Are you looking to invest in cryptocurrencies but unsure which one to buy? With so many options available, it can be overwhelming to decide how to invest your money. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the best crypto to buy now, based on factors such as project developments, price performance and market capitalization, as well as the overall potential for growth.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the most promising cryptocurrencies, including staples such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, and a combination of several other promising crypto projects. We’ll discuss their features, advantages, and potential drawbacks, as well as provide insights into market trends. Whether you’re a seasoned investor or just starting out, this article will help you make an informed decision about the best crypto to buy now.
So, let’s dive in and explore the best cryptocurrencies to invest in 2023:
- Arbitrum – The leading Ethereum layer 2 solution
- Bitcoin – The world’s oldest and largest crypto
- Polygon – A popular scaling solution for Ethereum
- Optimism – A leading Layer 2 solution for Ethereum
- Ethereum – The leading DeFi and smart contract platform
- BNB – The native asset of the BNB Chain and Binance ecosystem
- Cosmos – A leading interoperability-focused blockchain projects
- TRON – A popular dApp and decentralized storage network
- Shiba Inu – A NFT, DeFi, and blockchain gaming project
- Lido – The leading liquid staking solution for Ethereum, Solana, and others
- Aptos – A high-performance Layer 1 blockchain
- Filecoin – A decentralized cloud computing solution
Best cryptos to buy right now
The following three cryptocurrency projects highlight our investment selection thanks to important developments and upcoming events that make them especially interesting to follow in the near future. These projects are updated each week based on the most recent developments and trends taking place in the crypto market.
1. Arbitrum
Arbitrum is a layer 2 scaling solution for the Ethereum blockchain that aims to improve the scalability and reduce the transaction costs of the Ethereum network. It was developed by Offchain Labs, a startup founded by researchers from Princeton University.
Arbitrum uses a technique called optimistic rollups, which allows it to process a large number of transactions off the main Ethereum blockchain, while still maintaining the same level of security and decentralization. This is achieved by aggregating multiple transactions into a single batch and submitting them to the main chain for verification only when necessary.
The benefits of Arbitrum include faster transaction times, lower fees, and increased capacity for decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contracts. It also supports the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which means that dApps and smart contracts built on Ethereum can be easily ported to Arbitrum.
According to layer 2 analytics company L2 Beat, Arbitrum controlled over 55% of the layer 2 market share as of March 20th, ahead of Optimism (29.7%), dYdX (4.9%), and Immutable X (2.3%).
Why Arbitrum?
Last week, the Arbitrum team announced that the long-awaited launch of the platform’s native token is underway – Arbitrum (ARB) token will be airdropped to users on March 23rd. In addition, the team also announced the launch of The Arbitrum Foundation and DAO Governance.
According to the official statement, the new token will allow holders to participate in governance and prevent centralized control. “The first prerequisite is to build the core technology that allows the chain to operate without any centralized actors, and key to this are the fraud proofs that empower Ethereum to enforce the chain’s correctness,” the team explained.
While the democratization of the development process is good in most cases, it can act as a hindrance in case of emergency, as getting thousands of people on the same page in a short amount of time can be very difficult. For this reason, the team decided to establish the Arbitrum Security Council, consisting of 12 highly respected members of the community. They will have the power to quickly push updates and changes to the protocol in case of security breaches.
Roughly 56% of the ARB token supply will eventually be distributed to the community, with 12.75% of the supply airdropped on March 23. Users can check their airdrop eligibility by heading to the Arbitrum Foundation website. It is worth noting that only users that have used Arbitrum in the past will be eligible for the airdrop (also called a retroactive airdrop).
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, announced on March 20 that they will list the new token in ARB/BTC and ARB/USDT trading pairs. The trading will commence on March 23 at 5:00 PM (UTC).
2. Bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) is the original decentralized digital currency, enabling peer-to-peer transactions without the need for intermediaries such as banks or financial institutions. It was created in 2009 by an unknown person or group of people using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin was the first digital currency to eliminate the double spending problem without resorting to any central intermediaries.
