen. 

"I buy a lot of projects that build ecosystems for other projects and companies, but there aren't many use cases for the everyday person yet," Mack Lorden, a crypto investor and founder of Faceless Crypto said. 

Lorden previously touted Elrond (EGLD) as being his favorite crypto to hold, but more for its growth potential rather than anything it's currently doing. 

The truth is, even the most seasoned and popular influencers are all betting on speculation, for now. 

Insider talked to four familiar faces in the crypto space to find out what their top utility token is and why they're betting on it. 

Mason Versluis: XRP

Crypto Mason is a TikTok pseudonym for a creator whose name is Mason Versluis. He goes live almost daily discussing crypto news and explaining various altcoins to his followers. 

Without a doubt, one of his favorite picks has always been XRP. He told Insider he bought the crypto in 2017 and it has since become one of his top three favorite holdings. 

Its ability to facilitate cross-border payments with ease and speed is a use case that Versluis says is of the utmost importance. 

He told Insider he used to run a music marketing business, and the process of accepting payments from all over the world into Canada, where he lives, was very slow and expensive. He believes XRP's platform would solve this issue on a global scale, regardless of what country senders and receivers are in. 

Additionally, he's seeing key movers and shakers such as Rosa Gumataotao Rios, the 43rd Treasurer of the US, praise XRP. She recently tweeted that XRP has a real use case when it comes to cross-border payments, while others cryptos remain speculative. 

CryptoWendyO: Solana (SOL)

CryptoWendyO is a pseudonym for a female influencer who has a YouTube channel called The O Show. She uses her platform to keep her more than 100,000 followers informed on altcoin news and bitcoin's price action. She goes live on her channel twice a week. 

But out of all the cryptos she reviews, her top pick is Solana. This is mainly because it's Ethereum's direct competitor. And, it addresses one of  Ethereum's biggest issues, which is its 'insanely' high transaction fees.

"I have personally seen up to $500 fees to swap, send, mint, or send NFTs," CryptoWendyO said in an email to Insider. 

The cost of using Ethereum's network creates a high barrier to entry for many investors who want to access NFTs. She is invested in SOL and also stakes it for returns as high as 8%. 

John Vasquez: XRP and ether (ETH)

Coach JV is John Vasquez's public name. He has almost 800,000 followers on TikTok. But before becoming a prominent warrior-like character, he was a Wells Fargo banker. And he heavily agrees with Versluis' strong conviction on XRP.

Vasquez believes the crypto has a bright future ahead of it. 

"Ripple has the ability to bring our financial world into the quantum financial system," Vasquez said. The leadership team is remarkable all the way down to their board of directors to include Rosie Rios, the former treasurer."

He believes Ripple will be able to clear its case with the SEC and once that happens, its value is set to explode. The crypto isn't currently accessible to everyone because it was taken off many major exchanges, including Coinbase, likely until the lawsuit settles. 

He also tags ether onto the list of top utility cryptos. Its ecosystem is massive, incorporating layers of programs and smart contracts, supporting everything from DAOs to credit lending, banking, and asset management. It has earned its place as the second-largest in market cap.

Lucas Dimos: Chainlink (LINK)

Lucas Dimos, also known as TheBlockchainboy on TikTok, has over 370,000 followers who rely on him to continuously share his insight. He's an avid promoter of investing in cryptos that are only tied to utility. And his number one pick is Chainlink. 

It's a decentralized oracle network that's partnered with big names from Oracle to Google Cloud. Its ecosystem is growing rapidly and is already trusted by CoinGecko, Kraken, and Binance. 

"Chainlink allows projects to integrate data happening off the blockchain into smart contracts on-chain, for example, billion-dollar projects like Theta Network utilize Chainlink for viewership data to fight ad fraud for online content," Dimos told Insider in an email. 

He first discovered the crypto in 2017 and said he invested when it was only $0.18. Today, it's trading at around $27.40, a whopping 15,122% increase. 

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