BTC VS LCR: Which One Should Be In Your Portfolio?
Curious to know the difference between Loopring and Bitcoin? You have landed in the right place. In this article, LCR vs BTC: Which crypto should you buy in 2023, we are going to distinguish between these two popular digital assets.
Bitcoin is the original cryptocurrency and remains the biggest in terms of token value, but projects like Loopring aim to take smart chain-based projects to the next level by leveraging the latest advancements in the blockchain world. So which is likely to prove the best investment in the coming years?
Comparing Bitcoin vs Loopring from a technical perspective is perhaps a little unfair. The latter was only launched in 2017, whereas the former has been around since 2009 - and that eight-year age gap is an eternity when it comes to the crypto world. However, Bitcoin remains the benchmark against which all other tokens are measured. So when it comes to investment opportunities, Loopring vs Bitcoin is a comparison worth making.
The cryptocurrency world has changed dramatically over the last 18 months or so, with the explosion of DeFi and the emergence of the NFT trend. However, many of these new projects have also put a huge amount of strain on the platforms that host them - particularly Ethereum, which has been dogged by congestion issues and soaring fees in recent months.
Loopring utilises a new type of cryptography called Zero-Knowledge Proofs, which it claims can allow projects built on its platform to make use of the Ethereum blockchain’s security and functionality, whilst bypassing high GAS fees and network slowdown. Naturally, this could make Loopring a very lucrative project for investors.
Of course, Bitcoin is still the investor favourite and continues to dominate the market - something which currently shows no signs of changing. So which is the better investment, Bitcoin or Loopring? In the following comparison, we’ll take a closer look at each project and what analysts are predicting for their respective tokens’ future price movement.
Loopring vs Bitcoin - The Fundamentals
As we’ve noted, Loopring is a much newer cryptocurrency so when it comes to technical particulars, Loopring vs Bitcoin isn’t much of a competition. However, before we can consider investing in a project we need to make sure we have a good understanding of each one’s key fundamentals, how its native token is used and where it fits into the wider cryptocurrency industry.
Loopring
Background
Loopring was set up by Chinese software engineer and Google alumni Daniel Wang. The idea was to provide a layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum that used zero-knowledge (ZK) roll-ups to reduce the amount of network resources needed to validate blocks, thus allowing significantly faster and lower-cost transactions.
The project raised around $45 million in Ether through an ICO in 2017. However, a regulatory crackdown in China caused complications which meant the team had to return a large proportion of the funds, effectively meaning Loopring started on the back foot to some extent.
However, despite the early setback, Loopring’s development continued and the project has since seen plenty of investor interest - which has been reflected in several substantial token price hikes, which we will come to later.
Platform fundamentals
Loopring’s main selling point is its use of the aforementioned zkRollups. These zero-knowledge proofs mean that certain data can be accepted by an algorithm or program without that data being shared. This means much of the work in processing transactions before being referred to the main blockchain - in this case, Ethereum.
zkRollups allow several transactions to effectively be bundled together before they are settled on the blockchain. Thus, Loopring can process far more transactions per block than a standard Ethereum project can manage and at a much lower cost to the user.
The most impressive aspect of this process is that the zero-knowledge proofs are added to the Ethereum blockchain, meaning the aspects of the transactions that were processed off-chain can be reconstructed and verified. As such, the Loopring platform offers a high level of security.
The Loopring token
The entire Loopring network is driven by its native token, LRC. LRC is an ERC-20 token that has a couple of functions on the platform. Firstly, any transactions that are made on Loopring-based DEXs are paid in LRC. When these fees are paid, 70% goes to liquidity providers on the network, with a further 20% divided between insurers and the Loopring DAO. The remaining 10% is sent to a redundant wallet on the network, which effectively removes LRC from circulation.
The total supply of LRC is limited to 1,375,076,040 tokens. Given that 10% of the network fees are “burned” this means that the supply of LRC is gradually diminishing, which could mean the value of the token increases over time.
Don't Miss: Best Methods On How To Earn Loopring (LRC) Coins Fast
Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.
Bitcoin
Background
Bitcoin launched in 2009 and was a revolutionary idea at the time. The token was touted as a digital rival to fiat currency and there was much speculation that it could completely change the worlds of business and finance.
Ultimately, the lofty ideals of Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, are unlikely to be realised as it turns out that Bitcoin transactions require a huge amount of resources and are much slower than retail commerce would require. However, despite newer cryptocurrencies more or less solving these issues, BTC remains the most valuable cryptocurrency on the planet.
