The Best Cryptocurrencies To Invest In 2021

Jan 19, 2021
10:01
2 min reading

Choise.com team

The year 2020 will be remembered for many different things. But there’s no doubt that the global pandemic will be on top of the list. The outbreak changed our lives forever, teaching us how to deal with our personal and professional lives in the most challenging ways. But the pandemic had also impacted economies, boosting the use of all-digital solutions and diminishing demand for traditional ones.

This isn’t a full representation of 2020, however. In a year when so many things didn’t go according to plan, at least one thing did — cryptocurrencies. Most (if not all) coins hit new milestones last year, and all factors that determine the success of cryptocurrency investments indicated that the trend is expected to keep rolling beyond 2021.

These factors include tech innovations, crypto news, supply & demand, and market sentiment. With this bright future in mind, we’ve put together a list of the 12 best cryptocurrencies to invest in 2021.

Top Cryptocurrencies to Invest in 2021

Bitcoin (BTC)

Launched in early 2009 by its pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin went through its third halvening as predicted on May 11, 2020, and as expected, this has resulted in some sort of snowball effect.

In just the last couple of months, the cryptocurrency rallied through $20,000, surpassing its former record high from 2017. Bitcoin has nearly doubled that peak in the first weeks of 2021.

Bitcoin’s astounding breakout in 2020 was one of the year’s most extraordinary events, which says something given the year was filled with iconic breakouts. Nasdaq surged more than 40% and broke out to new historic highs amid a global pandemic.

And that’s not all. JPMorgan estimates that another $600 billion could flow into Bitcoin in 2021 alone. If that would be the case, BTC could potentially run to the $100,000 mark (and even higher).

Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum has become an even bigger player in the industry, reaching a stunning $131 billion market cap that places it second only to Bitcoin in cryptocurrency market share. But that’s not Ethereum’s unique selling proposition.

While other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin focus on decentralizing fiat currencies, Ethereum has taken it a step further and intends to decentralize the internet itself. The network intends to do this by replacing existing servers with its worldwide system of nodes, essentially creating ‘a single computer for the entire world.’

This implies that Ethereum investors not only profit from one of the most popular and profitable cryptocurrencies in the industry, but also from the many uses of the Ethereum network itself. The Ethereum network has also become wildly popular for its ability to host other digital assets.

Moreover, Ethereum holds various technological advantages over Bitcoin and other siblings, such as transaction speed and endless supply.

Ripple (XRP)

Another leading coin currently positioned for potentially big gains in 2021 is Ripple’s XRP. Despite a recent fight with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, there’s no hesitation that this cryptocurrency is still among the most solid, well-respected projects out there.

Following the aftermath of SEC accusations, the value of XRP registered a massive loss, shedding more than half of its late-2020 gains. Many investors might consider this asset too volatile under current circumstances, but the bumpy road could be offering an attractive entry point for XRP.

Ripple is a firm that leverages blockchain technology to allow corporations, digital asset exchanges, payment providers, and even banks to send money globally – usually using its cryptocurrency, XRP. This further solidifies the claim that Ripple is the infrastructure that gave rise to cross border cryptocurrency payments.

What’s more? As the crypto realm keeps gaining more and more mainstream traction, Ripple has been adding more customers and even banks to its network. The National Bank of Egypt, for instance, recently just announced its partnership with Ripple. As these partnerships keep mounting in 2021, we can rest assured that the price of XRP will continue to advance in the years ahead.

Litecoin (LTC)

Litecoin might not be the most bullish cryptocurrency on this list, but with a 24-hour trading volume of ~$14 billion and a market cap of ~$10 billion the cryptocurrency is well worth your consideration. Behind Bitcoin, Litecoin is currently the second most popular “pure cryptocurrency”. We can largely attribute this success to the coin’s clear utility benefits and simplicity.

What’s more? In 2020, Litecoin saw the release of the MimbleWimble testnet, which is an update that implements extension blocks to Litecoin’s chain – permitting users to efficiently mask their identities and trades in full confidence.

