Many investors aren’t looking for cheap cryptos in the bargain bin right now. With the market trending lower, many investors are seeking quality. For high-priced cryptos in the $1,000+ range, we’ve been seeing less demand from retail investors. Given the decline we’ve seen since Nov. highs, most speculative projects are trading at levels they haven’t seen in roughly a year.
Of course, there’s still skepticism among many top crypto projects, even those at the higher quality end of the spectrum. High inflation, coupled with monetary policy has led risk assets to decline relative to the U.S. dollar. A surging dollar also hasn’t been a great catalyst for this sector overall.
With that said, I’ve tried to compile a list of three projects I would put in the cheap, or bargain, category. Each have a token value of less than $1, and are on the higher end of the quality spectrum. For those looking to add some risk in the hopes a bottom may be forming (or starting to form) in this market, here are three projects that are looking too cheap to ignore.
| XRP-USD | Ripple/XRP | $0.50 |
| ADA-USD | Cardano | $0.43 |
| MANA-USD | Decentraland | $0.71 |
XRP (XRP-USD)
As far as cheap cryptos are concerned, XRP (XRP-USD) has always been on the list, for many investors considering simply price. Despite a massive market cap of around $25 billion, this crypto trades at just around $0.50. Accordingly, XRP is a viable option for investors looking to buy more of something.
Developed by Ripple Labs, XRP is a token that uses an open-source distributed ledger. Transactions on this platform are known for lower energy consumption. Moreover, it is an interesting play due to faster transactions and a solid uptake among various institutional customers looking to engage in cross-border transfers. Thus, this token presently displays what many view as solid network effects, a key factor long-term investors in this space ought to consider.
The biggest headwind for XRP and Ripple Labs of late has been a 2020 SEC lawsuit alleging unregistered securities filings by XRP’s parent company. This is among the first tokens to be called a security by the SEC, and this case will likely be precedent-setting for the sector.
Ripple/XRP has recently seen some positive developments in its fight against the SEC. With many experts now predicting that XRP could be on the brink of a massive rally, should a positive outcome in this case officially be announced, this is a token to consider.
I’ll admit, there’s some serious speculation required to hold this token at these levels. However, this is an inherently speculative asset class. Those looking to add risk have what appears to be a decent risk-reward with owning XRP at sub-$1 per token.
Cardano (ADA-USD)
Another cheap crypto to keep an eye on is Cardano (ADA-USD). Trading around $0.43 per token at the time of writing, Cardano is one token long-term investors may want to consider backing up the truck on.
Much of this bullish view comes from Cardano’s early embrace of the proof-of-stake consensus. With a market cap of around $15 billion, Cardano is another large-cap token which has been on the decline this year. Indeed, macro forces hasn’t escaped this early player in the proof-of-stake game.
That said, Cardano’s ability to stay on the list of top-10 cryptos by market capitalization is notable. Cardano is not just popular, but is also considered one of the fastest-growing cryptos in the world.
This platform focuses primarily on running its mainnet, which is used to run a platform for developers to bring along smart contracts and decentralized apps. Recently, the platform also upgraded to Goguen mainnet, which is a blockchain technology offering lock network features.
Over the years, Cardano has proved to be one of the most active coins. The crypto also launched a recent update called Alonzo. This update brings smart contracts to its platform and will allow developers to create DeFi applications and NFTs. In addition, Cardano’s highly-anticipated Vasil hard fork update also began in September. This update intends to increase the network’s scalability and capacity.
Overall, there’s plenty of catalysts ready to send Cardano higher.
Decentraland (MANA-USD)
Perhaps the most speculative cheap crypto on this list is Decentraland (MANA-USD). It’s not only a cheap option (under $1 per token) to consider, it’s also one that I think is compelling for two reasons.
The first is that Decentraland is among the leading providers of blockchain-based metaverse games in the crypto world. For those bullish on the future potential growth the metaverse provides, this token provides plenty of speculative upside.
Now, the metaverse isn’t a place many want to invest anymore. High up-front development costs have ushered investors toward more “safe” investments in this current macro environment. That said, over the long-term, there’s a lot to like about Decentraland’s positioning in this space.
The other key driver I think is worth considering with Decentraland is this project’s uptake by users and institutional investors. Users benefit from a rather impressive offering of virtual land, NFT, wearables and other assets offered on the Decentraland platform. Additionally, strong investor interest from brands such as Sotheby’s, Samsung, Coca-Cola, and others provides even more credence to this project as a long-term play.
The price of MANA reached its peak in November 2021, at around $5.50 per token. However, in the last month alone, this token has fallen more than 10%, now trading around the $0.71 level.
That said, many other tokens are down far more than Decentraland right now. Maybe that’s because investors are looking forward to the future. Whatever the case, I think this is a project worth considering at these lower levels right now.
On the date of publication, Chris MacDonald did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
