There's an ever increasing amount of 'currencies' based on block chain technology. This post I hope will give you some information to consider when choosing which coins to invest in.
First of all understand that not all utilisations of block chain will have a monetary aspect and many will have a monetary aspect simply as a byproduct. For example Etherium is leading the way in 'smart contracts', Google ERC-20, and take Steem it is being used to power a social media platform.
Like the dot com bubble of the late 90's many currencies will fall by the wayside leaving the strongest to survive. That does not mean that you can't make short term investments in all of them as long as you take the ride up and get out before they crash.
In my opinion the 3 main things to consider are:
Market capitalisation.
The amount of money being invested. More money = more confidence.Household name.
Many cryptos are building more capable layers on top of the original Bitcoin, however ask someone in the street to name a cryptocurrency and they will undoubtedly say Bitcoin.Unique selling point.
The innovative edge that makes certain currencies stand out from the crowd.