The crypto industry is rapidly evolving, especially driven by the recent surge in Bitcoin adoption. Many new, promising projects are emerging, while older ones are finding new life by learning from past mistakes and desiring to reshape the web.
This leads to important questions: What is the best cryptocurrency to invest today in 2024? Which cryptocurrencies clearly have the potential to deliver results in the near future? What is the best cryptocurrency to invest in long term? Which is going to be the key for many parties inside and outside Web3?
There’s no single, definitive answer, and many projects give reasons to consider them as strong contenders. Therefore, we’ve selected some of the most solid and interesting top 10 and explained what makes them stand out, giving hope to expect their growth.
However, remember that this is not financial advice but an evaluation of publicly available information, the significance of projects’ technical and market potential, and assumptions about how this might play out.
Bitcoin (BTC)
- Network: Bitcoin
- Consensus Mechanism: Proof of Work (PoW)
- Features: High Security, Transparency.
- Applications: Trading, Store of Value, Hedge Against Inflation
Despite recent downturns, Bitcoin remains the central driving force in the crypto industry. It has grown enough for Bitcoin ETFs to systematically accumulate it despite volatility, followed by its rapid adaptation being discussed by the world’s leading economies.
After record highs of $71K in May, its price fell to $55K in July but rebounded to $68K. The volatility didn’t end there; you can read about the possible reasons for that in our detailed analysis. Its price fell again to a dramatic $53K as part of the overall stock market decline in August, but it bounced back to $60K again, with major players and funds not stopping their purchases.
All of this suggests that Bitcoin’s potential is being realized increasingly, and major players are making a big bet on it, big enough not to allow Bitcoin to collapse or even stagnate further.Â
Its functionality remains limited, and the development of L2 solutions—albeit ongoing, as we wrote about — is primarily seen as a top deflationary savings tool rather than an everyday executable crypto payment. Yet, it remains invaluable in the era of economic and political instability we see today, so this is the best cryptocurrency to invest in long term.
Ether (ETH)
- Network: Ethereum
- Consensus Mechanism: Proof of Stake (PoS)
- Features: Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), Smart Contracts
- Applications: DeFi, DAO, DApps
- Significant Partners: J.P. Morgan, Microsoft, Santander
Known as a way to overcome Bitcoin’s functional limitations, the so-called blockchain 2.0, Ethereum, has taken center stage throughout the crypto industry and continues to hold it.Â
By providing scalable and executable features for the blockchain as Smart Contracts and serving as a platform for similar solutions to be built on top of it, Ethereum EVM has been in the rapid expansion of the crypto industry.Â
For most, the Ethereum EVM remains at the core, and ETH is required to work with it. Let’s say ETH acts as a universal fuel, essential for all manufacturers of different brands of cars, regardless of their differences.
This creates strategic value and makes it another one best cryptocurrency to invest in long term, while the Ethereum EVM remains one of the easiest and most convenient ways to develop and deploy blockchain solutions. This is relevant given that many centralized applications find their best versions in decentralized systems.
Binance Coin (BNB)
- Network: Binance Chain, Binance Smart Chain (BSC)
- Consensus Mechanism: Binance Chain. Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS), Binance Smart Chain. Proof of Staked Authority (PoSA)
- Features: Binance ecosystem, Token Burn, Cross-Chain Functionality, Staking Rewards
- Applications: Trading, Payments, DeFi, DApps
- Significant Partners: Chainlink, Vertex Ventures, HTC
Binance is one of the crypto industry’s biggest and most popular players. For many people, it has become synonymous with the word crypto exchange, just like Google for a web search.
Now, many centralized crypto exchanges are not inferior, and sometimes even superior, to Binance in various aspects, such as Blofin and ByBit, a detailed review of which you can find here —Binance remains the standard of the crypto industry.
This allows their BNB token to run on top of their own Binance Smart Chain network, making it one of the best cryptocurrencies for long-term investing.
Their proprietary BNB makes the extensive functionality the richest integrations, low fees, and possible, which finds its use within the platform and beyond.
While Binance remains the standard of cryptocurrency exchanges, especially if its enormous popularity grows further, its BNB will grow with it.
