9 Best Cheap Cryptocurrencies to Buy Under $5

Last Updated November 8th 2021

17 Min Read

These nine cheap cryptocurrencies all trade for less than $5 and have great growth potential.

Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two crypto blue-chips, are now out of reach for small investors, at least for those looking to own whole coins. This has seen many move to cheaper cryptocurrencies, and it makes sense.

One can buy thousands of cheaper cryptocurrencies for the cost of one Bitcoin (BTC). However, it is crucial to understand that not every cheap cryptocurrency out there is worth buying.

The crypto market is the wild west of investing, and it is easy to invest in scams while chasing the lowly priced coins. That said, there are cryptocurrencies under $5 that have excellent fundamentals and could outperform the larger cap ones in the long run.

All it takes is to choose the most fundamentally strong, in terms of use-value, buy, and be patient. Remember, successful investing is a long-term game and not a get-rich-quick thing. With this background in mind, let’s dig deeper into nine cheap cryptocurrencies to buy for less than $5 that could give investors an enviable ROI.

9 Best Cheap Cryptocurrencies To Buy Under $5

Cardano (ADA)
Polygon (MATIC)
Ripple (XRP)
Fantom (FTM)
Enjin Coin (ENJ)
Stacks (STX)
Icon (ICX)
Audius (AUDIO)
Decentraland (MANA)

1. Cardano (ADA)

Cardano is one of the best platform blockchains in the market today. The project is designed for the launch of Dapps and has a lot of potential in DeFi and NFTs. That’s because it has all the ingredients needed for success in this market. One of them is its ability to scale.

Cardano can handle up to 200 transactions on-chain and can handle thousands more off-chain. This is all thanks to its use of layer two scaling solutions such as Hydra.

Cardano’s potential also comes from its use of functional programming languages that emphasize code correctness. This basically means that all code that runs on Cardano is correct. This is an important and highly valued feature, especially in the development of ultra-sensitive smart contracts.

Now that Cardano has already enabled smart contracts on its blockchain, code correctness could see this blockchain draw in lots of projects over the next couple of years and help drive up the value of ADA long-term. Already the number of projects building on Cardano is on the rise, a pointer of the direction things could take in the future.

In terms of price, Cardano is easily one of the best performers this year despite its sluggish performance over the past month. Year-to-date, it is up by 1700%.

Due to its improving fundamentals, analysts expect Cardano to keep performing well going into the future. For instance, analysts project that by 2023, Cardano could be trading at $4.64, which would be an increase of 134% from its current price.

This makes it a good cheap cryptocurrency under $5 to buy now, one with low risk and a high potential return. The low risk comes from the fact that the broader market is turning bullish as acceptance grows. This means over the next couple of years, cryptos with strong fundamentals stand a good chance to give investors a superior return on investment.

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

2. Polygon (MATIC)

Polygon has been one of the most exciting crypto projects over the last two years, and for a good reason. It has emerged as one of the most promising Ethereum scaling projects in the market.

As an Ethereum layer two scaling solution, Polygon has built a robust ecosystem of projects on top of it. Now that Ethereum is in the process of completing a shift to Ethereum 2.0, the use case for level 2 scaling solutions will only grow bigger.

Polygon has been preparing itself for this, and a while back, it announced that it would be implementing rollups for better security.

Polygon’s potential has reflected on its price pretty well so far. This is evident in its price action over the last year. Year-to-date, Polygon is up by 11,800%, making it one of the top crypto performers this year. Its gains this year match those of meme coins with all the hype that they have received in the market.

Analysts too seem to have a pretty good outlook for this project. The analysts’ expectation for this project is that it could trade at $5.19 by 2023. This would reflect a value increase of 178%.

Given that Ethereum is expected to transition fully to Ethereum 2.0 within 2022, such a valuation for Polygon is not so ambitious. Similarly, the crypto market is in a bull market, and if Bitcoin crosses the $100k mark within 2022, the entire market could be strongly bullish going into 2023 and beyond.

All these factors make MATIC one of the best cheap cryptocurrencies to buy at current prices.

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

3. Ripple (XRP)

Ripple XRP is one of the more popular cryptocurrencies out there, and for a good reason. Its use case is in a trillion-dollar market, and if it comes to fruition, it could see this crypto rally to astronomical price levels.

XRP’s use case is in cross-border payments and is designed to help make those transactions faster and cheaper. XRP’s adoption was growing at an exponential rate a few years ago until the SEC’s case against Ripple and its founders happened.

Interestingly while this slowed down the adoption of XRP in the U.S and even led to lost partnerships, adoption continues to grow in other markets. Multiple banks, especially in far-east Asia and the Middle East have adopted XRP in cross-border payments.

This goes to show that were it not for the case facing Ripple, XRP’s adoption in cross-border payments would be at unprecedented levels today. Despite the challenges that XRP has faced in the past two years, it has managed to hold steadily above $1 for most of 2021. In fact, year-to-date, it is up by 340%, which is much higher than a lot of other crypto projects.

