12 Best Crypto to Buy Right Now — February 2024 (2024)

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 2024:

1. Ethereum – The leading DeFi and smart contract platform
2. Uniswap – The largest decentralized trading protocol
3. Sui – High-performance blockchain for private digital asset ownership
4. Bitcoin – The world’s oldest and largest crypto
5. Immutable X – A gaming-focused L2 based on Ethereum
6. Chainlink – A decentralized oracle network
7. Solana – One of the fastest and cheapest L1 blockchains
8. Polygon – A popular scaling solution for Ethereum
9. BNB – A popular crypto asset enjoying support from the world’s biggest crypto exchange
10. Arbitrum – A leading L2 for Ethereum
11. XRP – A leading crypto-powered payment solution
12. Toncoin – A blockchain designed by Telegram and run by the community

The 12 best cryptos to buy right now: Discover top investments for February 2024

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. 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?

Ethereum has shown a great deal of positive market activity in recent days. The second-largest cryptocurrency gained over +17% in the past week, which could be attributed to several market forces that are currently in play.

For starters, Ethereum is the next major cryptocurrency that might be cleared by the SEC to get its own spot ETF in the US. Given the massive amount of investor interest Bitcoin received ahead of its spot ETF rollout, it’s no wonder that investors are hoping that Ethereum might benefit from the same dynamics.

Case in point, the open interest on Ethereum futures surged in the last couple of days, reaching an all-time high on the Deribit crypto derivatives exchange. While the open interest rate is not necessarily indicative of an imminent price rally, it’s still very likely that the rise in futures trading activity is linked to potential upcoming price catalysts.

The hype surrounding an Ethereum spot ETF could fuel an ETH price rally that is very reminiscent of Bitcoin’s price activity over the past couple of months. Remember that Bitcoin significantly outperformed Ethereum between last year’s February and this year’s February, recording over 70% higher relative price gains.

Several prominent financial institutions have already filed their respective applications for an Ethereum spot ETF, including BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, and VanEck. The next decision deadline for the SEC is May 23rd when the agency will publish its decision about the fate of VanEck’s Ethereum ETF.

2. Uniswap

Uniswap is a decentralized exchange (DEX) that runs on the Ethereum blockchain. It was created in 2018 by Hayden Adams, and it allows users to trade various cryptocurrencies without the need for an intermediary or central authority.

Uniswap uses an automated market maker (AMM) system, which means that there is no order book or centralized exchange to match buyers and sellers. Instead, liquidity providers (LPs) contribute funds to liquidity pools, which are used to execute trades. Traders can swap one cryptocurrency for another by exchanging tokens with the liquidity pool, which uses a mathematical formula to determine the exchange rate.

The native cryptocurrency of the Uniswap platform is UNI, which is used for governance and for providing incentives to liquidity providers. UNI holders can participate in platform governance, including proposing and voting on changes to the protocol.

In the five years since its launch, Uniswap has grown to become the most popular decentralized exchange in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, with billions of dollars in trading volume and a large community of users and developers.

Why Uniswap?

Uniswap is gearing up for the launch of Uniswap v4, the next iteration of the most popular decentralized trading protocol. At the moment, the launch is expected to occur in Q3 2024.

According to Dune Analytics, Uniswap controls a dominating share of the market – as of February 19, Uniswap accounted for over 56% of all trading volume in the past week, way ahead of the second-placed PancakeSwap, which is the largest DEX on the BNB Chain.

The next version of Uniswap is slated to bring several improvements focused on customization. The star feature here are the “hooks,” which are smart contracts that will enable customizable dynamic fees, on-chain limit orders, and on-chain oracles. In addition, the v4 upgrade will introduce “flash accounting,” a new accounting system that is expected to lower the fees paid by liquidity providers.