Bitcoin transactions are recorded on a public ledger called the blockchain, which is maintained by a network of computers around the world. This means that the transactions are secure and transparent, as anyone can view them but they are also anonymous, as the identity of the participants in the transaction is not revealed.
BTC can be bought and sold on cryptocurrency exchanges, and they can be stored in a digital wallet, which is a software program that securely stores private keys that are required to access and transfer the currency.
Bitcoin is often referred to as “digital gold” or a store of value, as it has a limited supply of 21 million coins, and its value is determined by market demand. Some people also see it as a hedge against inflation or a way to diversify their investment portfolio. It is by far the largest cryptocurrency by market cap in the industry, accounting for the value of more than 40% of all digital assets in circulation combined, making it arguably the most popular crypto to buy.
Why Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is the oldest and most widespread cryptocurrency in the world. These qualities give it certain characteristics that virtually every other cryptocurrency lacks. For starters, Bitcoin is owned by millions of people around the world. According to an Intotheblock report from 2022, there are about 40 million Bitcoin holders in total.
Secondly, Bitcoin has successfully withstood the test of time. While thousands of crypto projects have come and gone in the nearly 15 years since the first private cryptocurrencies were created, Bitcoin has only increased its market cap, number of addresses, and adoption among both individuals and institutions.
Bitcoin has shown impressive performance over the past couple of days – the price of Bitcoin increased over +28% in the past week, reaching a nine-month high of over $28,200. The recent price increase is particularly interesting, as it comes at a time when equities and other traditional assets have been struggling, primarily due to the issues permeating the banking sector. Bitcoin’s price has been closely related to the market performance of equities over the past couple of years, so the recent price surge could be interpreted as Bitcoin breaking that correlation and becoming a safe haven asset and hedge against traditional markets.
Finally, the next Bitcoin halving event is approaching and is expected to take place in late March 2024. Bitcoin halving is an event that halves the rewards miners received for each block. In the next halving, the fourth one in Bitcoin history, this reward will drop from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC.
Historically, each Bitcoin halving cycle has brought new all-time highs, supporting the argument of those that advocate buying Bitcoin ahead of a halving event. Here’s a quick breakdown of the highest and lowest prices in each cycle as well as the BTC price at the time of each halving:
| Lowest Price | Highest Price | BTC Price at Date of Halving | |
| 1st Halving Cycle (Nov 2012 – Jul 2016) | $12.4 | $1,170 | $12.3 (Nov 28, 2012) |
| 2nd Halving Cycle (Jul 2016 – May 2020) | $535 | $19,400 | $680 (Jul 9, 2016) |
| 3rd Halving Cycle (May 2020 – Mar 2024)* | $8,590 | $67,450 | $8,590 (May 11, 2020) |
3. Polygon
Polygon, formerly known as Matic Network, is a Layer 2 scaling solution for Ethereum that aims to provide faster and cheaper transactions while maintaining the security and decentralization of the Ethereum network.
Polygon uses a PoS consensus mechanism to validate transactions, which reduces the energy consumption and environmental impact of the network compared to the PoW consensus, which is most prominently used by Bitcoin. Using Polygon, developers can build and deploy dApps with lower fees, faster transaction speeds, and a better user experience.
The native cryptocurrency of Polygon is MATIC, which is used for transactions, staking, and governance on the network. MATIC is an ERC-20 token, meaning it runs on the Ethereum blockchain and can be stored in any wallet that supports ERC-20 tokens.
Polygon has gained popularity in the cryptocurrency industry as a solution to Ethereum’s scalability issues and has been adopted by various dApps, including Aave, Sushiswap, and Curve Finance. The network has also partnered with other blockchain projects, including Polkadot and Chainlink, to enable cross-chain interoperability.
Why Polygon?
