Want to get in on the Crypto action but without the volatility ? Here are your options .

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Litecoin and the list goes on and on. Unless you have been living on tree somewhere in the Amazon in the last 1 year or so you know the kind of volatility these crypto assets have been subjected to lately. Making even some of the die-hard crypto fans opt for alternative investments. Although there is nothing wrong with investing in crypto but directly investing in them is not for the faint hearted, especially if you are looking to trade rather than hold it for the long term. However, if you are a true believer in this asset class and are looking to make investments that doesn't require you to monitor them every 5 minutes then the alternative option is to invest in growing companies that offer these as payment options or use the underlying block chain technology as a key service or offering to its clients. Then there are the crypto exchange platforms we can invest in that allow investors to trade crypto.

Below are established companies that are offering crypto payment options on their online retail that you should consider:

Square Inc. (SQ)|NYSE|USD264.00|24th July Closing | Mid to Long Term Investment

This fin-tech company offers online payment solutions and a cash app that recently enabled payments through Bitcoin. Although the share trades at 125 times forward earnings and may seem a little expensive at this level, it is an established player in the payments industry and will appeal to the fast growing number of vendors and customers who want crypto currencies as a payment option. Square announced this week that they will be offering banking services as well, hence the jump in stock price . Good point of entry would be any where between USD240.00 & USD250.00

PayPal Holdings Inc (PYPL)|Nasdaq|USD308.53|24th July Closing | Mid to Long Term Investment

Arguably the most popular digital & mobile payment platform in the world after WeChat, enables its clients not only to pay by crypto but to now buy, hold and sell crypto using its platform. Paypal is playing a major role in making crypto mainstream by offering this service to all its 26 million vendors worldwide. Its share price hit a 52 week high at USD309.48 after closing at 308.53 last Friday . Although this price may seem high with markets on the uptrend last week but any dip around USD280.00 would be a buy opportunity.

Overstock.com Inc (OSTK)|Nasdaq|USD82.63|24th July Closing | Mid to Long Term Investment

Overstock is a large online discount retailer that accepts several crypto currencies on its platform and through its subsidiary , tZero, has also build a crypto fund. Overstock has been pioneering the development and commercialising of financial applications using blockchain technologies through a subsidiary called Medici ventures. The stock is down from its 30 day high of USD97.50 but it's up 72% this year. It reports earnings on 29th July and may see more consolidation in the coming days. That could signal a buy opportunity.

Apart from online e-commerce platforms that offer crypto payment options there are companies that allow cryptos to be traded on its exchange & some that offer crypto Futures & Options that enables investors to hedge crypto investment risk. Our picks are:

Coinbase Global Inc (COIN)|Nasdaq|USD224.92|24th July Closing |Short to Long Term Investment

Coinbase allows clients to trade more then 50 digital currencies on its platform . It made its debut on Nasdaq earlier this year. Apart from allowing the sale and purchase of crypto, Coinbase has developed a debit card that allows clients to spend their Bitcoin credit balances. In addition, it is also providing a line of credit for Bitcoin owners and soon the platform will offer NFT (Non Fungible Tokens) as well. The stock has come off quite a bit since its IPO at USD250.00 and its high of USD344.00. It is currently at a good entry level. Although do expect some volatility in its stock prices . This is a good stock to trade if you know your entry and exit levels. They tend to move in tandem with the prices of crypto currencies most of the time.

CME Group Inc (CME)|Nasdaq|USD211.90|24th July Closing | Mid to Long Term Investment

CME offers derivatives like futures and options of various products including Bitcoin and Ethereum. This enables its clients to invest in future contracts and manage cryptocurrency exposures. The stock is up almost 20% YTD and reports its quarterly earnings on Wednesday the 28th of July 2021. Watch for any dips to get better value in the coming week.

Last but not least are 2 of our favourite tech stocks that we have covered in our earlier blogs. Both are semi-conductor companies that provide the best chips or GPUs as they are known , that drive the blockchain and enable cryptographers to create and manage crypto assets.

NVIDIA (NVDA)|Nasdaq|USD195.58|24th July Closing | Mid to Long Term Investment

Nvidia is probably the best tech companies in the world today, continuously innovating and making faster, smaller chips to meet the demand of all industries from automobiles to data mining centres to gaming. This stock was over USD800 just a week ago and had a 4 to 1 stock split on July 19th 2021. It currently trades below the USD200.00 level and has seen YTD performance of +50% in its stock price. With the split the stock is now more affordable for many retail investors and will see a rise in demand for its stock.

Advance Micro Devices Inc(AMD)|Nasdaq|USD92.15|24th July Closing | Mid to Long Term Investment

Both AMD and NVIDIA continue to take market share from other chip makers and both have announced acquisitions that will enable them to lead the innovation in this industry; NVIDIA through ARM Holdings and AMD through XILINX. Although the stock has been given a price target of USD110.00 by analyst we would advise to wait for it to consolidate to around USD85.00/86.00. Given the chip shortage in the world today it would probably take one or 2 quarters for AMD to hit those target prices.