Despite the v4 launch being at least a couple of months away, the UNI token saw some positive market activity in recent days, gaining over 17% in the time time period between Feb 12 and Feb 19. Given that the token is trading over 83% removed from its all-time high, UNI could be a good investment if you believe that the hype surrounding the next BTC halving and the upcoming launch of v4 could significantly impact the token’s price.

3. Sui

Sui is a layer 1 blockchain focused on scalability and high throughput. Thanks to its robust performance, Sui is positioned to become one of the leading chains in the Web3 and NFT space, challenging the likes of Ethereum and Solana.

Smart contracts on the Sui blockchain are written in the Move programming language, a language developed by a team of Facebook developers who worked on the Diem stablecoin project. Move was first prominently used by the Aptos team, which features a lot of individuals who worked on the Diem project before it was shut down.

The native token of the Sui blockchain is called SUI. The token is used to pay gas fees for transactions, staking, and compensating validators for securing the network, for funding Sui’s storage fund, and for the Sui ecosystem governance.

Why Sui?

The Sui Network mainnet was launched last May, and since then, the network has been growing at a rapid pace. Over the past couple of weeks, Sui achieved a major milestone, solidifying its position among the 10 largest DeFi chains by total value locked (TVL), surpassing Ultron, PulseChain, and Cardano.

The pace at which the project’s TVL has increased since the start of this year is truly impressive – on the first day of this year, there was $211 million worth of assets locked on the chain, whereas now, less than two months later, that figure has risen by 183% to $599 million.

The rise in TVL can be attributed to the rising price of SUI tokens, but not entirely. In the same time period that the TVL increased by 183%, SUI’s price increased by “only” 130%, which means that the Sui ecosystem is growing organically, which should definitely be encouraging for investors.

With the next Bitcoin halving just around the corner, we could easily see SUI dominating the market once the bullish cycle starts.

4. 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 has hit its highest value since the launch of the spot ETF in the US roughly a month ago. On Sunday, BTC reached a high point of $48,630 against the US dollar, a +19% increase compared to the lowest price the cryptocurrency has hit in the past month.

According to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, the trading volume generated by BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF within the first three days of its launch alone surpassed a combined 500 traditional ETFs launched throughout 2023.

Still, with the next Bitcoin halving event approaching (expected to take place in late April 2024), the current price level could allow investors to gain exposure to the coin at a discount before Bitcoin’s price starts to take off. Bitcoin halving is an event that halves the rewards miners receive 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. It is worth noting that Bitcoin halvings have historically been major price catalysts for BTC and the rest of the crypto market.

Historically, each Bitcoin halving cycle has brought new all-time highs, supporting the argument of those who 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:

5. Immutable X

Immutable X is a layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum, focusing on improving NFT transactions and gaming applications. Launched in 2021, it addresses Ethereum’s scalability issues, high gas fees, and slow transaction speeds. By using zk-rollups technology, Immutable X bundles many transactions off-chain and records only the net result on Ethereum, allowing for up to 9,000 transactions per second, instant trades, and zero gas fees for NFT trading.

The platform is designed to enhance the NFT ecosystem, facilitating easier creation, trading, and management of NFTs. Its native token, IMX, is used for incentivization, governance participation, and paying transaction fees in certain scenarios. Immutable X aims to promote wider adoption of NFTs while maintaining the security of the Ethereum blockchain.

Why Immutable X?

Immutable X has been one of the most active projects in the past couple of weeks. In late January, the team finally opened Immutable zkEVM Mainnet for early access testers, kicking off the next chapter in the project’s overarching goal of improving gaming performance on the blockchain.

“Immutable zkEVM is an ecosystem that empowers games to thrive. It offers massive scalability, smart contract compatibility, and gas-free interaction for gamers, all with Ethereum-backed security,” the team wrote in their X post.

According to the team, 200 different games and gaming studios have already committed to building on their platform, which represents a whopping 70% of the entire Web3 gaming market. The zkEVM mainnet is powered by Polygon, which means that transaction fees are paid in MATIC.