One of the reasons behind Bitcoin’s success is that it has emerged as a popular investment asset for businesses and institutions. Despite being a comparatively dated technology, Bitcoin continues to dominate the market and many major organisations have bought considerable holdings of BTC.
Transactions and Speed
Whilst it may have been revolutionary back in 2009, Bitcoin’s proof-of-work consensus mechanism is fairly dated by today’s standards. New blocks take roughly ten minutes to be added to the network, which allows it to support roughly 5 transactions per minute. By comparison, Ethereum can handle around 20 and Cardano around 250.
Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work mechanism requires computers on the network - known as miners - to solve complex equations in order to verify new blocks. This not only takes time but requires a huge amount of computational power - with the Bitcoin network using as much electricity as some small European countries.
Unfortunately, the resources required to run the Bitcoin network combined with its comparative sluggishness means that BTC is never likely to be a viable means of payment and now derives its value from being a store of value for investors.
The BTC token
When miners create new blocks on the Bitcoin network, they are rewarded with BTC. This is known as the block reward and is the way in which new Bitcoin tokens are released into the system. However, this block reward halves at regular intervals - in 2012, it stood at 25 BTC. In 2016 it was cut to 12.5 BTC and the last halving in 2020 took it down to 6.25 BTC.
The Bitcoin halving means that fewer and fewer tokens are being minted as time goes on. The total supply also has a hard cap of 21 million, meaning that Bitcoin is increasing in scarcity as time goes on. Once again, this could have a positive impact on the token’s value - especially given that investors tend to hold BTC over the long term, which further reduces the amount in open circulation.
Check Out: 15 Reasons Why You Should Invest In Bitcoin Today
Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.
Loopring vs Bitcoin: Which Is The Better Investment?
Now we’ve taken a look at what each project does, it's time for our Loopring vs Bitcoin comparison to look at how each one measures up as an investment opportunity. To do this, we need to move on from technical fundamentals and start considering price data.
Bitcoin vs Loopring: Price History
Before we can look at price predictions, we need to consider the data that inform them - namely price history. Looking at the previous price movement of each token tells us how the projects are influenced by certain market forces, as well as how each one moves in line with the wider cryptocurrency market.
Loopring
Loopring was trading at around $0.16 when it was first widely listed back in October 2017. Its price trajectory looks different to many other altcoins in that it experienced early price surges, then flatlined for more than a year before things started to get interesting again.
The token had reached around $0.36 by the time 2017 drew to a close and January 2018 saw LRC in a remarkable bull market. The token surged to $2.40 just one week into the year, marking growth of around 500% in a matter of days. However, the price surge was short-lived and by March, Loopring had slumped to $0.30.
A smaller upswing came at the end of April, which saw LRC reach a price of slightly under a dollar before it again came crashing back down and slumped to less than $0.5 by the end of the year. Despite the early signs of success, Loopring remained around $0.5 for the entirety of 2019, with very few significant fluctuations.
In 2020, things picked up slightly for LRC and it reached a trading price of $0.10 at the start of summer, before climbing steadily to $0.26 in September. It then lost some of this value but finished the year at around $0.17.
Things turned a corner for Loopring in 2021. By February, the token had surged to $0.83 and this time managed to hold on to much of that value across the first half of the year. A downturn hit the wider cryptocurrency market over the summer months, taking LRC to $0.20, but the token rallied again in the latter half of the year and reached its all-time high of $3.75 in November.
January 2022 then saw the market crash, only this time LRC held out above $0.65 and actually started its recovery before many of the more well-known tokens. At the time of writing, LRC had climbed back to $1.25, after almost doubling in value in March.
Bitcoin
Most people are aware that Bitcoin has seen some pretty impressive price hikes over the years. When it was first launched, cryptocurrency was only of interest to a very small group of people and the tokens traded at pennies. However, by 2013, a single Bitcoin token was worth $1,242 and early investors had seen astronomical returns.
As more and more cryptocurrencies were launched, an increasing number of brokers and exchanges began listing them and investors began flocking to the market. When 2018 arrived, the so-called crypto bubble had reached its peak and BTC was trading at $19,783. Unfortunately, the market then slumped and Bitcoin sank to $3,430 by December of that year.