Solana (SOL)
- Network: Solana
- Consensus Mechanism: Proof of History (PoH), Proof of Stake (PoS)
- Features: Scalability, Reliability
- Applications: DeFi, DApps, NFTs
- Significant Partners: Circle, Discord, Meta, Shopify, Stripe.
It is a token of the high-performance and reliable Solana blockchain network, written in secure and fast Rust.
Unlike most Web3 solutions, it is separate and independent from Ethereum, but it has successfully made its own way and is, without a doubt, one of the top five key players in the crypto industry.
Solana is also doing a great job of integrating into various Web3 and even Web2 projects to bridge the key gap between them, as well as provide a seamless experience for Web2 users.
Many are expecting a big SOL price increase, which has many reasons to happen. Even with all the market volatility, Solana stands out, makes strategic moves with Circle, and keeps the technical advantages underlying it are likely to give Solana a key role in the crypto industry. . So, highly likely this is the best cryptocurrency to invest in long term if you are looking for something leading and robust but out of EVM.
Cardano (ADA)
- Network:Cardano
- Consensus Mechanism: Ouroboros Proof of Stake (PoS)
- Features: Layered Architecture, Sustainability, Scalability
- Applications: DeFi, NFTs, Governance
- Significant Partners: EMURGO, Input Output, Intersect, PRAGMA
Its blockchain development approach, namely a research-driven approach and peer-reviewed academic research, which makes the Cardano network the realization of some of the most advanced and informed technology solutions distinguishes it..
This feature makes it the preferred choice for critical industries like government and medical projects that require high scalability and high security simultaneously.
The potential of the ADA and the Cardano network can make it an integral part of multiple critical infrastructures, which should consistently and reasonably increase its value and price.Â
This is also highly likely the best cryptocurrency to invest in long term if you want something robust and scalable, out of EVM, and especially beneficial for enterprises and governance.
Constellation (DAG)
- Network: Constellation
- Consensus Mechanism: Proof of Authority (PoA)
- Features: Scalable Architecture, Data Integrity, Low Transaction Costs, Interoperability
- Applications: Enterprise and Federal Solutions, Decentralized Data Networks, DApps
- Significant Partners: IBM, Snowflake, U.S. Air Force, Uphold
DAG is not strictly technically a blockchain but a directed acyclic graph. Constellation is one of the pioneers and few central players offering DAG-based networks for critical domains such as finance, corporate, government, and defense.
Yet, some are convinced that this technology will become the so-called blockchain 3.0 because it offers the same decentralization, transparency, and immutability of records but initially avoids the famous trilemma.
While maintaining its security, the network is quite easy to scale. A big advantage is the possibility of parallel computing, making it much faster and more cost-effective than blockchain networks.
Albeit with its notable downfalls in price, the technology behind it makes it one of the best cryptocurrency to invest today and monitor it carefully for its long-term development.Â
DAG’s price is just $0.023, and if the project continues to grow and get involved in large critical domains, it could also secure a key position and see more consistent and significant price appreciation.
IOTA
- Network: IOTA DAG Network
- Consensus Mechanism: Tangle, Coordinator
- Features: Scalability, No Transaction Fees, Data Integrity
- Applications: DeFi, IoT Integration, Microtransactions, Data Management
- Significant Partners: Microsoft, Bosch, Volkswagen, Schneider Electric
IOTA is another contender for blockchain 3.0 that uses its own version of directed acyclic graphs, enabling it to overcome the famous trilemma.
At the same time, they offer solutions that maintain compatibility with existing DeFi and are compatible with EVM, allowing for a smooth transition rather than a complete switch.
Since they offer secure, efficient, eco-friendly data transfer and protected authentication, their solution can benefit embedded systems, supply chains, the Internet of Things, and other complex and critical areas.
Moreover, they recently proposed a solution for managing music rights in the film industry, aiming to implement the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP), demonstrating the project’s focus on solving real-world problems in various fields.
Again, despite the price drop to $0.13, this could also be the best cryptocurrency to invest in long term, as the project intends to grow and occupy key positions in critical industries.
