The Best Cryptocurrencies You Can Buy for Under $1

Best cryptocurrencies under $1

Bitcoin is often a dominant topic in cryptocurrency investment discussions, but other coins such as Ethereum, Cardano, and Solana are also mentioned. While these are well-established in the crypto market, there are lesser-known coins available for a low cost that have the same potential as investment opportunities and as blockchain projects. In this article, we will explore five of the best cryptocurrencies that can be purchased for less than $1. These projects have their own merits and potential for success, and it's up to the investor to research and decide if they want to invest in them. Keep in mind that the crypto industry is constantly evolving, and you may also want to consider coins that are under $5. Remember that cryptocurrency is divisible, and it's possible to buy a piece of Bitcoin for $1 on certain exchanges.

The Top 5 Cryptocurrencies for $1 or Less

In this section, we will examine five cryptocurrencies that are currently priced under $5. It's important to note that this is not financial advice, and the crypto industry can be highly volatile. However, these coins are currently listed under $1 and have the potential for significant growth.

list of cryptocurrencies under $1

Stellar (XLM)

Stellar is a blockchain protocol that uses tokens called Lumens (XLM) as a means of processing transactions on the network. It has been gaining popularity in the crypto community due to its fast transaction speeds and minimal fees, making it well-suited for micropayments. With a current market capitalization in the 20s, Stellar has significant potential for growth.

Stellar's goal is to serve individuals rather than large financial institutions, which sets it apart from its direct competitor, Ripple. Additionally, Stellar has a high level of developer engagement and offers an annual inflation pool reward of 1% to protect the value of assets on the network.

Crypto.com Coin (CRO)

The Crypto.com Coin (CRO) is the native token of the Crypto.com Exchange, and it is a great cryptocurrency option to buy for less than $1. Currently ranked 16th by market capitalization, CRO offers several benefits for investors.

For example, if you stake a minimum of 10,000 CRO on the exchange for 180 days, you will receive a daily reward of 10% P.A. Staking at least 10k CRO also grants you access to Syndicate Events, which are opportunities to purchase crypto assets at a 50% discount.

Additionally, there is a Crypto.com Visa card that offers cashback returns in CRO from 1% to 8%, depending on the card tier. Crypto.com also provides a service called Crypto Earn, which allows you to earn interest on various assets, paid out in the asset you deposited, and the amount depends on the term (flexible, one-month, three-month), and the amount of CRO staked. All trading fees on the exchange can also be paid in CRO.

Both CRO and Crypto.com are considered competitors to Binance and Binance Coin. Some CRO supporters believe that Crypto.com has the potential to surpass Binance in the future.

VeChain (VET)

VeChain (VET) is a blockchain-based platform that aims to increase transparency in supply chain management by using physical hardware to track goods through all stages of their journey. It was founded in 2015 by Sunny Lu, a former CIO of Louis Vuitton China, as a part of Bitse, a larger blockchain technology company.

The VET token was originally launched as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum and was known as VEN before it was rebranded to VET in 2018, when VeChain launched its own native blockchain.

VeChain uses a proof of authority consensus mechanism, and holders can stake their VET to receive rewards in VeThor Tokens (VTHO), which are used to power calculations and processes on the blockchain. VET is currently ranked 34th by market capitalization.

Hedera (HBAR)

Hedera (HBAR) is a public network that uses a new distributed ledger technology called Hashgraph. Data is stored in hashes instead of blocks, but it still operates like a blockchain. Transactions are verified through virtual voting and gossip protocol.

HBAR is the native cryptocurrency of the Hedera network with a maximum supply of 50 billion. It is energy-efficient as it is used to compensate network nodes for storage, computation, and bandwidth for each transaction.

HBAR is also used for weighted voting and network protection, as Hedera utilizes a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. This means that for a bad actor to maliciously affect the consensus, they would need to own one-third of the total supply, which will be impossible for the first five years.

Hedera is currently ranked 38th by market capitalization and is trading around 22 cents per coin. It reached a high of over 50 cents in September 2021.

SHIBA INU

SHIBA INU (SHIB) is an ERC-20 token that aims to be a direct competitor to Dogecoin (DOGE) and aims to become the top meme coin in the market. It gained attention by sending half of its total supply to Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin, who subsequently burned his share. The SHIB developers are trying to create a meme coin with some utility by creating ShibaSwap, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform for the asset, which provides holders the opportunity to stake and earn other SHIB-related assets.

SHIB's inclusion in this article is more tied to its strong community support than its technical features. The asset is not particularly advanced in terms of technology, but the community support is so strong that it has made it a well-known and accessible asset for many types of investors. SHIB is currently trading at well under 1 cent per piece and is ranked 13th by market capitalization.

It's worth noting that meme coins like SHIB and Dogecoin are not highly regarded by the crypto community, although some people love them.

Five of the Best Cryptos Under $5

If you're willing to spend a bit more per unit, there are several coins with large potential. Some of the coins listed below were priced under $1 last year, but have since risen above that threshold. However, it's worth noting that they could potentially be even higher in value in the future.

Basic Attention Token (BAT)

Basic Attention Token (BAT) is a cryptocurrency that aims to address the issues in the advertising industry, such as advertiser fraud, user abuse, and excessive trackers causing slow load times and a poor user experience. It was created by Brave Software Inc. as part of their plan to redefine and reshape how the internet treats users, serves advertisements, and collects user information. Currently ranked 74th by market capitalization and priced at just over $1 per coin, BAT aims to change the way we browse the internet and view ads.

