When considering which cryptocurrencies to buy, a lot of people intuitively look at cryptocurrencies that have a low price per unit. These cryptocurrencies appear more accessible and seem to have more upside at first glance. For example, if you’ve seen crypto-related viral campaigns on TikTok or similar platforms, you’ve undoubtedly seen videos along the lines of “Let’s get Coin X to $1!”.
In this article, we will be highlighting the 10 best cheap cryptos to buy that have a price of less than $1. However, we should clarify some important facts before we continue.
Please keep in mind that just because a cryptocurrency may have a low price per unit, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s undervalued. For example, a cryptocurrency with a price per unit of $0.10 and a market capitalization of $100 billion likely wouldn’t have that much room for future growth, even though the coin might appear “cheap”.
When comparing different cryptocurrencies to each other, it’s much more useful to compare them by market capitalization. However, some market participants prefer to buy cryptocurrencies with a low price per unit because these coins appear more accessible.
So, even though the price per unit shouldn’t really matter, the “cheap coin” effect can certainly help drive a cryptocurrency’s price higher and is therefore important to understand for crypto speculators.
The 10 best cheap cryptos to buy: Discover the cheapest cryptocurrencies to invest in
Without further ado, here’s the 10 best cryptocurrencies with a price per unit of less than $1.
- Cardano - A robust blockchain platform for smart contracts
- Dogecoin - The biggest meme coin
- XRP - A highly efficient cryptocurrency
- Algorand - A PoS blockchain with smart contract support
- Shiba Inu - A Dogecoin competitor on the Ethereum blockchain
- Stellar - An efficient blockchain for exchanging assets
- Zilliqa - A smart contracts platform that implements sharding
- The Sandbox - One of the leading crypto-powered metaverse projects
- TRON - A DPoS alternative to Ethereum
- Chiliz - A project bringing blockchain to sports and entertainment
1. Cardano - A robust blockchain platform for smart contracts
Cardano is a Proof-of-Stake blockchain platform for smart contracts. The Cardano blockchain is based on the Extended UTXO model, which is unique among smart contract-enabled blockchains.
The Cardano mainnet launched in September 2017 in a limited form. Since the mainnet launch, the Cardano platform has been steadily receiving updates, and now features fully-featured Proof-of-Stake consensus as well as smart contracts functionality.
At the time of writing, Cardano’s native asset ADA has a market capitalization of $11.8 billion and is the 9th largest cryptocurrency on the market.
Cardano will be an interesting project to watch moving forward as it progresses along its multi-year roadmap. The project is known for its careful and deliberate approach to development, and we can expect Cardano to become a rock-solid platform for smart contract development and decentralized applications. If everything goes according to plan, Cardano could become a credible competitor to Ethereum.
2. Dogecoin - The biggest meme coin
Dogecoin is a popular cryptocurrency that initially launched in late 2013. Dogecoin is a prime example of a meme coin, as it is a cryptocurrency that is not particularly unique from a technical standpoint, but has strong branding and a passionate community of fans.
Dogecoin has demonstrated impressive staying power over the years. Even though most cryptocurrencies that have launched in the same era as Dogecoin are practically dead now, Dogecoin currently commands a very impressive market capitalization of $10.6 billion and is the 10th largest crypto asset on the market.
The cryptocurrency, which prominently features a popular image of a Shiba Inu dog in its branding, has even caught the attention of Elon Musk. Musk’s mentions of Dogecoin on his Twitter profile helped spark a historical rally in the Dogecoin markets in the first half of 2021.
Dogecoin might be my fav cryptocurrency. It’s pretty cool.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 2, 2019
Even though the DOGE price has crashed almost 90% from its all-time high, Dogecoin is still one of the most relevant cryptocurrencies on the market and will definitely be interesting to watch in the coming months and years.
3. XRP - A highly efficient cryptocurrency
XRP is a highly efficient cryptocurrency that allows users to send value to each other in 3-5 seconds while paying less than $0.001 in fees. In fact, XRP is one of the cheapest cryptocurrencies to transfer overall.
XRP is commonly associated with the United States fintech company Ripple, which holds a large amount of XRP and implements it in its cross-border payments products. XRP was created by a team that later founded Ripple.
XRP has been a mainstay in the cryptocurrency market practically ever since it was initially launched in 2012. At the time of writing, XRP has a market cap of $18.9 billion and is the 6th largest cryptocurrency on the market.
When discussing XRP, it’s important to highlight the legal battle between Ripple and U.S. securities regulator Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC is alleging that XRP is an unregistered security created and sold by Ripple, while Ripple maintains that XRP is not a security.
After more than two years, Brad Garlinghouse expect a decision soon in the SEC’s lawsuit alleging Ripple Labs failed to register the XRP token as a security https://t.co/PeyGZK3gQl
— Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) March 2, 2023
The outcome of the lawsuit will have important implications for the XRP markets. If XRP is determined not to be a security, we can expect XRP to be listed on a greater number of cryptocurrency exchanges and there could even be a wave of positive momentum in the XRP markets. If XRP is determined to be a security, on the other hand, we could see a sell-off in the XRP markets.