The hype surrounding the launch of the blockchain-based gaming platform has left its mark on the price of Immutable X’s native token IMX. The token gained over 31% in the past week, making it the second-best-performing digital asset in the cryptocurrency top 100 in the time period (just behind Kaspa’s KAS).

6. Chainlink

Chainlink is a decentralized oracle network that acts as a bridge between smart contracts on blockchain platforms and real-world data. Its primary role is to ensure the reliability of data used in smart contracts by connecting to multiple data sources, reducing the risk of data manipulation or failure. This enhances the versatility of smart contracts, allowing them to access and utilize a wide range of external data sources and services beyond their native blockchain environment.

One of Chainlink’s notable features is its security model. It relies on a decentralized network of nodes to fetch and validate data, eliminating the single point of control or failure. However, there are concerns about centralization, with some major node operators having substantial influence in the network. Additionally, integrating Chainlink into smart contracts can be complex, potentially posing challenges for developers.

Chainlink acts as a crucial intermediary, enabling smart contracts to interact with real-world data. It enhances data reliability, expands the potential use cases for smart contracts, and relies on decentralization for security. Nonetheless, concerns about centralization and competition are factors to consider in its ongoing development and adoption.

Why Chainlink?

Chainlink absolutely dominated the crypto markets in the past couple of days – LINK was the best-performing crypto asset in the crypto top 50 and the second-best-performing in the crypto top 100, just behind PENDLE. In total, LINK’s price increased by a whopping 35% in the past week alone.

The rally could be driven by the increased interest in data tokenization, which has been a major narrative in the crypto investing circles lately. Broadly speaking, tokenization involves converting rights to an asset into a digital token on a blockchain. These tokens can represent real-world assets (RWAs) like real estate, stocks, or commodities, or intangible assets like digital art or intellectual property.

Chainlink is uniquely positioned to benefit from this trend – according to a recent post by the Chainlink team on X, the platform is uniquely positioned to serve the needs of traditional financial institutions that are looking to leverage blockchain technology.

The increased market interest in Cainlink follows the launch of the new staking feature last month. On December 11, Chainlink Staking v0.2 went live for the broader public, following the initial early access release earlier that month. The new version of the staking protocol builds on the foundation of the first version with greater flexibility, improved security guarantees, seamless future upgradeability, and a dynamic rewards mechanism.

The new staking upgrade’s focus is on several key areas, including:

• Enhanced flexibility: Introducing a new way for both Community and Node Operator Stakers to withdraw staked LINK through an unbonding mechanism, providing greater freedom.
• Heightened security measures: Strengthening security for Chainlink oracle services by penalizing Node Operator Stakers through the slashing of staked LINK, ensuring improved safety.
• Modular architecture for future growth: A flexible framework designed for easy upgrades and expansions, enabling the addition of new services and improvements in the future.
• Dynamic rewards system: Supporting various sources for staking rewards, including potential future options like user fees. This adaptability aligns with the platform’s growth as it secures additional services.

Overall, the new upgrade has revamped the existing staking mechanism and introduced new features to make it sustainable for the long term. These changes could play a positive role in attracting new investors and users to the Chainlink ecosystem – a trend that we’ve already seen in action over the past couple of weeks.

7. Solana

Solana is a cryptocurrency and blockchain platform that was created to provide a fast, secure, and scalable infrastructure for decentralized applications (dApps) and token issuance. It was launched in March 2020 by Solana Labs, and quickly grew to become one of the largest blockchain networks in the sector.

Solana uses a unique consensus mechanism called Proof of History (PoH) which enables it to process thousands of transactions per second while maintaining a low transaction fee. This makes it one of the fastest and most cost-effective blockchains in existence.

In addition to its fast transaction processing speed, Solana also offers smart contract functionality and is fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). This allows developers to build and deploy dApps on Solana using popular programming languages such as Rust, C++, and JavaScript.

