9 Of The Best Cryptocurrencies To Invest In Now

The best cryptocurrency to buy depends on your understanding with digital coins and risk tolerance.

Last Updated July 23rd 2021

11 Min Read

These are nine of the best cryptocurrencies on the market

To say that cryptocurrencies have changed the way we look at money and investments is an understatement. Bitcoin, the first-ever cryptocurrency, was trading at $75 after its inception in 2013. In less than a decade, the coin has surged by a staggering 79,914% to reach an all-time high in May 2021. Notably, several other digital assets have followed Bitcoin's suit and have rallied immensely over the past few years.

The overwhelming growth of the blockchain and crypto space has got investors and traders actively looking for the most promising cryptocurrencies for investments in 2021. With over 7000 cryptocurrencies available in the market, the process of narrowing down the right coins can get confusing. Consequently, we have compiled a list of the nine best cryptocurrencies to invest in, based on key considerations such as price history, network updates, technical features, etc.

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

Best Cryptocurrencies To Buy

1. Bitcoin (BTC)

With a market capitalization of more than $1 trillion, Bitcoin accounts for over 45% of the overall cryptocurrency market. Investing in digital currencies like Bitcoin may help investors build a diversified portfolio (with higher returns per unit of risk). BTC has historically functioned as an uncorrelated asset, meaning it does not necessarily move in the same direction as stock or bond markets. As a result, the coin provides many benefits to an investment portfolio that were inaccessible to previous generations of investors.

Bitcoin's strong network fundamentals make it one of the best cryptocurrencies to invest in. The coin's "Proof-of-Work architecture creates Seven Layers of Security and serves as the foundation for the world's first & greatest digital monetary network," says Micheal Saylor, the CEO of MicroStrategy.

Bitcoin has been quite volatile over the years, and prices have pulled back since recent highs. However, being the biggest name in the crypto market gives it a worldwide acceptance that lesser-known coins do not have. By sizing the BTC allocation well, the investment risks can be mitigated relative to potential profits.

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

2. Bitcoin Cash (BCH)

Bitcoin Cash, a peer-to-peer (P2P) electronic cash system, is the result of a Bitcoin hard fork. Notably, BCH is by far the most successful hard fork of Bitcoin to date. Bitcoin Cash eliminates concerns related to transaction delays and high fees through an increased block size. These larger blocks can fit more transactions in a block and have helped in increasing the network's transactions-per-second (TPS) rate prominently.

Bitcoin Cash was initially met with mixed feelings in the community. The coin entered the market at a price point of $900. Thanks to the support of Bitmain and the mining community, BCH went on to gain immense traction within the sector. In December 2017, Bitcoin Cash hit an all-time high of $4,091.

BCH may be newer and less famous than its predecessor (BTC), but it has incredible potential for growth and puts it in the running for the best cryptocurrency. BCH began 2021 trading for less than $500 but recently jumped to more than $1,500.

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

3. Dogecoin (DOGE)

The infamous "meme cryptocurrency" Dogecoin has had a rollercoaster year so far. In May alone, its price shot up nearly 700%. Since the beginning of the year, DOGE has soared by more than 8,500%. This highly volatile "joke" currency is a first-generation digital asset that can be used to transfer value globally in a secure way.

In network architecture and features, DOGE is similar to Bitcoin. However, while Bitcoin is capped at 21 million coins, there are already 129 billion Dogecoins circulating, with new blocks available to mine each year. DOGE has no actual use (some people use it to tip social media content creators). Still, it has developed a growing fanbase that has boosted the price of Dogecoin from less than a penny a few months ago to about $0.50 currently, making it one of the top cryptocurrency performers by market cap.

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

4. Ethereum (ETH)

Ether, the native digital cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network, has soared to new highs and gained immense popularity over the past few years. The digital asset, which is largely used for transactions in the digital marketplace for NFTs, now has a total market capitalization of $395,967,158,522. One of the main advantages of the Ethereum network is its flexibility. While it is commonly known for hosting ETH, it also powers decentralized finance (DeFi), nun-fungible tokens (NFTs), and enterprise-grade blockchain solutions.

Many blockchain-powered enterprises aim to achieve decentralization of the financial system. Ethereum takes this a step further. Instead of decentralizing money, it intends to decentralize the entire internet by replacing servers with a global system of nodes, creating "one computer for the entire world."

The blockchain network is also undergoing many essential updates that are likely to push ETH's movement upwards. For instance, the Ethereum Improvement Proposal 1559 is slated to go live in July. This upgrade will significantly change Ethereum's transaction fee model. "Aiming to lower the volatility of Ethereum's fees, EIP-1559 introduces a mechanism to burn some transaction fees, detracting from circulating supply and introducing deflation to the Ethereum ecosystem. The impact on Ether's price could be like that associated with a bitcoin halving event," says Ark Invest analyst Frank Downing. Despite its rapid growth, Ethereum is still nascent and remains one of the top cryptocurrency investments.

