- Ethereum (ETH-USD): Set to explode with Merge upgrade this summer
- BNB (BNB-USD): Underlies the world’s largest exchange and a growing blockchain ecosystem
- XRP (XRP-USD): ISO 20022 compliant and ready to boom as SEC suit closes
- Terra (LUNA-USD): A robust stablecoin offering supplements a fast-growing ecosystem
- Cardano (ADA-USD): A layer-1 protocol with a rapidly expanding dapp offering
- Chainlink (LINK-USD): Blockchain oracle network for Web 3.0
- Bitcoin (BTC-USD): Why settle for a substitute?
The crypto market has had an uneasy first quarter. Coins and tokens have fallen and risen at breakneck speeds. In large part, this is thanks to regulations creeping into reality within the biggest global powers. The United States, European Union, India, Russia — all are slowly working crypto policy up the ladder.
At first, this makes for a nervous market. What will these policies ultimately look like, and how will they affect trading within national borders and abroad? Slowly, we’re starting to get the bigger picture, and while there have been some less-than-savory proposals passed through legislative bodies, it looks like these countries are preparing for an unstoppable future of crypto adoption.
The slow-but-sure insights into crypto policy must be easing investors’ minds; the market is picking up in recent weeks. In the past month, Bitcoin has been able to add thousands of dollars to its value. Moreover, altcoins in spaces like the metaverse and Web 3.0 appear to be taking off, and DeFi networks are seeing influxes of capital.
One project that has gotten a lot of attention recently is Dogecoin (DOGE-USD). The meme coin is booming, thanks in large part to its association with Elon Musk. Musk’s significant new stake in Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) stock is helping to bolster DOGE prices. However, is this really a reason to buy? There are tons of projects out there with much more significant catalysts than this, and with offerings more robust. Consider these cryptos to buy to beat Dogecoin.
Cryptos to Buy: Ethereum (ETH-USD)
Ethereum is one of the best bets when it comes to investing in a future dominated by blockchain technology. It boasts one of the most robust ecosystems in the world; with thousands of decentralized apps (dapps), Ethereum is one of the most popular havens for developers with a cutting-edge idea.
But beyond its fundamental strength thus far, there’s a major catalyst for ETH on the horizon by way of the Merge. This coming upgrade will see Ethereum’s chain merge with a beacon chain holding all of the major new features investors have been waiting on for months now.
Several notable features will hit the Ethereum main network when the Merge occurs this summer. One of these is sharding; the tech will allow the network to break blocks of data into chunks to distribute across multiple nodes. As a result, transaction speeds will fly upward and gas fees will drop significantly. The Merge will also implement a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. The will replace the current proof-of-work mechanism, eliminating mining from the network and leading to a more energy-efficient ecosystem.
BNB (BNB-USD)
Binance’s BNB coin is one of the best cryptos to buy right now for two reasons. The first reason is the sheer size of the exchange the coin underlies. Binance is the largest exchange in the world by volume. Just in the last 24 hours, the Binance exchange has seen over $24 billion in crypto assets change hands on its platform. That’s over five times the volume of the next largest exchange.
Binance’s exchange also enables one of the most popular crypto staking opportunities on the market. The company offers locked and DeFi staking for some of the most popular cryptocurrencies in the world. And, these pools offer some very appealing annual percentage yields (APYs). Staking assets on Binance can yield anywhere from 10% to 25% — or even higher.
The second reason BNB is a smart crypto to invest in is because of the growing BNB Chain network. Formerly the Binance Smart Chain, BNB is one of the biggest threats to Ethereum’s dominance over the industry. The network has over 800 dapps already, and $16 billion in assets locked onto the chain
Cryptos to Buy: XRP (XRP-USD)
The Ripple network has had a rough 16 months, but XRP is staying strong. Even while parent company Ripple has been locked in a heated courtroom battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the XRP crypto has refused to drop from the top 10 largest digital currencies in the world. In fact, the coin’s notoriety has only increased.
In December 2020, the SEC decided to sue Ripple, alleging that its initial coin offering was an unregistered security offering. Ripple stands firm that the XRP crypto is a currency, not an asset, making the complaint void. The case will have broad implications for how the SEC will be able to control crypto in the future.