4. Algorand - A PoS blockchain with smart contract support
Algorand is a blockchain platform that supports smart contracts and utilizes a Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism. The Algorand project was founded by Silvio Micali, a renowned computer scientist who has made important contributions in the field of cryptography.
Custom tokens issued on the Algorand blockchain are called ASA (Algorand Standard Assets). Smart contracts for the Algorand platform are written in TEAL (Transaction Execution Approval Langue). However, developers can also write smart contracts for Algorand in the much more popular Python programming language by using a library called PyTeal.
There’s already an ecosystem of decentralized applications built on Algorand, including decentralized finance protocols such as Algofi, Folks Finance and Tinyman. Overall, Algorand is among the most promising layer 1 blockchains on the market today.
Algorand is a very efficient blockchain platform, as the minimum transaction fee is just 0.001 ALGO and transactions are confirmed in under 4.4 seconds. So, Algorand is definitely a platform worth considering for anyone who’s looking to interact with DeFi and NFTs but doesn’t want to spend a lot on transaction fees.
5. Shiba Inu - A Dogecoin competitor on the Ethereum blockchain
Shiba Inu is a token on the Ethereum blockchain that saw a massive increase in popularity in 2021 as crypto investors began looking for “the next Dogecoin”. While the price of SHIB has crashed significantly since its all-time high in October 2021, Shiba Inu remains one of the most popular tokens on the market.
Shiba Inu is also commonly referred to as a meme coin, but the Shiba Inu team has started developing several products that are designed to give additional utility to the SHIB token. This includes the ShibaSwap decentralized exchange, the Shiboshis NFT collection, the SHIB: The Metaverse platform, as well as the Shibarium layer 2 solution for Ethereum.
Shibarium could very well be the most exciting of these products, as Ethereum layer 2s are growing in popularity. Shibarium will also include a SHIB burning mechanism, in which SHIB tokens will be burned with each transaction made on Shibarium. The upcoming release of Shibarium could make SHIB one of the best cryptocurrencies to buy.
— Shib (@Shibtoken) January 15, 2023? Introduction to Shibarium: Shiba Inu's Layer 2 Network — Rejoice #ShibArmy! Shibarium Beta is about to be launched, and through this article we want to introduce some basic concepts in order to provide clarity to the community.
Read more: https://t.co/xWyPaVlQQ4
SHIB has a massive token supply, which results in a low price per token. At the time of writing, 1 SHIB is trading at about $0.0000118. However, it’s hard to say that SHIB is undervalued, as the token has a very significant market capitalization of $6.5 billion.
6. Stellar - An efficient blockchain for exchanging assets
Stellar is a blockchain platform that’s designed to facilitate cross-border payments, microtransactions, and the trading of digital assets. Stellar launched in 2014, and the project was founded by Jed McCaleb and Joyce Kim. Notably, McCaleb was one of the creators of the XRP cryptocurrency and Stellar shares many of its technical features with XRP.
Stellar offers extremely fast and cheap transactions, and has a built-in decentralized exchange that makes it easy for users to swap between different assets on the Stellar network. There’s plenty of tokens representing different fiat currencies issued on the Stellar network, so it can be used for cross-border transactions such as remittances.
Currently, Stellar developers are working on introducing smart contracts to Stellar, which would significantly expand the platform’s functionality. A smart contracts platform called Soroban has been launched on the Stellar network early in 2023, although it’s currently in its very early stages. If Stellar can pair its efficient transactions with powerful smart contracts functionality, the project could become a real contender in the future.
— Stellar | ? #ETHDenver '23 (@StellarOrg) August 1, 2022Introducing Soroban: a smart contracts platform built by the Stellar Development Foundation.
Test it out, see what you can do, and let us know what you think ? https://t.co/VJFG91mBDT
7. Zilliqa - A smart contracts platform that implements sharding
Zilliqa is a blockchain platform for smart contracts that implements sharding for enhanced scalability. Zilliqa also features its own smart contracts language called Scilla, which is designed to address some of the common vulnerabilities plaguing other smart contracts programming languages.
The Zilliqa blockchain can handle around 2,8000 transactions per second (TPS) and offers relatively low transaction fees of about $0.01 per transaction. In addition, a transaction on Zilliqa reaches finality in less than a minute.
Zilliqa has become quite popular in the metaverse and web3 gaming sectors, with projects like Metapolis and Web3 War building on Zilliqa. The Zilliqa project is also working on a gaming console that will specifically cater to web3 gaming.