The native cryptocurrency of the Solana network is called SOL, which is used as a medium of exchange and a store of value within the ecosystem. SOL is also used to pay for transaction fees and other network services.

Following explosive growth in 2020 and 2021, Solana hit a rough patch in 2022 due to the broader crypto winter. The negative market activity for SOL was exacerbated following the collapse of the FTX exchange, which was one of the biggest investors in Solana. The SOL coin fell all the way down to $10 in late 2022 (95% removed from its ATH of ~$260) but has since recovered a significant chunk of its losses.

Why Solana?

Solana continues to remain one of the most active projects in the crypto space, both in terms of software development as well as market activity. Last week, Solana announced “token extensions,” which give developers way more flexibility over how their digital assets work (including whitelisting addresses, setting automatic transaction fees, and support for confidential transfers).

Another thing that’s currently happening in the Solana ecosystem that will be especially interesting to traders is the Jupiter airdrop. For a bit more context, Jupiter is the largest decentralized price aggregation platform on Solana. Earlier this year, the Jupiter team announced they would be launching their own token, JUP, and airdrop it to Jupiter users. This has supercharged trading activity in the Solana ecosystem and pushed volumes to their highest in over 15 months.

In addition, on January 16, Solana announced Saga 2, the successor to the popular Web3 phone that launched last year. The presale numbers for the second version of Solana’s mobile phone have reportedly been very encouraging. “We outsold 1 year of Saga sales in 24 hours,” noted Solana co-founder Raj Gokal in a post on X.

Gokal added that the company has been seeing 500-100 orders hourly across all major markets, including Asia, Europe, and the US.

In addition to Saga, Solana achieved another important milestone in recent days. On January 18, Paxos announced that its stablecoin Pax Dollar (USDP) has launched on the Solana mainnet. At the time of writing, USDP is the 8th largest stablecoin by market capitalization with $364 million. Its launch on Solana could help boost DeFi activity on the Solana chain and unlock additional liquidity for the growing ecosystem.

Thanks to the slew of positive news, and contrary to the broader market trend, Solana saw an increase in value in the past week – the SOL coin gained 11.4% and is currently trading at roughly $97.50. This price level represents about a 22% retracement from the December top of $125.

8. 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. By 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 zkEVM is set for a major upgrade with the Etrog update, elevating it to a Type 2 ZK-EVM, fully compatible with Ethereum. This upgrade, scheduled for next month, introduces five essential pre-compiled smart contracts, simplifying the deployment of existing Ethereum dApps without modifications.

The Etrog upgrade also improves the efficiency of transaction processing, promising enhanced network throughput. For developers, the newly introduced Cardona testnet, anchored to Ethereum’s Sepolia testnet, is the designated platform for testing the Etrog upgrade.

The news about the new update follows the December 5th launch of Falcon, a supply chain-focused platform backed by the oil giant Shell and developed by Wipro, a major technology and consulting company.

Falcon uses a digital passport to connect each piece of equipment to a special digital ID. This ID allows authorized users to easily access all the information created throughout the equipment’s life in a way that is reliable and traceable. “The passport’s immutable history ensures end-to-end visibility that only decentralized platforms can offer,” the Polygon team explained.

In addition to Falcon going live on the Polygon blockchain, India’s leading digital commerce company, Flipkart, announced on December 7 that they are launching a dedicated chain built with Polygon’s CDK for their Web3-based loyalty program. FireDrops 2.0, as the program is called, aims to foster brand loyalty through gamification. Since its September launch, FireDrops has attracted 3.3 million wallets with at least one NFT. Here’s an excerpt from the official announcement:

“Flipkart is tapping Polygon CDK to build an Ethereum-based zero knowledge (ZK) Layer 2 network dedicated to the service and ensure future growth.”

Wipro and Flipkart are just the latest in the long list of traditional companies (which includes the likes of Disney, Reddit, Nubank, and several others) looking to leverage the Polygon technology to build their blockchain solutions.

