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With over 10,000 cryptocurrencies floating around on the market, you might be wondering “What is the best crypto buy right now?” While there’s no guaranteed strategy for finding the best cryptocurrency to invest in today, our list of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap can help you narrow down your choices.
Our picks for the best crypto to buy right now are BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, BNB, DOGE, ADA, TRX, AVAX and SHIB.
That said, zeroing in on the best cryptocurrency to invest in today for you depends on whether your sights are set on short- or long-term goals.
Short-term investments are hard to pick. Use historical data, news and social media sentiment to make sense of price movements. Keep in mind that price spikes are usually followed by corrections that bring prices back down. So, your strategy should let you profitably exit before the market turns.
If you’re investing over the long term, consider “blue-chips” like bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), which have a relatively well-tested track record. These coins have been adopted by financial institutions around the world and have utility beyond speculative investing.
Let’s explore crypto investment opportunities by looking at the top cryptocurrencies by market cap.
The world’s first cryptocurrency, bitcoin (BTC) was released in 2009 by a person or persons known only by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. It pioneered blockchain technology and gave birth to a multi-billion-dollar industry.
Bitcoin is a widely accepted form of currency that is not controlled by any government or corporation and can be sent to anyone, anywhere in the world.
Since its release, Bitcoin has witnessed exponential growth and outperformed every asset class over the past decade.
Although it was designed as a peer-to-peer trustless digital payment system, many now consider it more of a store of value than a means of payment. It has even been called ‘digital gold’ due to its limited supply of 21 million coins and the difficulty involved in creating new ones.
Bitcoin (BTC)
$97,286.
Price (USD)
▲ 0.31%
24-hour change
$108,135.
All-time high (USD)
Price over the past month (USD)
Market rank#1
Market cap$1,926,363,294,406
Total supply21,000,000
Circulating supply19,798,909
Ethereum (ETH) was crowdfunded in 2014 by a team of software engineers and is the most used blockchain for decentralized applications (dApps).
It introduced smart contracts via a custom programming language called Solidity. Smart contracts allow for the development of automated software and applications that use the Ethereum blockchain for security. You can think of Ethereum as a highly secure financial layer for the internet, with thousands of automated services, websites and applications that don’t need staff to operate.
Ethereum currently struggles with slow transaction speeds compared to many of its competitors, although it has a robust development cycle that is set to tackle these issues.
Ether (ETH) is the native currency of the Ethereum blockchain and is used to pay for network transaction fees, known as gas. Each transaction burns (destroys) a portion of ETH permanently, reducing the supply over time. ETH can be staked (locked up) in return for earning yield.
Ethereum (ETH)
$3,453.3
Price (USD)
▲ 1.99%
24-hour change
$4,878.26
All-time high (USD)
Price over the past month (USD)
Market rank#2
Market cap$415,858,174,328
Total supply120,453,165
Circulating supply120,453,165
XRP is one of the oldest cryptocurrencies, founded in 2012 by Ripple. Ripple originally designed XRP for use in cross-border payments.
Unlike blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum, where new coins are generated at set intervals via mining or staking, XRP was pre-mined, with all 100 billion tokens being created at launch.
These pre-mined tokens were distributed to individuals and companies in large quantities. Questions and concerns have been raised regarding the true decentralization of XRP, as a large majority of its tokens are held by just a few entities.
XRP is issued by Ripple, which has designed several products that are intended to use XRP. These products mainly involving cross-border payments. Some investors perceive the success of XRP as being linked to the success of Ripple.
XRP (XRP)
$2.26
Price (USD)
▲ 0.78%
24-hour change
$3.4
All-time high (USD)
Price over the past month (USD)
Market rank#4
Market cap$129,365,978,612
Total supply99,986,807,248
Circulating supply57,252,380,420
Solana (SOL) is a layer-1 blockchain released in 2020 by the Solana Foundation. Much like Ethereum, Solana supports smart contract functionality and the development of dApps.
These projects include NFT marketplaces like Magic Eden to DeFi trading platforms like Raydium and Orca.
A large part of Solana’s success as a layer-1 blockchain and direct competitor to Ethereum is its unique proof-of-history (PoH) consensus developed by Solana founder and lead developer Anatoly Yakovenko. PoH allows for blockchain scalability as well as fast and cost-efficient transactions.
In late 2022, Solana came under scrutiny following the declared bankruptcy of crypto exchange FTX, which was directly invested in, and held a significant portion of, the SOL circulating supply.