Investors are confident that Ripple can succeed, and recent news suggests that the case might finally come to a close by late 2022. In the meantime, Ripple is not slowing down on the business side of things; XRP is leading the charge of ISO 20022 compliant cryptos. The growing global standard for cross-border payments, ISO 20022 adoption is set to boom in this decade. As the first compliant digital currency, XRP will surely become a key asset for the future of international bank payments.
Terra (LUNA-USD)
Terra has been in the news a lot lately. Indeed, the Terra ecosystem dealt with some turmoil in the beginning of the year. But the network is bouncing back, and LUNA prices along with it.
While not known primarily for its dapp offering, Terra is a growing ecosystem with nearly 200 dapps. Among these dapps are some of the most widely known DeFi platforms. Most notably, the ecosystem hosts the Anchor Protocol (ANC-USD), which allows users to stake crypto for a guaranteed yield of about 20%.
What Terra is best know for is its stablecoin offering, TerraUSD (UST-USD). UST is one of the largest stablecoins in the world by market capitalization, worth nearly $17 billion. While there are plenty of opportunities to stake and lend using UST, the coin is also notable for its unique relationship to LUNA. Investors can earn passive income by burning UST to mint LUNA, or by burning LUNA to mint UST. That’s because the supplies of both coins are linked, and the process keeps UST attached to its $1 peg.
Cryptos to Buy: Cardano (ADA-USD)
The Cardano network is not the largest, but given its young age, its growth is pretty massive. Couple this with the fundamental strength in having an Ethereum expatriate running the network, and you’ve got plenty of reason to see ADA as one of the best cryptos to buy.
Cardano has been around as a project for about five years. However, it hasn’t existed as a proper layer-1 protocol for long at all. Indeed, Cardano only really began to take off in September, when developers implemented smart contract capabilities. With this tech in place, it launched a renaissance of dapp development on its ecosystem.
In the months since launching smart contracts, Cardano has added hundreds of dapps to its platform — about 600, to be exact. Moreover, it has flexed its strength as a non-fungible token (NFT) player, seeing 4 million NFTs minted in just over six months.
And one can’t talk about Cardano without mentioning its founder, Charles Hoskinson. Hoskinson is one of the key players behind the launch of Ethereum, meaning he has skin in the crypto game and quite the eye-catching resume. Through this new ecosystem, Hoskinson is hoping to improve upon Ethereum’s downfalls and to pass it as the king of layer-1s.
Chainlink (LINK-USD)
If you’re interested in the Web 3.0 revolution, Chainlink should be at the top of your list of cryptos to buy. The network provides a service that will be crucial to the adoption of Web 3.0 technology.
Web 3.0 is the next wave of the internet as we know it. One important goal which it seeks to achieve is in decentralization; Web 3.0 fans don’t want centralized authorities providing a majority of web services as is the case now with companies like Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Web Services and Google Cloud.
Chainlink offers a solution by creating an open-source oracle technology, designed by a huge community of developers and researchers for the goal of providing data in a decentralized manner. Dapp developers can deploy Chainlink oracles on their dapps, which supply them with real-time data. Developers can use Chainlink for getting real-time crypto price data, news, weather and many other things. The service is an essential one, considering every dapp needs data. Being one of the largest networks in this field, LINK will be a Web 3.0 leader.
Cryptos to Buy: Bitcoin (BTC-USD)
Bitcoin is an obvious choice for investors seeking the best cryptos to buy. It is the king of digital money, with a market cap of over $800 billion, and it’s easily the most widely-known crypto in the world.
BTC started it all with its launch in the early 2010s. And while it took a very long time for the coin to start gaining serious value, it wasted no time in skyrocketing once that first upswing came. In the course of the last two years, Bitcoin jumped from just under $7,000 to an all-time high of nearly $70,000.
If it wasn’t for Bitcoin, you wouldn’t be reading this article right now. The coin kickstarted the entire blockchain industry, and indirectly lead to all of the innovations boasted by the other projects on this list. It’s a solid store-of-value play, because as long as the crypto industry exists, Bitcoin will exist.
And even with its more barebones model, Bitcoin fans continue to innovate with the network. It does not support smart contracts, meaning there are no dapps on Bitcoin. However, innovations like the Lightning Network are making the coin more easy to transact. Bitcoin innovators also help to push for a broader adoption of crypto as everyday currency.
On the date of publication, Brenden Rearick did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
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