Polygon Labs president Ryan Watt announced last week that Polygon has partnered with Salesforce for an NFT-based loyalty program. Salesforce is one of the leading customer relationship management companies, providing sales, marketing, analytics, and e-commerce solutions to clients.
The news follows a similar announcement made by Warren Buffet-backed digital bank Nubank in October, which stated that they would be using Polygon to launch their own crypto – Nucoin – which would power the bank’s exclusive loyalty program.
In addition, the Polygon ID team has launched new Web3 identity tools with the aim of building “a more equitable internet that places identity at the center of it.”
“Businesses can say goodbye to user data management headaches, and individuals can have discretion in using their personal data when builders build with Polygon ID,” explained the team in a Twitter thread.
Among other things, the new functionality will enable passwordless logins, issuance of elaborate proofs, using real-world credentials in Web3, and more.
The news follows the Polygon team’s announcement that Polygon zkEVM Public Beta will be launching on the Polygon mainnet on March 27. zkEVM, or zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine, is a virtual machine that generates zero-knowledge proofs to verify the correctness of programs.
Polygon’s zkEVM solution can execute smart contracts in a way that’s compatible with zero-knowledge-proof technology used by Ethereum. This means that developers can easily onboard dApps from Ethereum to Polygon’s zkEVM platform.
Here’s what the Poygon devs wrote about the upcoming update:
“True EVM-equivalence means that Ethereum can be scaled without resorting to half-measures. The best way to scale Ethereum is to preserve the existing Ethereum ecosystem: code, tooling, and infrastructure needs to just work. And that’s what Polygon zkEVM is aiming to achieve.”
The best cryptocurrencies to invest in 2023
4. Optimism
Optimism is a layer-2 scaling solution for the Ethereum blockchain that uses optimistic rollups to increase the speed and lower the cost of transactions on the network.
Optimistic rollups are a type of sidechain that allows for the processing of a large number of transactions off-chain before committing them to the main Ethereum network. This approach significantly reduces transaction fees and speeds up the processing of transactions on the Ethereum network.
Optimism aims to improve the Ethereum ecosystem by reducing the high gas fees associated with transactions, which have been a significant bottleneck for the adoption of decentralized applications (dApps) on the Ethereum blockchain. It does this by enabling faster and cheaper transactions while still maintaining the security and trustlessness of the Ethereum network.
Last year, the Optimism team launched the project’s native token Optimism (OP), a governance token for the Layer 2 network which gives holders participation rights in The Optimism Collective. The Collective is a two-tier governance system composed of Token House (overseeing technical decisions related to Optimism) and Citizens’ House (overseeing funding decisions).
Why Optimism?
Bedrock, the long-awaited upgrade for the Optimism protocol, could be launching on the mainnet next month. Bedrock is expected to bring “unprecedented modularity, simplicity, and Ethereum equivalence to the L2 network, with positive impacts on performance and security.” The devs also wrote that the upgrade is a “preparatory step towards the multi-chain future.”
Bedrock was first announced as far back as last August, when the Optimism team stated that “it will change the rollup game forever.”
Well, the release of Bedrock on the mainnet is apparently nearing its launch date. On March 9, the devs published the Bedrock v2 proposal, which outlined how the rollout process will play out.
First, the Regolith hard fork will go live on March 17th at around 7:00 PM UTC. The hard fork is expected to prepare the Optimism platform for the eventual Bedrock upgrade. But first, the blockchain will have to record two weeks of stable activity (defined as “no sequencer failures”, “no Batcher downtime exceeding 6 hours”, and “no Proposer downtime exceeding 12 hours”). This – the devs wrote – is the required course of action to prevent software bugs that could occur when Bedrock goes live.
5. Ethereum
Launched in 2015 by Vitalik Buterin and a team of developers, Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform that allows developers to build decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contracts.
Ethereum has a wide range of use cases beyond just a store of value or medium of exchange. Ethereum’s smart contract functionality allows developers to build dApps that can run without the need for intermediaries, like centralized servers or institutions.
