I don't think one is coming any time soon. We've all been hoping for an uptrend for 12 months now, but it gets harder and harder to believe that one will happen. Nevertheless I am watching for signs that we are hitting the market bottom. Surely it can't be long now?

In my opinion, ETH is one of the strongest projects out there. Smart contracts will surely be huge in future, and ETH is the strongest smart contract platform out there. It has its competitors, yes, but ETH is still the number one by a long long way. I would say its a very good bet for the long-term.

A lot of ICOs have been struggling due to the bearish market, and also struggling in comparison to the insane ICO fever of 2017, when it seemed like any project that mentioned the word 'cryptocurrency' could raise millions of dollars in a couple of minutes.

The new projects we see now are not worse than those last year, it's just that the economic climate isn't as favourable. There are plenty of good new projects around.

I also think that $100b should be a solid support point. I suppose we are likely to see it tested in the next couple of weeks. It is difficult in these markets to separate logic from emotion. I want prices to rise, but looking at the pattern over the last 12 months it seems that any potential recovery is still some way away.

I do like Cardano, especially now that the hype has dropped away a bit and prices are more reasonable. But it's still a longshot compared with ETH, which already has a strong history. Yes, Cardano is supposed to offer better tech, but ETH is already somewhat battle-tested and continues to be upgraded. Cardano hasn't yet proven itself enough. Not saying it's bad, just a bit of a big gamble compared to ETH which is also underpriced right now.

There are plenty. But you should always make sure to fully research any coin that you're thinking of buying in to. And this is more true than ever in the current bear market. Also don't forget the 'old' coins as well, plenty of these are undergoing exciting developments in 2019, notably Constantinople upgrade for ETH later this week.

You can make crypto by the following methds:
a) Just buy some crypto and hold long-term - if you believe that prices will eventually be higher than now;
b) Buy some crypto and learn how to trade - obviously you can also lose money this way;
c) Work for crypto. So that is basically the bounty campaigns. Some work pays much better than others though, for example if you have translation skills.

Basically it is all a gamble though - even when you are working for 'free' coins, there's no guarantee they will be worth anything in the end.
But good luck!

I think we need ETH. If it didn't exist then something else would replace it. Smart contracts are one of the key use cases for crypto. If crypto became purely a store of value then it would lose a lot of its selling point.

The price drops over the weekend just confirmed again that the bear market is showing no signs of ending any time soon. Just be careful everyone, think before purchasing, but equally think before selling as there's nothing worse than holding during the drop and then selling near the bottom of the market. We all have to make our own decisions as to how the prices will play out.

ETH is a different type of coin to BTC, so they shouldn't be seen as direct competitors. The selling point of Ethereum, the use-case, is that it is a smart contract platform. BTC doesn't offer this functionality.

Unfortunately I don't think there's any chance whatsoever of XRP hitting that price. I do think that Ripple is a good company, and XRP does have a solid use-case, but for XRP to hit that price it would need a marketcap in double-digit trillions of $.

This is a good point, and is an essential approach really to becoming a skilled trader. Always set your exit point before you enter a trade. Don't be greedy, as this will usually mean you hold onto the coin too long and lose any potential gains.

I would go with ETH and XRP for the long-term as these could be huge. XRP is probably the furthest along in real-world adoption, we're not quite ready for everyday use of ETHs smart contracts yet - but the time is coming when these coins (or else something very similar) will have a big part to play.

No, ETH isn't ruined from the fallout of the DAO. Obviously it was a contentious decision at the time but I think it was necessary and ETH has moved on since then.
As for Constantinople, this shouldn't be considered as being at all similar to the effects of the DAO - that was a proper chain split leading to two currencies, whereas the Constantinople fork is really just an upgrade and shouldn't be contentious at all.

As for the attempts to support new currencies following the Constantinople fork - I think we all suspected it was just scammers and money-grabbers behind these attempts, with no real legitimate need or reason for new chains.

I do have a favourite coin, but this is something I am trying hard to eliminate. Having a favourite coins means having an emotional attachment to it, which in turn has a negative effect on decision-making.

I am sure there is no problem with Ledger Nano S. This is most likely a scam where someone has got hold of your key. I hope you get your coins back, but I don't think it's likely. It's a reminder that we all need to be super-vigilant.

I think a lot of this is companies just trying to cover themselves in an uncertain legislative environment. It can be a pain, and it does also allow for scammers to set up fake campaigns to harvest valuable personal information... but I can see why the projects do say they need KYC.

In short, research.
You need to look at everything to do with the project: team, roadmap, white paper, etc.
You also need to look at any relevvant external factors, so competitors, potential legislative obstacles, etc.
Basically evaluate how likely they are to achieve what they want, and also if they do that, how much real-world demand there is likely to be for the coin.
If it is a coin that has already had its ICO, then look at how close they came to hardcap (i.e. how much demand there was for the coin).
Obviously if it is a live coin then also look at trading history.

If you're only interested in short-term trading then there are other specific trading strategies and tips to follow; the above is just for evaluating the overall long-term prospects of the coin.

Well, stablecoins in theory are backed by the equivalent in fiat... although this is always a contentious point, and Tether is never free from controversy.

Personally I think XRP is due a price jump. When XRP goes up it goes up quickly, and we haven't seen anything for a while. There is a chance that if ETH can secure the number 2 spot after the Constantinople fork, then people might start to see XRP as being underpriced.