The limited test version of MimbleWimble is only accessible to developers at the moment but is set to launch on the mainnet in 2021. Most investors expect this long-awaited privacy upgrade to be the shot in the arm that the cryptocurrency has been long craving for.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH)

Is Bitcoin Cash a good investment? Yes, it can be a great investment and a perfect way to diversify your trade portfolio if done right.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin Cash’s price trades comfortably above $400 with a 24-hour trading volume of ~$7B and a market cap of ~$8.5B These numbers alone secure its spot as one of the top 5 traded cryptocurrencies out there today; but what does that mean to you as an investor?

We’re often blasted with figures we hardly understand, so let us put the figures above into perspective. The market cap refers to the value of the asset on the market, whereas its high trading volume implies high liquidity (the ease at which it can be sold and bought.)

Add to that the fact that one of the biggest supporters of Bitcoin Cash is the one and only Roger Ver (aka the “Bitcoin Jesus”), and you have a crypto coin destined for greatness.

Tron (TRX)

Tron was originally founded in 2017 on the Ethereum network, but the company has since switched to an independent blockchain platform, and even processes its transactions using a proof of stake algorithm.

As of this writing, Tron remains among the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market cap with $2.2B and a price of ~$0.03. Better yet, the crypto platform currently hosts more dApps (decentralized apps) than Ethereum, the network it was founded on.

The two factors coupled together have led many investors to speculate that Tron will be a potential hit for 2021. Moreover, Tron is extremely cheap, making it a great choice for small-cap investors looking for the best cryptocurrencies to invest.

Stellar (XLM)

Created in 2014 to narrow the gap between the realm of traditional finance and cryptocurrencies, Stellar has managed to partner with some of the biggest tech and financial companies, including Stripe, IBM, and Deloitte as well as a whole lot of other payment processors and financial institutions in Europe and Asia.

In 2021, the company’s goal is to become an international digital payment method that connects banks and payment systems with regular folks around the world. Most financial experts believe that the company could attain this dream, thanks to its super-low transaction costs of less than a penny, which is quite affordable to everyone, regardless of the geographic location.

Since its inception, the Stellar network has processed more than 450 million transactions for 4.5 million+ personal accounts. The network is also suitable for exchanging other cryptocurrencies. In addition to XLM, one can use the Stellar network to transfer Ethereum, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and more. Solid institutional interest is one of the key factors to consider XLM one of the best cryptocurrencies to invest in the month ahead.

Another thing worth noting about Stellar is the fact it has been widening its application areas and expanding its network. Even Samsung recognized the project’s potential by welcoming a collaboration with Stellar and introducing XML into some of the Samsung Galaxy smartphones.

Maker (MKR)

While cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin keep attracting a majority of the sector’s attention, a wide array of smaller cryptocurrencies offerings do exist, and most of them present unique opportunities to cryptocurrency investors and enthusiasts.

One of such opportunities is Maker, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that permits its users to lock in their Ethereum cryptocurrencies in exchange for a stablecoin known as DAI.

DAI’s unique selling proposition is obvious straight out of the gate. Unlike other stablecoins that rely on fiat money stored in a bank account, this coin is backed by crypto collateral. This single collateral system permits everyone to leverage their Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies while at the same time keeping the cost of 1 DAI at around $1. Maker DAO plays an important role in keeping the parity with the dollar as it’s an essential part of DAI’s governance.

As of 2020, a little more than 1 percent of all circulating Ethereum coins were locked into the Maker DAO.

Cardano (ADA)

From the word go, Cardano decided that any claim or piece of technology unveiled by its developer team will need to be peer-reviewed. As a result, the company has currently published 20+ research papers on blockchain technology – and each one of these has been peer-reviewed by neutral third parties with extensive academic backgrounds.

While this approach does have its downsides – the main one being that most of Cardano’s projects will take too long – it also implies that any claim or piece of technology that its developer team introduces will be tested and reliable.