The Ethereum platform has gained widespread adoption and has become the backbone of the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry. DeFi applications built on Ethereum allow users to access financial services without relying on traditional banks or financial institutions. Ethereum’s smart contract functionality has also enabled the creation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which have gained popularity in the digital art and gaming worlds.
While Ethereum has a strong community and has been highly influential in the cryptocurrency industry, it also faces challenges, such as scalability issues and high gas fees. These issues have spurred the development of various Layer 2 scaling solutions. In the long run, future updates are supposed to massively increase Ethereum’s throughput bringing the transaction per second (TPS) figure from 15 to 100,000.
Why Ethereum?
Following last year’s Merge, which saw Ethereum transition from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS), the next major upgrade to hit the Ethereum network could be going live next month. “Shanghai”, as the new upgrade is called, will unlock ETH locked in the Beacon Deposit Contract, giving validators a chance to withdraw their assets. At the moment, there are over $26 billion worth of ETH locked in the contract. The dev team stated the following:
“Full withdrawals will be available for exited validators, whereas partial withdrawals will be available for active validator balances in excess of 32 ETH.“
According to Ethereum developer Tim Beiko, the mainnet upgrade could go live as soon as late March or early April. Recently, the supply of Ethereum on cryptocurrency exchanges has plunged by over 35% since the Merge upgrade, which suggests that users are withdrawing their ETH as Shanghai approaches. Typically, exchange outflows are considered a bullish sign, which is reflected in our algorithmically generated ETH price prediction as well.
6. BNB
BNB (formerly Binance Coin) is a cryptocurrency created by the popular cryptocurrency exchange Binance. Binance is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, allowing users to buy, sell, and trade a wide range of digital assets.
BNB was initially one of the ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum blockchain but has since migrated to its own blockchain, known as BNB Chain. BNB is used as a utility token within the Binance ecosystem and has a variety of use cases. For example, users can use BNB to pay for transaction fees on the Binance exchange, receive discounts on trading fees, participate in token sales on Binance Launchpad, and purchase goods and services from merchants that accept BNB as payment.
One of the unique features of BNB is that it has a deflationary model. Binance uses a part of its profits each quarter to buy back and burn BNB tokens, reducing the total supply of the token over time. This mechanism is designed to create scarcity and increase the value of BNB over time, with the end goal of reducing the circulating supply of BNB from the initial 200 million to 100 million BNB.
Why BNB?
While Binance has been trying to distance itself from the BNB coin with moves such as the renaming from Binance Coin to BNB and stating that the project is open source and owned by the community, it is clear that the world’s largest exchange still has a large stake and say in how BNB is developed.
This means that an investment in BNB is indirectly an investment in the Binance broader ecosystem, at least in principle. And the Binance ecosystem is one of the quickest growing in the industry.
Last year, Arcane Research reported on the extent to which Binance has captured the crypto spot trading market. According to them, Binance’s share of the Bitcoin spot market trading volume surpassed 90% on December 28, more than double what it was at the beginning of 2022 (from 45% to 92%).
In addition to the exchange domination, the BNB Smart Chain (BSC) has also seen a massive rise in popularity in recent months. According to DeFi Llama, BSC is the third largest DeFi ecosystem in terms of total value locked (TVL) with $4.91 billion, trailing only TRON ($5.16B TVL) and Ethereum ($28.67B TVL).
Given these metrics, it’s hard to argue against BNB being a good investment. However, that could quickly change, especially if Binance faces more regulatory scrutiny in the future.
7. Cosmos
Cosmos is a blockchain project designed to enable the interoperability and scalability of different blockchain networks, dubbed the “Internet of Blockchains”. The native cryptocurrency of the Cosmos network is called ATOM.
Cosmos aims to address some of the key challenges facing the blockchain industry, including the lack of interoperability between different blockchain networks, scalability issues, and the need for greater efficiency in transaction processing.