SOL is the native coin of the network, which means it’s used to pay for transaction fees (gas) and can be staked in return for yield. It’s a common trading pair for many of the DeFi protocols or NFT marketplaces on the network.
Solana (SOL)
$188.33
Price (USD)
▼ -3.53%
24-hour change
$263.21
All-time high (USD)
Price over the past month (USD)
Market rank#6
Market cap$90,469,487,070
Total supply590,509,555
Circulating supply479,252,923
Binance Coin (BNB) is the native cryptocurrency of the BNB Chain and was created by the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance.
BNB utilizes smart contracts and has an ecosystem of dApps built on its network. It operates in much the same way as competitor blockchain, Ethereum, and was designed to improve ETH’s network throughput and reduce transaction fees. Despite faster transaction times, BNB Chain has been critiqued for sacrificing decentralization to achieve this.
BNB is used to pay for transaction fees on the BNB Chain, participate in Binance exclusive token releases and receive discounted trading fees on the exchange.
Users can stake BNB to earn regular yield, which also helps reduce the supply and theoretically increase demand.
BNB (BNB)
$677.85
Price (USD)
▲ 0.22%
24-hour change
$788.84
All-time high (USD)
Price over the past month (USD)
Market rank#5
Market cap$98,931,981,181
Total supply145,887,576
Circulating supply145,887,576
Dogecoin (DOGE) was developed in 2013 by software developer Billy Markus to put some humour in the crypto space. Although it was originally released as a joke, Doge has become one of the world’s most well-recognized and popular cryptocurrencies, ranking in the top 10 projects by total market cap in recent years.
Dogecoin operates similarly to Bitcoin and Litecoin, as it was created as a clone (or “fork”) of these open-source codebases. Key differences include its uncapped total supply and fast block production time. It’s most commonly used as a payment network.
DOGE experienced rapid growth throughout the 2021 bull cycle and was heavily promoted by crypto enthusiasts as well as eccentric billionaire Elon Musk. Musk’s company, Tesla motor vehicles, began accepting DOGE as a form of payment in 2022, further increasing its recognition as a legitimate payment coin.
Dogecoin (DOGE)
$0.315916
Price (USD)
▲ 1.97%
24-hour change
$0.731578
All-time high (USD)
Price over the past month (USD)
Market rank#7
Market cap$46,536,958,740
Total supply147,285,056,384
Circulating supply147,271,236,384
Cardano (ADA) is a layer-1 blockchain that, like Ethereum, supports smart contracts and operates under a proof-of-stake consensus.
This means developers can build and deploy dApps on top of Cardano’s infrastructure.
Cardano was released in 2017 and rose to popularity almost instantly. Its instant trust and recognition by the crypto community can be partially attributed to its founder, Charles Hoskinson. Hoskinson is a notable figure in the crypto space and one of the core developers behind Ethereum.
While Cardano has a strong roadmap and team, it has fallen victim to development delays and is not considered as user-friendly as competitor networks like Ethereum or Polkadot.
ADA is the native coin of the network, which means it can be traded for other assets, used to pay for transaction fees and staked (locked up) in return for yield.
Cardano (ADA)
$0.943286
Price (USD)
▲ 4.78%
24-hour change
$3.09
All-time high (USD)
Price over the past month (USD)
Market rank#10
Market cap$33,798,497,663
Total supply45,000,000,000
Circulating supply35,830,920,240
Tron is a layer-1 blockchain based on a modified version of Ethereum. It’s notable for its low transaction fees, which first brought it to prominence in 2018.
It was founded by Justin Sun, who is a notable and sometimes controversial figure in the crypto space. He was also the former Chinese chief representative of XRP’s parent company, Ripple.
In 2018, Sun purchased BitTorrent and incorporated elements of the Tron blockchain into the popular uTorrent application, helping bolster the blockchain’s success. Tron also hosts several hundred decentralized applications with a strong focus on gaming and entertainment.
TRX is used to pay for transactions on Tron, and it’s used with many of the applications on the network. Large amounts must be held by nodes to keep the network secure, and coins can be staked to earn yield.
TRON (TRX)
$0.24749
Price (USD)
▼ -1.91%
24-hour change
$0.431288
All-time high (USD)
Price over the past month (USD)
Market rank#11
Market cap$21,320,006,654
Total supply86,219,326,028
Circulating supply86,219,313,436
Avalanche (AVAX) was launched in 2020 by Ava Labs, a team led by Cornell University professor Emin Gün Sirer. It’s a platform for dApps and custom blockchain networks and aims to be highly scalable without sacrificing decentralization or security.