9. BNB

BNB, a crypto asset originally launched by the Binance cryptocurrency exchange in 2017, is a token with two main roles. Token holders enjoy exclusive perks while utilizing Binance, such as reduced trading fees, entry to the exchange’s Launchpad and Launchpool programs, cashback rewards on Binance Visa card transactions, and more.

Additionally, the token serves as the native asset for the BNB Chain blockchain. BNB Chain, a variation of Ethereum, offers users much lower transaction fees and supports EVM-compatible decentralized applications, providing an easy transition for developers who are accustomed to building on Ethereum. Originally named Binance Coin, BNB has undergone a comprehensive rebranding in recent years.

Why BNB?

Since the start of the year, BNB Chain has further increased its lead over Ethereum and other layer 1s in terms of dApps deployed on the platform. According to DappRadar, BNB Chain now houses 5,178 dApps, compared to second-placed Ethereum’s 4,467 and Polygon’s 1,978.

In addition to encouraging DeFi metrics, the Binance cryptocurrency exchange has ramped up the pace of introducing projects on its Launchpool platform, with several consecutive announcements in quick succession — XAI, Fusionist, NFPrompt, and Sleepless AI.

The Launchpool announcements have resulted in increased demand for BNB, which has increased in price by about 29.5% in the last 2 months.

Through Binance Launchpool, users can stake their BNB to earn tokens from upcoming blockchain projects. The flexibility to unstake BNB at any time allows users to gain new tokens while assuming relatively low risk during the staking period.

It will be interesting to monitor Binance in the upcoming days to see if they announce another Launchpool program or, potentially, even a new Launchpad program. Such announcements could potentially trigger another uptick in the price of BNB.

10. 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 49% of the layer 2 market share as of January 8th, ahead of Optimism (27.5%), Manta Pacific (3.7%), and Base (3.7%).

Why Arbitrum?

Off the heels of impressive market performance in the past couple of weeks, Aribtrum’s TVL hit a new all-time high on January 13th – the new high stands at about $3.2 billion, according to DeFiLlama. The increase in TVL was driven primarily by the Aave v3 protocol, which saw a +31% surge in locked value on the network in the past month. Meanwhile, the two other largest decentralized trading protocols on Arbitrium – GMX and Uniswap v3 – also saw double-digit increases. The surge follows a series of positive developments in the Abitrum ecosystem.

In the first week of January, Arbitrum launched support for custom gas tokens (any ERC20 token) on its Arbitrum Orbit ecosystem. Some examples of popular Orbit chains that have already started using custom gas tokens include AltLayer, Avive World, Caldera, and several others.

In addition to the launch of the highly requested custom gas token feature, the Arbitrum Foundation kicked off the second phase of its Grant Program last week. Teams and projects that are selected to be a part of the program can expect to receive $10,000.00 to $150,000.00 in ARB tokens, as well as marketing, development, and programming support from the Arbitrum Foundation.

Meanwhile, the Arbitrum ecosystem saw the launch of Parallel Finance – the first omni-chain layer 2 blockchain built on Arbitrum – on January 5th, and the roll-out of Unibot, a unified crypto trading terminal that looks to benefit from Arbitrum’s low transaction costs.

The increase in development activity has left its mark not only on the network’s TVL but also on the price of the ARB token. The token’s price increased by +93% in the past month and +28% in the past week, which is the fifth-most out of all the top 100 cryptocurrencies in the time period.

11. Toncoin

Toncoin is a platform consisting of multiple components. One of its main components is the TON Blockchain (with TON standing for “The Open Network”), which is a flexible multi-blockchain platform capable of processing millions of transactions per second. It supports Turing-complete smart contracts, upgradable blockchain specifications, and multi-cryptocurrency value transfers. The TON Blockchain incorporates unique features such as a self-healing vertical blockchain mechanism and Instant Hypercube Routing, which ensure fast, reliable, scalable, and self-consistent operations.