The Cosmos network achieves interoperability by allowing different blockchains to communicate with each other through a shared hub called the Cosmos Hub, which acts as a central point of communication for different blockchains, enabling them to transfer assets and data between each other.
The Cosmos network also utilizes a PoS consensus mechanism, which allows for greater scalability and energy efficiency compared to PoW consensus mechanisms. Overall, Cosmos aims to create a more interconnected and scalable blockchain ecosystem, and the ATOM cryptocurrency is used to incentivize participation in the network and facilitate transactions.
Why Cosmos?
Last week, the Comos team announced that the V9 Lambda ugrade will go live on March 15th. The community proposal for the Lambda rollout was passed with 99.99% of the vote.
The upgrade will introduce the concept of “replicated security (RS)” to the Cosmos ecosystem. RS will enable chains in the ecosystem to share validation resources for improved security. In addition, the upgrade will revamp staking yields – from the upgrade on, ATOM stakers can expect 24.37% annual returns.
In addition, Interchain Foundation has recently announced new participants will be joining the Builders Program in 2023. Interchain Foundation is an organization aimed at developing and maintaining an “interoperable multichain future” on Cosmos
In total, the program received 80 applications, out of which 18 had been selected for the program. The teams are focusing on various aspects of blockchain applications, from DeFi and infrastructure to gaming and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
It is worth mentioning that the program saw more than 50 teams join the Builders Program in 2022 following its June launch. The interest in building on the interoperability-focused ecosystem and using the Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol (IBC) bodes well for the future of Cosmos.
8. TRON
TRON is a decentralized blockchain platform that aims to build a global digital content storage system with distributed storage technology. The platform allows users to publish, store, and own data in a decentralized manner, while also offering the ability to create and publish their own content.
TRON leverages the power of the BitTorrent File System (BTFS) to provide a venue for individuals and businesses to store files that are not stored in a centralized data center, but rather decentralized across various computers and accessible via dedicated protocols. Also, TRON launched an algorithmic stablecoin USDD in 2022, which is pegged to the value of the US Dollar at a 1:1 ratio.
The project was founded by Chinese entrepreneur Justin Sun, and its development is overseen by the Tron Foundation, which was established in 2017. TRX is the native token of the TRON blockchain and is used to pay for transactions on the network and access various decentralized applications built on the platform. In addition, TRX is also used for decentralized governance purposes.
Before the launch of the TRON mainnet, TRX existed in the form of an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain. After the launch of its own blockchain in June 2018, TRON quickly grew to become a major player in the blockchain sector and has positioned itself as a competitor to Ethereum with a focus on providing high throughput and scalability for decentralized applications and content platforms. Similarly to Ethereum, the TRON blockchain can also host custom its own digital assets, issued using the TRC10 and TRC20 standards.
Why TRON?
In the first half of February, the Tron Foundation announced the launch of a $100 million AI development fund with the aim of supporting cryptocurrency projects that are focused on building artificial intelligence (AI) solutions.
The announcement comes at a time when the interest in AI has reached an all-time high, largely due to the launch of OpenAI’s massively popular AI chatbot called ChatGPT.
The TRON team has stated that organizations working on AI-related TRON-based projects that are aligned with the mission and vision of the Foundation will benefit from both financial as well as technical support.
The AI development fund will focus on projects that are working on four key areas, namely, the creation of an AI service payment platform, AI-infused oracles, AI-informed investment management services, and AI-generated content. However, the development fund is just a part of TRON’s wider push to integrate AI with its blockchain. Justin Sun recently said that TRON would develop and offer an AI-oriented decentralized payment framework for AI systems as well.
9. Shiba Inu
Shiba Inu is a cryptocurrency that was created in August 2020 by an anonymous person or group of people under the pseudonym “Ryoshi”. It is an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain, which means it is a digital asset that is compatible with the Ethereum network and can be stored in any wallet that supports ERC-20 tokens.