— Zilliqa (@zilliqa) September 22, 2022
Zilliqa’s native asset ZIL has been on the market since 2018, and it has been a mainstay in the cryptocurrency top 100. At the time of writing, ZIL has a market cap of $452 million and is ranked 86th in the crypto market cap rankings.
8. The Sandbox - One of the leading crypto-powered metaverse projects
The Sandbox is a 3d virtual world that implements crypto tokens and NFTs to give users the ability to own land and other in-game assets. It implements a voxel-based graphics style, similar to the extremely popular online game Minecraft.
The Sandbox features its own token called SAND, which is issued on the Ethereum blockchain as an ERC-20 token. In The Sandbox game itself, SAND is used as an in-game currency. However, SAND can also be used to participate in governance, allowing holders to influence key decisions about the direction of The Sandbox platform. In addition, SAND can be staked to earn token rewards.
The Sandbox is one of the most notable metaverse projects in the crypto and blockchain space, and has secured partnerships with notable artists and brands such as Snoop Dogg, Deadmau5, Adidas, The Walking Dead and others.
SAND is currently the second largest token in the metaverse sector, behind Decentraland’s MANA token. At the time of writing, SAND has a market cap of about $953 million.
9. TRON - A DPoS alternative to Ethereum
TRON is a blockchain platform for smart contracts that utilizes a Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism. TRON was founded by Justin Sun, and its mainnet was launched in May of 2018.
While TRON’s DPoS design makes some sacrifices on the decentralization front, it does allow for efficient transactions. This is why TRON has become a relatively popular low-cost alternative to Ethereum. The TRON platform is largely compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), making it easy for developers who are experienced in the Ethereum ecosystem to launch their decentralized applications on TRON.
TRON has become especially popular for transacting the USDT stablecoin, as USDT can be sent with much lower fees than on Ethereum. On TRON, transactions cost less than $1 and usually get confirmed in about one minute.
Even though Justin Sun’s relentless promotional tactics have sometimes brought some controversy to TRON, the platform’s native asset TRX has been a strong contender in the crypto markets for years now. At the time of writing, TRX commands a market cap of about $6.2 billion.
10. Chiliz - A project bringing blockchain to sports and entertainment
Chiliz is a project that’s looking to leverage blockchain tech in the context of the sports and entertainment industries. The Chiliz project is perhaps best known for Socios platform, which has partnerships with major sports clubs like Paris Saint-Germain and FC Barcelona to issue fan tokens related to the clubs.
The CHZ token by Chiliz can be used to purchase Fan Tokens on the Socios platform, which give access to exclusive perks to fans of sports clubs. This could include exclusive merchandise, stadium tours, or even the ability to vote on certain decisions to be made by the club.
However, Chiliz is also expanding the project’s scope by creating a customized blockchain platform. Currently, the project utilizes the Chiliz Chain 1.0 blockchain, but plans to transition to Chiliz Chain 2.0 once the platform is ready. From a technical point of view, Chiliz Chain 2.0 is a fork of the Binance Smart Chain blockchain, but uses CHZ as its native token and implements the Proof of Staked Authority consensus mechanism.
Updated Roadmap of @chiliz Chain 2.0. $CHZ. Getting closer & closer. https://t.co/rRI6NGxyR3
— Alexandre Dreyfus ?? (@alex_dreyfus) September 24, 2022
The Chiliz Chain 2.0 platform is expected to launch in Q1 of 2023, and it will be interesting to see if it can spark some momentum in the Chiliz ecosystem.
The bottom line
If you’re looking for the cheapest cryptocurrency to buy, our article hopefully gave you some good ideas to start exploring with. Let’s recap the 10 best cheap cryptocurrencies we’ve featured in this article:
| Native asset | Description | Market cap* | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cardano | ADA | A robust blockchain platform for smart contracts | $11.8 billion |
| Dogecoin | DOGE | The biggest meme coin | $10.6 billion |
| XRP | XRP | A highly efficient cryptocurrency | $18.9 billion |
| Algorand | ALGO | A PoS blockchain with smart contract support | $1.6 billion |
| Shiba Inu | SHIB | A Dogecoin competitor on the Ethereum blockchain | $6.5 billion |
| Stellar | XLM | An efficient blockchain for exchanging assets | $2.1 billion |
| Zilliqa | ZIL | A smart contracts platform that implements sharding | $452 million |
| The Sandbox | SAND | One of the leading crypto-powered metaverse projects | $953 million |
| TRON | TRX | A DPoS alternative to Ethereum | $6.2 billion |
| Chiliz | CHZ | A project bringing blockchain to sports and entertainment | $774 million |
*Data as of March 3, 2023.
Of course, we should reiterate that a coin’s price by itself isn’t an indicator of whether the cryptocurrency is overvalued or undervalued. Instead of looking at the price, you should consider the cryptocurrency’s market capitalization.
If you’re new to investing in cryptocurrency, our ultimate guide to investing in crypto will help you get up to speed with everything you need to know.
