If you are looking to diversify your investment holdings away from traditional asset classes such as stocks, bonds and commodities it’s time to look at new alternative investment opportunities that could prove to be lucrative in 2015 such as angel investing and bitcoins.
Angel Investing
It has never been easier for start up companies to raise funds than in 2015. Not only do governments provide tax incentives when investing in start ups but there are now also numerous platforms that provide due diligence and the right legal structure for you to place your funds with small start up companies that are looking for funding. Two excellent UK based platforms to use, for example, are www.crowdcube.com and www.seedrs.com. There you can find companies like MiPic who offer a service whereby you can turn your smartphone pictures into cash by selling them on their platform online, or invest in the cutting edge technology of BitReserve and become part of the bitcoin community. The risks associated to angel investing are substantially higher than putting money in traditional asset classes but the so are the potential returns.
Bitcoin
The world’s leading cryptocurrency bitcoin has been the worst performing currency in 2014. The price of bitcoin dropped by over 50%, more than the Ukrainian Hryvnia. However, the infrastructure of bitcoin and it’s adoption by merchants around the globe has seen massive expansion in 2014. Over 50,000 merchants ranging from Cafés in London & Berlin to tech companies such as Paypal & WordPress are now accepting bitcoins as a form of payment. This trend is likely to continue and with bitcoin’s first mover advantage over other cryptocurrencies it will likely prevail and see further growth.
As bitcoin is still in its early adopter stage there will likely be more challenges ahead but for now the future, in my opinion, looks bright for bitcoin and having a small holding could prove a lot more profitable than holding a bond fund in your portfolio. It is currently trading at its one year low and if you are willing to accept the high volatility now could be a good entry point if you looking to get in.
