2017 was the year of bitcoin, bringing the cryptocurrency's first foray into five-digit figures and spurring a wave of awareness in the budding asset class. Even hedge fund investors like Peter Thiel's Founders Fund made large bets on bitcoin, and the emergence of bitcoin futures has helped bring cryptocurrency trading into the mainstream financial world.Yet bitcoin is just one of many cryptocurrencies gaining traction, and forward-looking players in the space have to keep their eyes on where the industry is going in the future.