Top Cryptocurrencies To Buy In 2021? 4 To Watch Right Now

Bitcoin has been the talk of the market in recent years. It has become the de facto standard for cryptocurrencies. With the recent surge in cryptocurrencies, it sure does attract a lot of retail investors’ attention away from the traditional space. While Bitcoin is an obvious choice for investors warming up to the space, others are looking for cheaper yet promising altcoins to add to their portfolio. For those unfamiliar, an altcoin simply means an alternative cryptocurrency to Bitcoin. And each of them operates according to its own rules.

However, before we start asking ourselves “what crypto should I buy today？” let’s take a step back and ask a simple question like what are cryptocurrencies, and that may be a better place to start. For those unfamiliar, a cryptocurrency is virtual money that takes the form of tokens or “coins” that can be used to buy goods and services. But it utilizes blockchain technology to secure online transactions across decentralized systems. Cryptocurrencies are almost always designed to be free from government intervention and control. And it is this foundational aspect that made this asset class grow in popularity.

Cryptocurrency has been one of the biggest financial stories of the year so far. Prices seem to be soaring to exorbitant levels amid strong institutional acceptance. Institutional investors are increasingly considering cryptocurrencies as an alternative asset class. After all, they are looking to maximize their returns in the difficult investment climate we face in the stock market today. We saw several businesses like Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL), and Square (NYSE: SQ) making moves to accept cryptocurrencies for transactions. This certainly bodes well for the industry.

Early adopters of Bitcoin would have made a huge profit, assuming they have held on. Ask any investor today, they would want to get a piece of it if it weren’t that expensive. With all the buzz going around cryptocurrencies, it seems like there’s a high chance that these digital assets could potentially be the future of financial transactions.

With the increasing participation from institutional players, could now be a good time to allocate cryptocurrencies to your portfolio？ If you are wondering what are the top cryptocurrencies to buy [or sell] right now, let’s take a look at some of the hot names in the market today.

• Ethereum (ETH)

• Cardano (ADA)

• DogeCoin (DOGE)

• Binance Coin (BNB)

What’s sending the second-largest crypto by market cap, Ethereum to the moon right now？ Is it hype or is there something more？ Sure, the speculative fever from non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and upcoming blockchain upgrades have previously fueled the parabolic moves in Ethereum. Another catalyst behind the recent surge is the growing use of this altcoin’s platform in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.

Source: CoinMarketCap

Right now, although there are some competing blockchains claiming that they can process transactions faster and at lower fees, Ethereum is still the largest and go-to blockchain for DeFi. And as more applications are added to the blockchain, there is a good chance that Ethereum will be the primary platform. And it seems this is a key reason that is making a bull case for ETH for both short-term and long-term investors.

Cardano

Coming up next, one of the best performing cryptocurrencies in the market is Cardano. For starters, the company’s enterprise platform lays out how Cardano is building a platform to accommodate usage in education, retail, finance, and healthcare. These industries face a common thread that pulls back from operating efficiently. And that is they have a high degree of centralization. We know one major reason why some cryptos are lacking mass adoption. It is because of low to zero real-world applications.

Source: CoinMarketCap

On April 29, IOHK, the company behind Cardano, announced Cardano’s blockchain technology will be used to revamp Ethiopia’s education system. One major benefit of utilizing Cardano’s technology is that the system will create a tamper-proof system for recording information related to five million students across 3,500 schools. If you are like many, you may be excited about Cardano’s strong prospects and real-world application. Would you agree that it will play a big part in the DeFi movement？

While the list above are hot names in the crypto space, Dogecoin is hotter. In fact, one could have become rich if they had invested in the meme coin since the start of the year. After all, DOGE has surged more than 12,000% year to date. Dogecoin holders can use Dogecoin to buy goods and services or trade them for other currencies. Holders also use Dogecoin to “tip” fellow internet-goers who create or share great content.

Source: CoinMarketCap

The latest rally has come in the lead-up to Tesla CEO Elon Musk hosting NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” this weekend. Musk has long praised the digital token to his 52 million Twitter followers. Therefore, it is not surprising that many are hoping that he would mention the cryptocurrency live on television. It’s worth pointing out that before you buy dogecoin in hopes of capitalizing on its monstrous gains, popularity and reliability don’t necessarily go hand in hand. Buying dogecoin at current levels is an extremely risky endeavor. My conservative take is, don’t invest any money that you aren’t prepared to lose entirely.

Binance Coin

Binance Coin was launched in 2017 by the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, Binance. The coin can be used to pay transaction fees on the Binance exchange or to just simply trade for other cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin is proving to be an excellent store of value, despite the contrary comments from the Federal Reserve. But BNB coin serves a purpose beyond its sheer value. We all know that Ethereum has played a big role in fueling the NFT craze. But ETH is not the only crypto to play on NFT. BNB is looking to play a role here as well.

Source: CoinMarketCap

The crypto exchange revealed that it will introduce its own marketplace where users can create, buy and sell NFTs on its platform. The trading platform would operate two markets: a premium venue for top auctions and exhibitions and a standard trading market that anyone can use to mint new tokens. The exchange makes money by taking a cut from the proceeds of the auctions. It also charges a processing fee for any trading activities. Should the crypto exchange be able to execute the NFTs plan well, it would very well open up a new revenue stream for the company.