Despite some speculation that cryptocurrency had been something of a flash in the pan, it wasn’t long before the market bounced back and by mid-2020 Bitcoin was once again trading over $10,000 per token. The recovery served to bolster investor confidence and prices continued to gradually creep upwards until 2021 arrived and gave things a shot in the arm.
Just two months into 2021, Bitcoin had surged in value to a then record of $64,804. In fact, the entire market was bullish across the first few months of the year, with Bitcoin leading the way. There was a downturn over the summer, but the final months of 2021 saw Bitcoin rallying again, reaching $69,044 in November - its all-time high.
The cryptocurrency market went into a significant downturn as soon as 2022 arrived, with Bitcoin dropping to $35,180 in January. However, since then things have started to pick up and at the time of writing BTC was trading at $47,376.
Bitcoin vs Loopring: Future Predictions
Now we’ve taken a look back at the price history of Loopring vs Bitcoin it’s time to start looking at how each token’s value may change over the coming years. The best indicators we have are price predictions from leading analysts, which are based on extensive technical analysis.
Loopring
We checked out several Loopring price predictions and found differing opinions on what we can expect from LRC over the coming years.
DigitalCoinPrice believes that the Loopring token will continue to perform well, reaching an average of $1.66 by the end of 2023 and continuing on an upwards trajectory over the following year. By the time 2024 arrives, Loopring is expected to be worth $1.82 before 2025 sees its price surge, closing the year at an average of $2.52.
A more ambitious Loopring price prediction can be found over on WalletInvestor. According to its technical analysis, LRC will reach an average trading price of $1.95 by the end of the year and will continue to increase in value in 2024. By December of that year it is expected to be trading at an average of $2.69. A year later, that number is expected to be $3.44 and in January 2025 we could see Loopring trading at a potential high of $4.09.
TradingBeasts, however, sees things differently. It has LRC increasing in value by as much as 30% throughout 2023, before actually losing value across much of 2024. According to its figures, Loopring could drop to $1.14 early in that year - a loss of around 2% on today’s price. The token will then take some time to recover, ending 2025 at around $1.18. In 2026, LRC is expected to flatline but 2026 will herald better fortunes for Loopring, with the token reaching a potential high of $1.82.
Read Also: Loopring (LCR) Price Prediction
BTC
When it comes to Bitcoin, the big question is whether or not the downturn that struck in late 2022 is going to persist or whether BTC is now well on the road to recovery. It seems that most analysts are predicting the latter.
DigitalCoinPrice, for example, believes that BTC will perform well in the second half of 2023, potentially reaching $52,137 per token on average. Over the course of 2024, the platform expects Bitcoin to flatline somewhat, but with its token price ticking up to $52,137 before the year is out. The following year is expected to be a slow one for BTC, but come 2026 it is predicted to reach as high as $72,745.
Elsewhere, WalletInvestor also predicts that Bitcoin is well on its way to recovering its previous highs - and more. According to its data, BTC will have hit $57,855 by the end of 2023 and will continue on an upward trend across 2024, reaching $83,000 by December. Then, in 2025, WalletInvestor predicts that BTC will finally breach the $100k barrier.
Once again, however, TradingBeasts has gone against the grain and actually sees Bitcoin losing significant value in the short term, before recovering later on. Its analysis suggests that BTC could drop in value by as much as 28% by late 2023, with little improvement across 2024. However, by the end of 2025, TradingBeasts predicts BTC will have reached an average of $70,210 - around 40% higher than its price at the time of writing.
As always, we remind readers that these price predictions are highly speculative. They are based on the data available and cannot account for developments in the industry, regulatory changes or other unforeseen circumstances.
Check Out: Bitcoin (BTC) Price Prediction
Loopring vs Bitcoin: What The Experts Say
Alongside the price predictions we’ve looked at above, it's also worth checking out some comments and opinions from the wider business world, as these can often give us a new perspective on a particular project and how it is viewed by those outside of the cryptosphere.
Inevitably, Bitcoin has plenty of supporters - including long-time advocates, Mike Novogratz of Galaxy Digital and US entrepreneur Michael Saylor – both of whom suggest that Bitcoin has become a digital alternative to gold and represents an opportunity for investors to hedge against downturns in the legacy finance markets.
These sentiments have also been echoed by Apple legend Steve Wozniak, who described the tokenomics of Bitcoin as “pure gold mathematics”.