Shiba Inu gained popularity in 2021 after it was listed on several cryptocurrency exchanges and gained attention on social media platforms like Twitter and Reddit. In fact, SHIB’s 2021 run is still one of the most impressive runs in crypto history, as the meme coin gained over 430,000x in a span of the year. It is often compared to Dogecoin, another meme-inspired cryptocurrency, as it features the Shiba Inu dog breed as its mascot.
However, unlike Dogecoin, the project aims to create a decentralized ecosystem for a variety of use cases, including decentralized exchanges, NFTs, and more. The development team has also created a Shiba Inu-themed decentralized exchange called ShibaSwap.
Why Shiba Inu?
With a circulating supply of roughly 550 trillion tokens and a market cap of over $7.5 billion, Shiba Inu is unlikely to reach milestones many users want to see, such as 1 dollar, 50 cents, or even 1 cent. The reason is simple, if SHIB were to reach 1 dollar, for instance, its market cap would be $550 trillion. That’s just not feasible.
However, the upcoming Shibarium layer 2 solution could change that in a big way. Shibarium is a scaling solution for Shiba Inu that aim to make transactions cheaper and faster. In addition, Shibarium will burn SHIB for each transaction made on the platform, which will introduce deflationary pressure and lower the total number of SHIB in circulation over time.
Users hope that Shibarium will not only make it cheaper and more efficient for NFT and DeFi projects to leverage Shiba Inu, but also lead to a massive appreciation in the price of the Shiba Inu coin. Recently, the Shiba Inu team announced that the testing of Shibarium is already underway and added that the solution should be launching “soon”. If successful, Shibarium could be a major catalyst for Shiba Inu and one of the reasons why it could be one of the best coins to buy in 2023.
10. Lido DAO Token
Lido is a DeFi project that allows users to earn rewards on their cryptocurrency holdings by staking them on several blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, Polkadot, and Kusama.
Staking is the process of locking up cryptocurrency as collateral to help validate transactions and maintain the security of a blockchain network, and in return, stakers receive rewards in the form of additional cryptocurrency.
Users that stake their ETH with Lido receive a tokenized representation of their staked ETH – called stETH – at a 1:1 ratio. StETH represents the user’s share of the total ETH being staked in the Ethereum network, and it can be freely traded on cryptocurrency exchanges.
One of the benefits of using Lido is that it allows users to earn rewards on their staked ETH without having to run their own staking node, which can be technically complex and require 32 ETH, which is out of reach for most cryptocurrency users. Instead, Lido pools user funds together to create a large validator node, with each user receiving a share of rewards based on their pool contribution. While Ethereum is by far the largest staking pool run by Lido, tokenized versions of other supported tokens are also available (stSOL for Solana, stDOT for Polkadot, etc.).
The Lido project is governed by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that is controlled by LDO token holders, and LDO is used to incentivize participation in the governance process. Overall, Lido aims to make staking more accessible and user-friendly for the average cryptocurrency holder.
Why Lido DAO Token?
Lido developers have announced a new version of the staking protocol, dubbed “Lido V2”. The new version is expected to bring several improvements in the way the staking protocol works. Perhaps most importantly, the new update will allow users holding stETH to withdraw from Lido at a 1:1 ratio.
As a part of the Lido V2 upgrade, the team will be launching the Staking Router, a protocol upgrade “that moves the operator registry to a modular and more composable architecture.” In practice, the Staking Router will allow stakers, developers, and node operators to collaborate more seamlessly. The team believes this will boost the degree of Ethereum’s decentralization and make Lido a more secure and accessible staking platform.
11. Aptos
Aptos is a Layer 1 blockchain launched by a team of former Diem stablecoin engineers. After Meta’s inability to launch its own stablecoin solution, some members of the Diem team used their expertise and new technologies to establish Aptos.