Even as the case with the SEC drags on, XRP makes for an interesting short-term play. From its price action this year, XRP has proven that if the broader market rallies, it can rally too.

At the moment, things look pretty good for the broader crypto market. For starters, regulators in the U.S, one of the most important crypto markets globally, and taking a softer stance on crypto.

This was evident in the approval of a Bitcoin ETF after being rejected for years. The impact has been a Bitcoin rally to a new high of $67k, and momentum is rising. In the process, the entire market has turned green, including XRP.

If this momentum increases going into 2022, XRP could give investors an impressive ROI, making XRP one of the best cheap cryptocurrencies to buy under $5 today.

Analysts seem to be holding this view, too, if their projections are anything to go by. Analyst projections place XRP at between $2.36 and $2.78 by 2023. That would be an increase of about 139% from its current price.

While some cryptos can deliver higher profits, it’s still a decent ROI for a crypto entangled in legal issues. The best part is that if the case ends in Ripple’s favour, it could turn XRP into a rocket ship.

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

4. Fantom (FTM)

There is no doubt that platform blockchains could give investors the most ROI over the next couple of years. This is evident in the price rallies of the top platform blockchains like Ethereum and Solana.

The excitement around these blockchains is not unfounded. As blockchain technology goes mainstream, developers are discovering that there is so much potential that can be unlocked using this technology, especially in DeFi and NFTs.

By default, this has created a demand for blockchains that help in the development of such applications. However, even as the platform blockchain space grows, certain issues have emerged, the biggest ones being cost and scalability.

Ethereum is in the process of solving them, but it is still way off. Others like Solana have got it right on scalability but are still struggling with achieving full decentralization. This has allowed other players like Fantom to enter the game and get a piece of the pie.

Fantom uses the latest technologies, namely the aBFT consensus mechanism, to achieve unrivaled security, scalability, and speed. It also has some of the lowest fees of any platform blockchain.

Its functionalities have led to an explosion of decentralized applications building on it. At the moment, more than 80 projects are building on this blockchain, and the numbers are growing.

Besides its speed, scalability, and security, Fantom has developed an innovative marketing technique to help draw in Dapps developers. It has set more than $370 million aside to incentivize creatives to build on the project.

The project’s strong fundamentals have seen it give investors an impressive ROI all through 2021. In the last 10-months, Fantom is up by 13,740%. That’s way higher than most cryptos have delivered in the same period. This makes it one of the top performing cryptocurrencies under $5 this year.

Its strong fundamentals have seen analysts give it a pretty impressive outlook for 2022 and the next few years too. Most analysts believe that if the cryptocurrency market remains bullish all through 2022, Fantom could double next year and trade at $4.4487. They also expect this crypto to trade at over $11 in the next 5-years.

For investors buying Fantom now, the potential returns are worthwhile, both in the short term and long run.

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

5. Enjin Coin (ENJ)

NFTs have emerged as one of the most profitable and exciting aspects of the crypto market, and for a good reason. They have given creatives an avenue to monetize their skills in ways never seen before.

Enjin is one of the top crypto projects that are capitalizing on the NFT wave, and this has been reflected in its price action this year. Year-to-date, Enjin is up by 2320%, putting it among the top crypto asset performers this year.

While there are many NFT projects in the market today, Enjin Coin stands out for being a one-stop shop for all NFT needs. Developers can create NFTs on Enjin, market them through its marketplace, and sell them via the Enjin Wallet.

The project’s end-to-end NFT services have seen it draw gamers looking to mint gaming NFTs, and art collectors looking to monetize rare artworks, and adoption is growing. Enjin is also looking to tap into new areas of growth that could further help drive up the project’s intrinsic value.

For instance, it now has a $100 million Metaverse fund that aims to make decentralized Metaverse a success. If it succeeds on this front, the implications on the price of Enjin Coin could be huge.

That’s because Metaverse is projected to be the big thing in social media. Already big tech companies like Facebook and Microsoft are taking aggressive steps to make the most of this emerging tech frontier.

The project already has an elaborate plan in place that could help it compete effectively in the Metaverse space. Besides setting aside $100 million as an incentive to developers, it also has several platforms that will make this a success.

For instance, it is working on integrating its Efinity Metaverse Fund with the whole Enjin ecosystem, including the wallet and its NFT marketplace. It is also working to ensure that its Metaverse projects are interoperable among blockchains.

Enjin’s potential has seen analysts give it some interesting projections both now and in the long run. In the short term (next year), analysts expect Enjin to double in value and trade at $4. Long term (within the next 5-years), analysts believe that Enjin could hit $10 or more.

