Traditional investment options have long been the go-to for the majority of investors. Slowly but steadily, however, the fraction of people who value risk-free stability is decreasing. In other words, people who follow Warren Buffet’s advice are fast disappearing from all over the world.
Today, it’s almost exclusively a time of alternative assets and alternative investments when it comes to putting your money to work. And what’s more, the rise in digital currencies and decentralized technologies and applications has added fuel to the growth of even more lucrative investment opportunities—Especially for those who wish to go beyond the conventional “safe” boundaries.
We’ll talk about alternative assets, exploring their significance and potential in the current financial landscape. And in doing that, we’ll cover everything from commodities like precious metals to NFTs, cryptocurrencies, real estate, and more. Whether you choose any of these alternative investment options is completely up to you but let us tell you that all major alternative investment options have outperformed traditional ones, more or less, over the long term.
Cryptocurrencies: A Gateway to Financial Innovation
Cryptocurrencies have emerged as a disruptive force in the past decade. Not only have they revolutionized the traditional financial landscape but they have also challenged the status quo.
Cryptocurrencies have mainly been led by the proliferation of the value of Bitcoin—An alternative asset that has outperformed assets like real estate, the S&P 500, and gold. Bitcoin might be the oldest well-known cryptocurrency or the one with the highest market capitalization today, but it’s by no means the only one.
There are so many cryptocurrencies that you can make a worthwhile investment in today including Ethereum (the second highest in terms of market capitalization).
Under the hood, cryptocurrencies operate on blockchains. Blockchains have improved significantly over time and are now equipped to handle so much more than basic transactions (for example, NFTs are also exchanged over the blockchain and financial apps using smart contracts are executed on the chain as well).
We would recommend crypto newbies to look into in-depth crypto help to understand the complex infrastructure of blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Yet, the bottom line is that investing carefully in cryptocurrencies can be a great way to make your money work for you. They are definitely more valuable and profitable than other types of alternative and conventional assets.
The last time we covered Bitcoin specifically was in 2022, and that guide remains to be a good starting place for beginners.
Real Estate Tokenization: Unlocking a New Market
Real estate is one of the most dependable forms of alternative investments. Once you have a real estate property, there are so many ways to benefit from it. For example, this Forbes guide tells you about five of the most popular ways to use a real estate investment.
But what if we told you that there is something even better than the traditional kind of real estate investing?
Enter real estate tokenization
It blends the stability of real estate investments with the efficiency and accessibility of blockchain technology. Whereas there are many barriers in traditional real estate markets like high capital requirements and illiquidity, real estate tokenization gives you access to a broader pool of investors.
Real estate tokenization involves converting physical real estate assets into digital tokens on a blockchain. Each token represents a fractional ownership of the underlying property. In other words, each investor participates in the property’s potential appreciation and rental income fractionally without having to buy the whole thing.
Precious Metals and Commodities: A Timeless Haven
The world of finance is fast-paced and ever-evolving. Traditional assets such as precious metals and commodities, however, have stood the test of time. In a way, precious metals and commodities can be called reliable havens that anyone can start investing in.
And here’s a caveat: When the economy goes down (the biggest tell being the stock market taking a nosedive), gold’s value increases.
Effectively, precious metals, and especially gold, are a hedge against inflation and economic uncertainties. They offer a tangible refuge during times of market volatility or economic crashes.
Precious metals typically include gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. They have been treasured for centuries due to their rarity and intrinsic value (and, of course, brilliance). Gold, in particular, has transcended generations as a store of wealth and a symbol of financial security.
In Conclusion
Ultimately, there are many types of alternative investment options. Apart from what we considered here, you might also want to look into commodities like agricultural products, energy resources, metals, and more.
Peer-to-peer lending is also pretty profitable if you know what you’re doing.
But when it comes to starting to invest in non-conventional forms of assets, the ones we mentioned here take the win. These are not only significantly more convenient to get started with, but also cause the least amount of hassles when it comes to managing or selling.
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