While Aptos was first founded in 2019, it wasn’t until October 2022 that its mainnet went online, thus making Aptos one of the youngest projects on our list. Perhaps thanks to the high pedigree of the Aptos team or the community’s interest in the promised 100,000 TPS claim, the Aptos ecosystem quickly rose through the ranks and became one of the most popular blockchain solutions.
Thanks to its high transactional throughput, Aptos attracted a great deal of interest, primarily from NFT creators and collectors. However, several other decentralized applications found their way to Aptos as well, such as the PancakeSwap decentralized exchange (DEX), the largest dApp on Aptos in terms of TVL.
Why Aptos?
After a relatively slow start after its launch in 2022, the Aptos coin exploded in value this year, gaining more than +300% year-to-date. The price increase is mirrored in the number of user transactions, which have regularly been reaching or even surpassing 100,000 daily transactions, reaching a peak of 265,000 transactions on February 9th.
In addition to encouraging blockchain metrics, the Aptos Foundation recently hosted the Aptos World Tour event in Seoul, which saw more than 400 builders, 180 hackers, and 50 demo projects in attendance. This suggests that the Aptos community is quickly growing despite the project’s relatively nascent status.
Moreover, on February 17th, the Aptos team announced the Aptos Collective, an ambassador initiative aimed at supporting Aptos’ growth by providing members with exclusive perks, such as direct access to core Aptos team members, invitations to live events, career development and mentoring, and more. Additionally, Aptos has been featured by CoinCodex as the next crypto to explode in 2023.
In line with the increased level of development activity on Aptos, crypto investor and accelerator Outlier Ventures have partnered with the Aptos Foundation for a new Web3 accelerator program. The new program will help startups with mentorship and $100,000 in funding. In addition, the in-person program will help developers working with Move, a programming language designed to build NFTs and DeFi applications on Aptos.
According to our algorithmic Aptos price prediction, APT could experience considerable bullish activity in the next 3 months, reaching a new ATH above the $20 mark.
12. Filecoin
Filecoin is a decentralized storage network that allows users to store, retrieve, and share data on a peer-to-peer basis. It is built on blockchain technology and is designed to be secure, efficient, and cost-effective.
Filecoin operates on a unique incentive system that rewards users for storing data on the network and for providing resources to the network, such as processing power and storage capacity. Users can earn Filecoin tokens by contributing to the network’s storage and retrieval functions, and these tokens can be used to pay for storage services or traded on cryptocurrency exchanges.
The decentralized nature of Filecoin means that users can access storage services without relying on a centralized provider, which can be more secure and reliable. Additionally, the use of blockchain technology ensures that all transactions on the network are transparent and immutable.
Filecoin has many potential use cases, including storing large datasets, hosting websites and applications, and archiving digital assets. It is seen as a promising solution for businesses and organizations that require secure and reliable data storage and an alternative to established centralized cloud computing solutions like Google Drive and Amazon Web Services.
Why Filecoin?
The 18th major upgrade of the Filecoin network, the long-awaited “Hygge” update, is launching on March 14th. The new upgrade will enable developers to deploy Ethereum virtual machine (EVM) smart contracts on the Filecoin platform using the FEVM.
In addition to the smart contract implementation, the launch of Hygge will also see the rollout of two new testnets for the Filecoin network, including Hyperspace (“a pre-production developer focused testnet”) and Wallaby (“a bleeding-edge testnet for early testing of the latest FVM features”) testnets.
The devs explained the significance of the upcoming update in a GitHub post:
“Existing Etheurm tooling will be compatible with Filecoin. User-deployed actors can interact with Filecoin built-in actors and access Filecoin functionalities. Developers can build various use cases like DataDAO, perpetual storage, lending market, Defi & so on Filecoin.”