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

5. Polkadot (DOT)

Polkadot was one of the most successful cryptocurrencies of 2020. Experts believe it to be a promising blockchain that can replace Ethereum's dominance shortly. The platform caught the attention of various other virtual asset investors at the start of the boom of decentralized finance a year back. Polkadot aims to eliminate the slow communication process between private and public blockchains.

DOT is considered the most trustworthy and profitable cryptocurrency in 2020. The coin achieved $5 billion market capitalization just a few weeks after getting listed on exchanges such as BuyUcoin. DOT has become the eighth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization with a valuation of nearly $36 billion and a circulating supply of 98 million in less than a year.

2021 is the best time to invest in Polkadot as DOT's value has been increasing since the start of the year and may soon overtake XRP and Litecoin. Polkadot has remained one of the most active crypto projects. It has become and will continue as one of the top ten blockchain ventures. The platform's growth over the last few months will soon reflect on the coin's price.

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

6. TRON (TRX)

TRON is a decentralized platform that allows decentralized applications (dApp) developers to develop and apply complex protocols through smart contracts. TRON-based transactions are fast (with over 2000 TPS) and nearly free (at $0.000005 per transaction) because of its UTXO-based trading models.

The TRON ecosystem acts as a content-sharing platform. Users who create or share content are rewarded with TRX, resulting in a transparent and fairer monetization system than the ones that power traditional social media platforms. TRON also allows users to share their content without having to go through a middleman. This means that the network is helping drive the market for decentralized apps (dApps).

Similar to the penny stocks offered on Wall Street, the ICO launch of cryptocurrencies like TRON is gaining market momentum. The coin is seen as one of the best-emerging investment opportunities for investors.

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

7. Cardano (ADA)

Cardano is a well-known blockchain network and open source project aiming to build a completely decentralized public blockchain platform for smart contracts. Cardano's native cryptocurrency is ADA. The growing network strives to fight large-scale blockchain adoption problems, such as scalability, sustainability, and interoperability.

Cardano became the first-ever blockchain platform to implement a peer-reviewed research strategy into its core principles. The network has a smaller footprint, which is attracting investors and traders. Currently, Cardano has between 100 and 150 developers actively working on the project. The team pushes out about 700 commits per week. These factors make Cardano one of the most actively developed projects in the blockchain space and suggest that they can deliver on their development roadmap.

Because of its limited supply of 45 billion coins, Cardano's scarcity can drive an increase in its value and demand over the years.

Check Out: What Will Cardano Be Worth In Five Years?

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

8. Uniswap (UNI)

Uniswap is the world's largest decentralized exchange (DEX) in terms of market valuation. It is also the most popular Ethereum dApp out there. Uniswap plays a crucial role in advancing adoption and innovation across the crypto market. Notably, the platform saw record growth this year, with $7.19 billion in total value locked (TVL).

There are several benefits to using Uniswap over traditional crypto exchanges. Since Uniswap is decentralized, no singular entity controls it. After famous stock brokerages like WeBull and Robinhood halted trading of Gamestop (GME) following its price surge, investors have been paying more attention to Uniswap. This is because no one can suspend the trading of assets on Uniswap because of its decentralized nature.

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

9. Litecoin (LTC)

Litecoin is an open-Ñ•Ð¾urÑe P2P digital cash system that is similar to Bitcoin. LTC was developed to improve on a few shortcomings of Bitcoin, the first-ever successful cryptocurrency. Litecoin has been labeled "digital silver" as Bitcoin is known as "digital gold" because of its use case as a store of value. Notably, LTC is currently four times faster than Bitcoin in terms of transactions per second.

The Litecoin team also adjusted the transaction fee model to make it more appealing to investors. Specifically, Litecoin's fee structure is 1/50th the size of Bitcoin. LTC is also an ideal investment choice for those who do not wish to invest in Bitcoin but other altcoins.

Litecoin and Bitcoin have discrepancies other than transaction confirmation times. Litecoin uses a different hashtag algorithm, which makes mining less resource-consuming and more appealing.

Additionally, Litecoin is more scalable than Bitcoin and even Ethereum. While BTC can handle around seven transactions per second, Ethereum can handle 15. In contrast, LTC can process 56 tsp even at peak times.

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

Best Cryptocurrencies To Invest In Now: Bottom Line

Over the past few years, cryptocurrencies have evolved as an asset class. Many assets, with their incredible performance, have taken the community by surprise. With advancements in technology, these digital currencies are only poised to move higher and generate massive returns.

The mentioned cryptocurrencies are highly likely to surge in price and popularity in the near future, making now the best time to invest in them.