In addition, the Open Network comprises of the TON P2P Network for accessing the TON Blockchain, TON Storage for distributed file storage, TON Proxy for privacy protection, TON DHT for distributed hash table functionality, TON Services for platform-based services, TON DNS for human-readable naming, and TON Payments for micropayments. TON aims to make blockchain and distributed services more accessible by integrating with popular messaging and social networking apps like Telegram (which already supports TON and BTC transfers).

The native cryptocurrency of the Open Network is Toncoin, which is used to facilitate deposits to become a validator, and cover transaction fees and gas payments (fees incurred from smart contract message processing).

Initially, the Open Network was launched as the Open Telegram Network by the Telegram team but was later rebranded as the community took over the development of the project. Telegram withdrew from development in 2020, after the litigation with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which accused the company of selling unregistered securities.

Why Toncoin?

On November 6, Telegram launched Giveaways, giving channel owners the ability to promote their channels, get new subscribers, and reward existing ones with TON rewards. The news follows a series of positive developments for the Toncoin ecosystem. Among other things, the Toncoin blockchain had recently broken the world record for being the fastest blockchain in the world, beating both decentralized and centralized networks like Solana Polygon, Mastercard, and Visa.

There are several other developments that are worth highlighting when talking about Toncoin’s recent market success. For starters, a recently released Q3 2023 TON ecosystem report showed very promising on-chain metrics in the Toncoin ecosystem. The number of TON accounts increased by more than +250% in the past year, surpassing 3.5 million accounts.

The large increase in accounts and active wallets could be attributed to a number of positive developments in the TON ecosystem in the past 12 months. In September, TON Foundation partnered with Web3 Data Infrastructure company Chainbase and Chinese technology and gaming conglomerate Tencent. The aim of the partnership is to “simplify blockchain development” for “the next era of Web3 mass adoption across the Asia-Pacific region,” according to the official statement.

The focus on Web3 adoption is nothing new for the Toncoin team. On September 14th, the TON-based wallet integrated with Telegram, one of the more popular messaging platforms. The team dubbed the integration “the largest Web3 onboarding event ever”, providing Web3 features to the 800 million strong user base.

The team’s goal is to onboard 30% of Telegram users by 2028, which would be roughly 500 million people.

“This is undoubtedly the biggest onboarding event in #Web3 to date. With plans to onboard 33x more active Web3 users than ALL chains today. #TelegramFi will be seamless, simple, and give you full control of your digital activity in @telegram,” the team remarked in a thread on the X platform.

12. PancakeSwap

PancakeSwap stands is the leading decentralized exchange in the BNB Chain decentralized finance ecosystem. Its functionality closely resembles that of Uniswap, but PancakeSwap has introduced certain unique features aimed at attracting more users and keeping them engaged through rewards.

Users on PancakeSwap can instantly swap between various BEP-20 tokens on the BNB Chain blockchain. The platform boasts its own native token, CAKE, which serves a variety of roles in the PancakeSwap ecosystem. CAKE tokens can be staked in “Syrup Pools,” enabling users to earn additional CAKE tokens or even other types of tokens in certain scenarios.

Beyond token swaps, PancakeSwap also provides additional features such as yield farming, allowing users to stake LP tokens and earn CAKE tokens in return. Another noteworthy feature of PancakeSwap is the inclusion of initial farm offerings (IFOs), which give users the opportunity to earn newly launched tokens from various projects.

Why PancakeSwap?

The PancakeSwap community has given the green light to a proposal aiming to decrease the CAKE token’s maximum supply from 750 million to 450 million tokens. This proposal enjoyed resounding approval with almost 98% of the votes in favor of reducing the maximum token supply.

🐰 PancakeSwap Family!

🥞 We are proposing to reduce the max token supply of $CAKE from 750M to 450M.

💥 After a year of hard work and deflation, we are razor-focused on ultrasound CAKE.