| Native Asset | Launched In | Description | Market Cap* | |
| Arbitrum | ARB | 2021 (mainnet) | The leading Ethereum layer 2 solution | / |
| Bitcoin | BTC | 2009 | The world’s oldest and largest crypto | $544 bln |
| Polygon | MATIC | 2017 | A popular scaling solution for Ethereum | $9.2 bln |
| Optimism | OP | 2021 | A leading Layer 2 solution for Ethereum | $564mln |
| Ethereum | ETH | 2015 | The leading DeFi and smart contract platform | $218 bln |
| BNB | BNB | 2017 | The native asset of the BNB Chain and Binance ecosystem | $53.2 bln |
| Cosmos | ATOM | 2019 | A leading interoperability-focused blockchain project | $3.46 bln |
| TRON | TRX | 2018 | A popular dApp and decentralized storage network | $6.15 bln |
| Shiba Inu | SHIB | 2020 | NFT, DeFi, and blockchain gaming project | $5.91 bln |
| Lido | LDO | 2021 | The most popular liquid staking service | $861 mln |
| Aptos | APT | 2022 | A high-performance Layer 1 blockchain | $2.11 bln |
| Filecoin | FIL | 2017 | A leading decentralized exchange platform | $1.99 bln |
Best crypto to buy for beginners
If you are just starting out in crypto, it is advisable to stick to cryptocurrency projects that are less prone to volatility and are generally more established. While this approach does have a downside, as it becomes much more difficult to expect triple-digit or larger gains, the major upside is that you are not exposed to projects that have a chance of failing and thus losing your entire investment.
In order to identify projects that are stable and thus feature low volatility, you can start by following the parameters listed below:
- The crypto asset has a market capitalization that places it into the cryptocurrency top 100 (roughly $400 million as of early 2023)
- The crypto asset is available for trading on multiple trading platforms and can be exchanged for fiat currencies
- The crypto asset boasts healthy liquidity ($100M/day and more), which allows you to execute buy and sell orders quickly and without slippage
- The crypto asset is part of a reputable crypto project, with clear goals, a realistic roadmap, and products and services that look to address real-world problems
Some of the best cryptos to buy for beginners are those that follow the above criteria and have earned their standing in the crypto market due to robust security, popular products and services, and clear growth potential. Some beginner-friendly crypto investments are:
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum
- Litecoin
- Cardano
- BNB
It is worth noting that cryptocurrency investments are inherently risky, even if you stick to the biggest and most reputable projects. The reason for this is simple – the crypto sector is relatively new, and the landscape might look completely different in the future.
How we choose the best cryptocurrencies to buy
At CoinCheckup, we provide real-time prices for over 22,000 cryptocurrencies, with the list growing by dozens each day. As you can imagine, making a selection of a dozen top cryptocurrencies to buy out of such an immense dataset can be difficult and will for sure lead to some projects that should be featured being omitted. To minimize the chance of that happening, we follow certain guidelines when trying to identify the best cryptocurrencies to invest in.
Availability
One of the most important factors for any cryptocurrency investment is the crypto asset’s availability, meaning how easy it is to buy and sell it across various cryptocurrency exchanges. We tend to stay away from assets that are not available on major exchanges and require complex procedures to obtain.
Market Capitalization
Another important metric for identifying whether a crypto project is worth covering its market cap. A high market cap means that the project has reached a certain level of adoption from users, making it less risky to invest in.
Growth Potential
While this metric is mostly subjective, it is still an important metric on which we curate our selection. We won’t feature projects that we think are stagnating or have no real upside in the future.
The bottom line: What crypto to buy now?
The decision of which crypto to buy now is dependent on your own risk profile and investment goals. For some, investing in a crypto asset with a proven track record like Bitcoin is the only type of exposure to crypto they are willing to take on.
Meanwhile, those with a higher risk tolerance might see Bitcoin as too stable, looking instead toward newer and smaller projects that carry a higher degree of upside.
If you are looking for more investment ideas, check out our crypto price predictions section.
Andrew is a writer that does most of his work on cryptocurrency-related topics. While he’s primarily interested in Bitcoin, he also follows major altcoins and the innovative ideas that new cryptocurrency and blockchain projects are bringing to the table.
