[In-Depth Analysis of Investment Strategies] The Selection Secrets of Tenfold and Hundredfold Coins

Why You Shouldn’t Only Chase 100x Coins

Many novice investors face an enticing question: since altcoins rarely go to zero in a bull market, why not just go straight for the highest-yielding 100x coins? This idea seems reasonable, but it overlooks the brutal reality of the market.

Targets for 100x coins are often projects with extremely small market caps that haven’t been fully recognized. These coins have two extreme possibilities: either they skyrocket beyond 100x, or they perform mediocrely or even lose money during the bull market. The risk of the latter comes from multiple factors—lack of sufficient funding attention, insufficient backing from institutions, or major mistakes by the project team. Even if the bull market is hot enough to temporarily support the coin price, the project’s fundamentals may have already collapsed, merely waiting for the bull market to end and for liquidation.

Therefore, a smart investment allocation should be a “dual-track” approach: low-risk 10x coins to ensure a minimum profit in the bull market, and high-reward 100x coins to pursue the upper limit breakthrough. Holding 10x coins can most likely guarantee profits, as their growth ceiling is relatively fixed, and this certainty comes from the project having initial market recognition. 100x coins, on the other hand, carry greater volatility and are a gamble for that ultimate return.

Track Selection: Ignoring False Signals, Focusing on Real Opportunities

Before establishing any selection criteria, we must unify a premise: temporarily shield ourselves from the interference of sector performance differences and unexpected events. In the previous bull market, DeFi performed outstandingly, but which sector performed best in the next bull market? No one can say for sure.

The key is that even if you accurately predict the high-yield sector, applying the same standards across different sectors may yield only a few times return in sectors with lower gains, while sectors with better returns could reach 100x or more. Conversely, the same applies in the opposite direction. Therefore, it is more pragmatic to first establish a universal selection logic and then flexibly adjust position allocations based on sector performance.

Core Standards for 10x Coins

The Trap and Opportunity of Leading Positions

The first choice for 10x coins is the leading projects in each sector—but exclude those sectors lacking innovation. Established leaders in areas like public chains (Bitcoin, Ethereum), privacy coins, IoT, and wallets have already had their upside fully priced by the market. Once a sector like decentralized derivatives, lending, storage, or DAO was hot, but now is waning.

However, for other healthy sectors, the opportunities for leaders are still huge. Take the DEX sector as an example: its historical peak total market cap reached 110 billion USD. After the bear market and the emergence of new protocols, the current total market cap is only 14.57 billion USD, still nearly 8 times below the historical high, leaving room for a rebound. The top project, Uniswap (UNI), is supported by innovations like V3 and Uniswapx, making a 10x space not just a dream.

Emerging sectors’ leaders also have explosive potential. The L2 sector’s OP currently has a market cap of 2 billion USD. Compared to the old leader Polygon (MATIC), which peaked at 26 billion USD, there is still a 3.5x growth potential. The market cap explosion of new leaders is often severely underestimated.

Non-Leader 10x Coin Selection

Looking beyond the top projects, seek 10x candidates among the second and third-tier projects in each sector. These projects lack the halo of a leader and are often undervalued, with potential gains far exceeding 10x.

First Layer Screening: Confirm the Project’s Survival Status

Check on CoinMarketCap whether the trading volume is healthy, whether the coin price trend is normal, and how many exchanges list it. For on-chain projects, liquidity depth is an important indicator. Also scan Telegram, Discord, and other communities to assess the authenticity of fan interactions rather than zombie followers. The goal here is simple—exclude projects abandoned by the market.

Second Layer Screening: Assess Market Recognition

Look at discussion activity and likes on Twitter and YouTube. Bonus points if the project has an official YouTube channel, the founder is active and appears on camera, and has been interviewed. Investigate the backing investors on platforms like Chainbroker—are well-known VCs and influencers involved? Visit the project’s official website and Dextools to review trading volume and TVL trends—continuously rising curves indicate growing market confidence.

Third Layer Screening: Does Tokenomics Support Explosive Growth?

This is the most overlooked but decisive factor. First, compare circulating supply (MC) and maximum supply (FDV). If a large amount of tokens is about to be released and the circulating supply is close to full circulation, then look directly at FDV—if FDV is too high, it’s unfavorable for price surges. Conversely, if token release is expected to be small, current MC is a more relevant indicator.

Check the sector ranking: ideally, the current market cap rank is not prominent, but based on technical progress and fundamental expectations, the project is severely undervalued.

Token psychology also cannot be ignored. There is a bias towards units—investing in a coin priced at 0.01U allows retail investors to buy more units, providing a stronger psychological satisfaction, similar to how early SHIB could be bought for hundreds of RMB for billions of tokens. This psychological advantage attracts continuous new entrants pushing prices higher.

Listing methods are equally critical. Fair launch is fair but may lead to insufficient early funds; in this case, project hype and big V endorsements become lifelines. Pre-minted projects should be checked for VC and team holdings and lock-up periods—conscientious projects will not sell large amounts early on.

Track whale movements on blockchain explorers; large early accumulations by whales often indicate market manipulation by whales, which can actually help push prices up.

Finally, examine token utility. Review the white paper for real use cases—projects with genuine utility tend to have greater growth potential. Air tokens without utility, even with good fundamentals, are hard to sustain long-term momentum. Recent inscriptions craze shows that whenever a blockchain launches an inscription protocol, related tokens rally—this is no longer just emotional hype but also driven by actual new demand for the token.

Continuous Monitoring: From Standards to Practice

After identifying 100x coin candidates, the selection process is just beginning. You need to establish a continuous monitoring mechanism to track project developments:

Regularly search for project news on major domestic and international media—reports from a single media outlet are often incomplete. Cross-reference multiple sources to verify whether the project is progressing according to its roadmap. Pay attention to positive news about token utility and supply deflation, as these often guide short-term trading opportunities.

Frequent news bombardment indicates two possibilities: either the project is gaining popularity, or it is spending heavily on marketing. Either way, it’s worth analyzing the secondary price patterns.

Turn standards into actions, and tracking into decisions—only then will the opportunities of 10x and 100x coins open up to you.