This all bodes well for Bitcoin, but what about Loopring? Admittedly, the newer project hasn’t got quite the following, but it has nonetheless attracted significant interest in recent months. Most notably, Gamestop, the games retailer that experienced a Reddit driven price frenzy in 2021, is said to be working with Loopring to develop its own NFT platform.
Given the online following that Gamestop has built since the days of its price rally, this could prove a very lucrative partnership for Loopring.
Loopring vs Bitcoin: Conclusion
Whilst they may be two drastically different projects, it is worth making the Loopring vs Bitcoin comparison from an investment perspective because that latter is the market benchmark. In reality, Loopring is unlikely to rival Bitcoin in terms of token value - and it isn’t supposed to. However, there are good reasons for adding either–or both–to your portfolio.
Bitcoin is likely to continue to be the market favourite and has so much support from the world of mainstream business that it is likely to continue to grow in value. On the other hand, Loopring provides much needed scalability to the most popular platform for DeFi projects – Ethereum. As such, it could prove highly sought after in the coming years.
The price predictions we looked at for Loopring vs Bitcoin all point to growth overall, although there is some divergence on when we can expect to see such growth. Generally, the more conservative investor should go with the worst-case scenario predictions, whilst the more risk tolerant may take the middle line. However, once again, we’d advise against taking these forecasts at face value.
Overall, Bitcoin is likely to be the safer option of the two, but Loopring then offers the opportunity for diversification. If you’ve already got BTC in your portfolio, then it's certainly worth considering Loopring - especially if you are specifically looking to invest in an Ethereum-based scalability solution.
Now you know the critical differences between Loopring and Bitcoin. If you're feeling inspired to buy Bitcoin or Loopring, or this article has provided some extra insight to your existing investing knowledge, you may be pleased to know that eToro provides the ability to buy Crypto assets and trade on up to 90+ cryptos.
eToro – The Best Platform To Buy Cryptocurrencies
Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.
How To Invest In Loopring In 2023
If you are looking to invest in Loopring cryptocurrency but are new to the market, then there are a few things you need before you can start putting your portfolio together. Firstly, you need a place to store your Loopring tokens. Cryptocurrency wallets come in a variety of formats and typically you need to balance security with convenience. It's important to do plenty of research to find the right wallet for you.
Next, you’ll need to find a place to actually buy Loopring cryptocurrency. There are numerous brokers and exchanges on the market, but for our money you’d be hard pushed to find better than eToro. Not only is this platform one of the most highly rated, it also has plenty of learning materials to help you get the best start on your crypto investment journey.
Opening an account with eToro is quick and simple and you can start buying cryptocurrency as soon as your account is verified.
FAQs
What is Loopring for?
Loopring claims to offer a decentralised platform with transaction speeds fast enough for DeFi projects and other exchanges to operate effectively. What it actually is is a layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum, that uses Zero-Knowledge proofs to allow much faster transactions than the standard Ethereum rate - and with lower GAS fees.
Loopring vs Bitcoin - which one should I buy?
It’s pretty difficult to compare Bitcoin vs Loopring as the two projects serve very different functions within the cryptocurrency space. In reality, Bitcoin is probably the safer bet, but Loopring has some developments in the pipeline that could see it rise in value significantly. Of course, adding both tokens to your portfolio would offer a neat way to diversify your investments.
Where can I buy Loopring?
If you want to buy Loopring (LRC) then your best bet is to go through a broker or exchange. Fortunately, one of the most highly rated platforms on the market – eToro – lists the token. All you need to do is open an account, which takes just a few minutes, and you’ll be able to use the eToro trading platform to buy LRC and numerous other leading cryptocurrencies.
Does Bitcoin have a future?
Bitcoin is the most famous and most valuable cryptocurrency in existence. However, it is also old by crypto standards, having launched back in 2009. Over the years, numerous market commentators have suggested that Bitcoin’s best years could be behind it and, so far, all of them have been wrong. Even with the emergence of smart chains, Bitcoin has continued to dominate the market and in 2023 it remains the most popular choice for institutional investors looking to gain exposure to cryptocurrency.
Is Loopring high risk?
Loopring is an interesting project that provides a sought after service - it effectively allows Ethereum-based DeFi projects to speed up their transactions at the same time as lowering GAS fees. However, it isn’t the only layer-2 solution out there and it is unclear how popular it will be once Ethereum 2.0 arrives. The reality is that all cryptocurrency investment is relatively high risk, but it's probably fair to say that Loopring is high risk even by crypto standards.