In 2020, Cardano’s mainnet went online, and now anyone can stake the company’s cryptocurrency (ADA) and get rewards for doing so. The future is even more promising for Cardano as the company is currently preparing to launch its Goguen era.

The Goguen era represents a huge step-change in Cardano’s abilities, opening the way to the development of mission-critical, enterprise-level, and decentralized smart contract applications.

Polkadot (DOT)

Polkadot is a network of blockchains that was specifically designed with sharding in mind. If you’re new to the realm of cryptocurrencies and don’t know what sharding is, it’s simply the process of creating separate individual blockchains with dedicated uses.

For instance, in Polkadot’s case, you’ll find one blockchain responsible for insurance, the other for DeFi, another for logistics, etc. Note though, the chains won’t be isolated from each other and can communicate to attain interoperability.

Sharding ensures different DApps do not have to compete with one another for network resources. Instead, identical applications get directed to their proper channels, which in turn ensures that the entire network is cheaper and faster to use.

This innovative design and reputable technological background make Polkadot’s cryptocurrency (DOT) a go-to choice when searching for the best cryptocurrencies to invest.

Chainlink (LINK)

Does Chainlink really deserve a spot in my portfolio? This is a question that we’ve heard lots of crypto enthusiasts and investors asking in 2020. And the question makes perfect sense when you learn that this coin, which wasn’t even among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap in 2018, is now ranked among the top 10 with a market cap of more than $6 billion.

So, what is the secret behind this cryptocurrency’s incredible journey? Well, smart contracts and blockchains can only interact and receive data from their networks, which as a result limits their use cases and possibilities – and that’s where Chainlink comes into play.

The platform offers a network of nodes that rely on oracles to permit smart contracts to interoperate efficiently with off-chain data sources and increase their capabilities to include event data, market data, bank payments, and any other sort of data sources.

Here is a great example. Let us say you’d like to build a dApp that specializes in offering real-time sports results. Without the assistance of an oracle, your dApp won’t be able to interact or receive data from any off-chain sources. After connecting to a Chainlink oracle, however, your dApp will be able to receive the required data and offer your users all the necessary info.

Altogether, using centralized Oracles isn’t enough to ensure the reliability and security of using a single centralized source of data. To rectify this, Chainlink utilizes a network of decentralized nodes that offer decentralized trustless oracles.

Let’s get back to the example I gave earlier. If nine nodes deliver similar results for a specific basketball game, but three other nodes deliver different results, Chainlink will use an Aggregating Contract to realize that the three nodes are dishonest (or simply mistaken) and ignore their results. This procedure eliminates any risk of errors when giving off-chain data to smart contracts.

With all that in mind, saying that this is just the beginning of a great journey for Chainlink would be an understatement.

Crypterium (CRPT)

Fair enough. Adding our beloved token to this ranking of best cryptocurrencies to invest might be considered by some like a bold move. Yet, it’s a well-founded one. CRPT is the underlying token of Crypterium Wallet. This ERC-20 token is the fuel for all crypto-fiat transactions on the wallet.

Every time someone makes a payment, a fee equal to 0.5% in CRPT is taken from the user’s amount and burned. This means the number of CRPT tokens will be reducing over time.

In only two years, Crypterium Wallet has become one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency wallet services out there. With its services available in over 170 countries and more than 750,000 customers, it’s safe to assume that the future of CRPT can only be a bright one.

In 2020, Palm Beach Research Group Editor Teeka Tiwari included CRPT on its 2020 Phenomenon Playbook, forecasting a value growth of 700% for the upcoming two years.

The Bottom Line

Even though it’s quite impossible to anticipate exactly how the cryptocurrency industry will act in 2021, it is certain that cryptocurrencies are here to say. That said, if you’re searching for the best cryptocurrencies to invest or simply diversifying your portfolio, you can do it in seconds using Crypterium Wallet. It’s free, easy to use, and 100% secure!