🌟 By reducing our token supply by 300,000,000 $CAKE, we signal PancakeSwap’s successful… pic.twitter.com/PIk3SBEhiJ

— PancakeSwap🥞Everyone's Favorite DEX (@PancakeSwap) December 21, 2023

PancakeSwap’s team highlights that the proposal to cut the maximum supply of CAKE is “a clear signal of PancakeSwap’s pivot away from a hyperinflationary tokenomics model.” It’s important to note, however, that this reduction won’t have an immediate impact on CAKE’s tokenomics, as the circulating supply currently stands at around 386 million (the proposal doesn’t involve burning any tokens currently in circulation).

As per DeFi aggregator DeFi Llama, the PancakeSwap protocol’s total value locked (TVL) is approximately $1.6 billion at the time of writing. After a decline for the majority of 2023, the protocol’s TVL has experienced a modest increase in December.

The CAKE token has showcased strong performance lately, and the recent reduction in its maximum supply undoubtedly strengthens the market confidence in PancakeSwap further. Nevertheless, with a price surge of nearly 65% in the last 30 days, it would be smart to remain on the lookout for a potential downward price correction.

Best cryptocurrencies to buy at a glance

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 $550 million as of early 2024)
• The crypto asset is available for trading on the best crypto exchange 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.

Best crypto for long-term

When deciding which cryptocurrency to buy for the long term, it’s important to consider projects that are well-established, have a strong community, are highly liquid, have a large market cap, and have a clear reason for existing (such as solving a real-life problem, introducing new functionality, etc.). Without these characteristics, a project might fail to survive in the long term, rendering it a bad long-term investment.

It is worth noting that, typically, most long-term crypto investors are looking for projects that have the potential to generate decent returns but also provide a degree of investment stability. Roughly speaking, only the largest cryptocurrencies fit the bill, as others have a low market cap and liquidity that doesn’t bode well for a long-term commitment (unless you’re prepared to take on more risk).

In addition to Bitcoin and Ethereum, there are a number of other cryptocurrencies that fit the criteria of being low-risk, long-term crypto investments.

If you are planning to hold onto your digital assets for a longer period of time, it is best to take care of crypto custody yourself. Holding large amounts of crypto on an exchange can be risky, as we’ve seen over the years with the collapse of high-profile exchanges like Mt. Gox and FTX. Use one of the reputable crypto hardware wallets to store your crypto. Ledger hardware wallets, for instance, allow you to manage your crypto holdings easily and provide a much higher degree of security than crypto exchanges or even software crypto wallets.

Best place to buy crypto

One crucial aspect to consider when choosing which platform to use to buy crypto is the range of cryptocurrencies and trading pairs available. Since different exchanges support varying digital assets, it’s important to choose a platform that accommodates the specific cryptocurrencies you intend to trade.

Additionally, assessing an exchange’s liquidity and trading volume is essential. Higher liquidity generally results in improved price stability and faster trade executions. Furthermore, it is prudent to examine the fees charged by the exchange, encompassing deposit, withdrawal, and trading fees. Comparing fee structures across different exchanges can help you identify the most cost-effective option that aligns with your trading style. With that said, here are some of the best exchanges on the market right now:

• Binance – The best cryptocurrency exchange overall
• KuCoin – The best exchange for altcoin trading
• Kraken – A centralized exchange with the best security

By diligently considering these factors, you can make an informed decision and select a cryptocurrency exchange that meets your requirements for security, variety, liquidity, and affordability.

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.

Purpose and Use Case

We consider the purpose and use case of cryptocurrency, particularly in a real-world setting. Some cryptocurrencies focus on specific industries or applications, such as decentralized finance, gaming, or supply chain management.

Team and Development

The team and people involved in the project can tell you a lot about the potential of a particular cryptocurrency project. We examine the team’s experience, expertise, and track record and evaluate the development activity and updates to ensure the project is actively maintained and evolving.

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.