Its unique architecture consists of three individual blockchains, each serving different functions, which allows for higher transaction output compared to other blockchains.
AVAX, the native token of Avalanche, is essential for the platform’s operations, including paying transaction fees and staking, which is necessary for securing the network. The platform’s ability to create custom, interoperable blockchains and its high transaction throughput make it a notable player in the DeFi space.
Its distinct consensus mechanism, which is different from traditional proof-of-work or proof-of-stake systems, offers a unique combination of speed, security and decentralization, contributing to its perceived value in the crypto community.
Avalanche (AVAX)
$39.28
Price (USD)
▲ 0.23%
24-hour change
$144.96
All-time high (USD)
Price over the past month (USD)
Market rank#12
Market cap$16,092,507,456
Total supply448,137,828
Circulating supply409,801,528
Shiba Inu launched in 2020 and has since become one of the most recognizable “memecoins.” Named the “Dogecoin killer,” it grew in popularity during the 2021 memecoin craze and has since developed into its own crypto ecosystem.
Along with the original SHIB token, the project now has its own trading platform, ShibaSwap, as well as the staking token LEASH and governance token BONE.
Like Dogecoin, Shiba has developed a large and passionate online community. While SHIB initially launched with a supply of 1 quadrillion tokens, it has been programmed as a deflationary cryptocurrency. This means its total supply is “burned” over time and SHIB tokens become scarcer.
How we chose the best crypto to buy right now: Our list of the best cryptocurrency to invest in today is based on the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization at the time of update, excluding stablecoins and liquid staking derivatives. Some of these coins have an established track record, while others are more volatile with shorter histories. This list should be used as a starting point for further research and doesn’t represent an endorsement of any coin or project.
Shiba Inu (SHIB)
$0.00002182
Price (USD)
▼ -1.57%
24-hour change
$0.00008616
All-time high (USD)
Price over the past month (USD)
Market rank#18
Market cap$12,794,085,211
Total supply589,508,569,978,234
Circulating supply589,255,483,166,807
| Cryptocurrency | Current price | Market cap | Buy now on Kraken |
|---|---|---|---|
| bitcoin (BTC) |
$97,286. (USD)
|
$1,926,363,294,406 (USD)
| Buy BTC |
| Ethereum (ETH) |
$3,453.3 (USD)
|
$415,858,174,328 (USD)
| Buy ETH |
| Ripple’s XRP (XRP) |
$2.26 (USD)
|
$129,365,978,612 (USD)
| Buy XRP |
| Solana (SOL) |
$188.33 (USD)
|
$90,469,487,070 (USD)
| Buy SOL |
| Binance Coin (BNB) |
$677.85 (USD)
|
$98,931,981,181 (USD)
| Buy BNB |
| Dogecoin (DOGE) |
$0.315916 (USD)
|
$46,536,958,740 (USD)
| Buy DOGE |
| Cardano (ADA) |
$0.943286 (USD)
|
$33,798,497,663 (USD)
| Buy ADA |
| Tron (TRX) |
$0.24749 (USD)
|
$21,320,006,654 (USD)
| Buy TRX |
| Avalanche (AVAX) |
$39.28 (USD)
|
$16,092,507,456 (USD)
| Buy AVAX |
| Shiba Inu (SHIB) |
$0.00002182 (USD)
|
$12,794,085,211 (USD)
| Buy SHIB |
When choosing the best cryptocurrency to buy right now, you need to keep on top of what’s happening in the market each day. The tools in this guide are a good starting point but should be used as just one part of your decision-making process. Here are some other ways to find the best crypto to invest in:
Use our table to compare cryptocurrency exchanges based on features like the number of coins available, payment methods and fees. Select Go to site if you’re ready to create an account.
No coin is guaranteed to be the best crypto to buy right now. It’s up to you to research the markets and form your own trading plan. We’ve written this guide to help you choose the best cryptocurrency to invest in today based on your individual goals and strategy, but it’s not investment advice.
If you’re still new to cryptocurrency, you can find plenty of guides on trading, coin profiles and more in our cryptocurrency hub.
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This guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to buy TRON, lists some exchanges where you can get it and provides daily price data on (TRX).
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