Considering the exponential growth rate of Enjin’s core market, there is a good chance that it could hit these projections. Besides, the crypto market is gaining upside momentum, which could add to this crypto’s momentum. It’s without a doubt one of the best cheap cryptos to buy under $5 today.

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

6. Stacks (STX)

Stacks has been one of the best crypto performers this year. Year-to-date, it is up by 1032%, and it’s still gaining upside momentum. The project’s performance so far is a combination of broader market momentum and its strong fundamentals.

One of this project’s fundamentals that makes it very attractive to investors is staking. There are many projects that investors can stake, but this is a little unique in that staking rewards are paid in Bitcoin. Investors stake STX tokens but earn rewards in BTC.

It’s a win-win situation in that through staking, STX tokens are locked, lowering the supply in circulation, and in the process, pushing up the price. On the other hand, Bitcoin is the most valuable cryptocurrency out there, which means investors get paid in one of the most valuable assets in the digital currency markets.

Stacks also has a pretty interesting use case, in that it works to bring smart contracts to the Bitcoin network. So far, Bitcoin’s use cases have been as a store-of-value and payments.

However, Stacks introducing smart contracts on Bitcoin could open up a use case that could see it rival Ethereum and other smart contract platforms. Bitcoin’s biggest advantage on this front is its security. Its network effect means that Bitcoin is pretty much unbreakable at this point. This makes it perfect for building highly sensitive applications.

By extension, Stacks has a huge potential to gain in value long-term, as developers potentially opt to use Bitcoin for their smart contracts. That’s because STX is used for paying fees when looking to build on Bitcoin.

This project’s strong fundamentals have seen analysts give it some pretty ambitious projections. Analysts believe that in the next 5-years, this project could triple in value and trade at $6.97.

However, more short-term, analysts expect this project to give a less than 100% return on investment. That’s because, most of the momentum at this point in terms of smart contracts development is on Ethereum, Solana, and a few other top platform blockchains.

Nonetheless, the potential to triple capital in 5-years or less makes this cryptocurrency a good one to buy now, while it is still under $5.

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

7. ICON (ICX)

ICON is one of the most futuristic projects out. The project is built on the idea of interconnectivity between blockchains, which is key to crypto market growth. For the market to grow, developers should easily build applications on one blockchain and connect seamlessly with any other blockchain.

Icon’s strong market position as an aggregator chain has seen it grow in adoption quite exponentially over the last couple of years. This is evident in the nature of the companies that use the ICON network. They include Saramin, Shinhan Bank, Seoul Metropolitan Government, and even global giants like Samsung.

Besides such high-profile partnerships, ICON has strong and fast-growing use cases, a critical factor to crypto value appreciation in the long run. One of the biggest use cases for Icon is Zzeung, a decentralized identity system that is already widely used in South Korea. ICON is also the blockchain that runs VisitMe, a Dapp with over 200k users, and is widely adopted by hotels to manage visitors.

In terms of partnerships and use cases, Icon’s strong market position has seen analysts give it enviable price projections. Analysts expect Icon to trade at $3 within the next year and grow more than 3x within the next 5-years.

That’s a good ROI and makes this cheap cryptocurrency worth buying while still under $5.

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

8. Audius (AUDIO)

Audius is a relatively new project, but also one of the more interesting ones. The project launched one year ago, and at the time, was trading at $0.19. Today, it is trading at $2.61 and gaining. In the past month alone, it has gained by 24%.

Audius’s core use case is to break the music industry from the chokehold of record labels and big streaming services that keep most of the artist’s gains. With Audius, an artist can sell their self-produced music independently while building a fanbase within the Audius ecosystem.

Unlike most small crypto projects that don’t have any tangible use cases, Audius already has a growing number of musicians using it. The best part is that as the usage of this blockchain grows, so will the value of its token - AUDIO.

That’s because not only is the token used in governance, it is also the one that fans use to pay for music. This opens it up to limitless growth opportunities as more artists start streaming their work on Audius.

Due to its strong use case, analysts expect this crypto to double in value within the next year. They also expect it hit a high of $13 within the next 5-years.

With such projections and one of the most practical use cases in the crypto market, Audius makes for an amazing cheap cryptocurrency to buy at under $5.

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

9. Decentraland (MANA)

Decentraland is one of the projects that have made early investors significant levels of wealth. When it launched in 2017, the project was trading at $0.015. Today, it is trading at $2.95 and gaining. It has made most of the gains this year, and from the start of 2021 to date, is up by 3458%.

Decentraland’s massive success is due to its strong use case in creating a marketplace for all kinds of digital assets. From land to wearables, they can all be tokenized and sold on this blockchain.

Going forward, analysts expect this crypto to maintain its strong performance. Analysts believe that MANA could hit $3.6 within the next one year and 3X within the next 5-years.

Given its strong use cases, there is a good chance that it could hit these projections. This makes it a pretty good cheap cryptocurrency to buy now while it is still trading below $5.