BAT's goal is to create a platform that eliminates intermediaries in the digital advertising space by paying internet users directly for their participation in the BAT community. Content creators can publish their content on the platform and users can browse the web, with BAT tokens as an incentive for viewing ads. Ads appear as notifications in the corner of your browser and users have the choice to click or ignore them. If they click on it, they get rewarded with a small portion of BAT, which is paid out monthly. Users can adjust the number of ad notifications they receive in the settings, with a maximum of 5 per hour. This means that users can earn by looking at 5 ads per hour. Although it may not seem like a lot, it is a way to earn something while browsing the internet if you're not using Brave. It's highly recommended to give it a try.

THETA

Theta is an interesting cryptocurrency that rewards users for using their unused bandwidth to help improve streaming quality and load times for other users. The more bandwidth you provide, the more THETA tokens you receive. You can even just run the node while you are sleeping or not viewing content and thus provide more bandwidth and get more rewards. This is an extremely interesting concept when you consider just how much content is consumed through streaming nowadays. Currently ranked 40th by market cap at around $4 a piece, THETA has lots of room to grow.

At the heart of the Theta platform is a mesh network which consists of a series of nodes capable of mutual communication. These nodes link the network together and provide the backbone for the bandwidth sharing scheme offered by THETA. The THETA network is the main component with which the platform aims to challenge standard content delivery providers. The Theta network will use its P2P architecture to either improve the performance of existing content delivery networks or replace them altogether. THETA Fuel is a reward for users sharing their bandwidth through the THETA platform.

Cardano (ADA)

Cardano (ADA) is a blockchain project created by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson. Currently priced at under $1.25 per coin and ranked 7th by market capitalization, Cardano has a lot of potential. It reached an all-time high of over $3 in mid-2021.

Developed with a scientific philosophy and research-driven approach, Cardano has one of the highest developer engagement ratings among all cryptocurrencies. The project recently released its Alonzo upgrade, bringing smart contract capabilities to the network. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are also functional on the network and with extremely low transaction costs, Cardano is a viable option for them. The project has also focused on gaining market share in Africa and has partnerships with multiple governments and organizations on the continent.

Ouroboros Hydra enables Cardano to scale horizontally, by incorporating additional nodes rather than vertically through the addition of more powerful hardware. Early simulations show that each head can perform up to 1,000 Transactions Per Second (TPS). With 1,000 heads, this could be as high as 1,000,000 TPS. Cardano uses a proof of stake consensus mechanism, which pays out delegators about 5% APY.

Polygon (MATIC)

Polygon (MATIC) , formerly known as Matic Network, is a layer 2 blockchain network built on top of Ethereum, making it an ERC-20 token.

Its goal is to be Ethereum's Internet of Blockchains, similar to Cosmos (ATOM) or Polkadot (DOT). Transactions on Polygon take place on child chains, keeping most of the traffic off of the Ethereum parent chain, resulting in faster and cheaper transactions. It has seen rapid growth since its mainnet launch in early 2021, with projects such as AAVE and 1Inch launching versions on the Polygon network with much lower fees than their Ethereum versions. With the upcoming "Zk Day" promising major news for the layer-2, it is possible that MATIC will continue to grow even as Bitcoin and the rest of the market struggles.

Polygon is currently ranked 15th by market capitalization. Its all-time high is over $2.50 which it reached towards the end of 2021.

Fantom (FTM)

Fantom (FTM) has been gaining attention over the past year, experiencing significant growth. FTM uses a directed acyclic graph (DAG) smart contract platform, making it useful as a DeFi service center. After starting the year at well under $1, FTM reached a new high of $3.48 in October.

Developers claim that FTM can process transactions in under 2 seconds, and the OPERA mainnet went live in December 2019. The consensus mechanism, called Lachesis, was specifically built for DeFi and smart contracts.

Fantom has a total value locked (TVL) on its chain that is comparable to Polygon and Tron, but it is far behind both in terms of market capitalization and TVL ratio. This may indicate that the project is currently undervalued or that the other two are overvalued.

FTM is currently ranked 45th by market capitalization.

How Market Cap Works

Market Capitalization, or Market Cap, is the total value of an asset, based on the circulating supply of that asset. For example, Bitcoin currently has a circulating supply of about 18.6 million BTC, with a maximum supply of 21 million. As more Bitcoin is mined, its market capitalization will increase.

In contrast, Cardano has a circulating supply of about 31 billion, and a maximum supply of 45 billion. This means that when both are at maximum supply, there will be 2,100 times more ADA compared to BTC (even more when accounting for BTC locked in wallets whose private keys have been lost). These differences in supply often account for differences in price between individual units of any cryptocurrency.

What to Look for When Assessing Coin Potential

When evaluating the potential of a coin, it is important to consider its market capitalization. Look for assets that appear undervalued compared to others within the same sector, such as Fantom, which has similar use cases as Polygon but has a lower total value locked (TVL) and a lower current price.

It is essential to conduct thorough research when investing in cryptocurrencies. Understand the goals and objectives of the project, compare it to similar assets, and evaluate the merits of both projects. This approach will help you identify projects that are undervalued or lesser-known, which are key factors in achieving significant returns.