Fetch.ai (FET)
- Network: Fetch.ai Network
- Consensus Mechanism: Proof of Stake (PoS)
- Features: Autonomous Agents, Decentralized Data Economy, Data Exchange, Decentralized Marketplaces
- Applications: AI Agents, Smart Cities, Supply Chain Management, Decentralized Marketplaces, DeFi
- Significant Partners: Bosch, Datarella, Numeraire
With the rapid development of AI and the challenges on this path, such as the need for high-quality and secure training data, blockchain appears to be the missing piece of the puzzle.
Fetch.ai is creating a network of constantly updating high-quality data with their FET, where they reward data providers and allow companies needing such data to access it in the best possible way.
The goal of Fetch.ai is to create a Decentralized Data Economy where data is fairly compensated, which eliminates the reasons for the related scandals. They also aim to build autonomous agents within this network to store, update, and learn from data securely and reliably.
This is expected to enable the creation of applications for smart cities, supply chains, and many other critical domains that use big data and strive to implement AI but suffer from data quality and sources.Â
So if you think about what are the best cryptocurrencies to invest in, check if they combine two of the most powerful technologies we have today to resolve real-world problems in critical domains, and one of the leaders will be FET.
The price of FET has seen its downturns. Still, it recently surged to $3, settling at $0.86. Fetch.ai continues to show active development, strong activity, and collaboration with many AI projects, suggesting a significant potential growth in its value and importance.
Chainlink (LINK)
- Network:Chainlink Network, Ethereum
- Consensus Mechanism: Ethereum. Proof of Stake (PoS), Chainlink
- Features: On-Chain and Off-Chain Data Sharing, Decentralized Oracles, Cross-Chain Compatibility, Data Security and Reliability
- Applications: DeFi, Insurance, Supply Chain Management, Gaming
- Significant Partners: Google Cloud, Oracle, SWIFT, Polkadot
Chainlink has secured a unique, unbeatable position in the crypto industry, much like Nvidia, with its graphics cards for all the major tech giants needing computing power for AI development.
Since the crypto industry comprises multiple blockchain networks that are not directly connected to each other or the external world, exchanging data with one another and with Web2 is a significant challenge.
Chainlink addresses this by bridging real-world data, Web2, and the diverse Web3 ecosystem. It also facilitates communication between different blockchain networks within Web3.
As the primary bridge enabling these interactions, Chainlink ensures the reliability and security of the data passing through it, a foundation relied upon by numerous projects.
While competition for Chainlink could emerge, it remains a leader with stable growth, currently priced at $10.41 per LINK token. Of course, this isn’t as advantageous a price as it was just a year ago when it was around $7, and it all started with just a few cents back in 2018.Â
However, this is a key project with significant technical potential for substantial growth because of its critical role in the entire Web3 ecosystem. Therefore, if you believe those reasons are enough, this can be the best cryptocurrency to invest today, even at a $10 price now.
Filecoin (FIL)
- Network: Filecoin Network
- Consensus Mechanism: Proof of Space and Time
- Features: Decentralized P2P File Sharing, Data Integrity and Security, Market for Storage, Incentives
- Applications: Decentralized Storage, Decentralized Content Distribution, Backup Solutions
- Significant Partners: Protocol Labs, IPFS (InterPlanetary File System), Chainlink, Matter Labs
Nothing works without incentives, but with them, everything begins to take on new momentum, as Web3 has successfully demonstrated.
Filecoin has embraced this by not only presenting a solid idea and even excellent technology for decentralized and secure data storage and exchange but also by introducing FIL to reward network participants and maintain its operability.
As a result, we see a promising and highly active project that, with continued innovative and active development, could pose a significant challenge to many centralized storage solutions like Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.
This would allow users to securely and decentrally store and share their files via P2P without worrying about loss, blocking, or a single point of failure.
Yes, FIL has experienced a massive drop from $180 to $3. Still, the technical potential of this project remains intact, and it was this potential that allowed it to reach such significant figures before, even if only for a short time.Â
Its infrastructural value, understanding of how to create good technology, and incentive to use it could give it strong prospects for further long-term growth and possibly make it the best cryptocurrency to invest in long term, if you are looking for something backed by a promise to bring a real daily application for everyone.
Conclusion
As you can see, even within a list of 10 cryptocurrencies, several competitors exist, and the list of promising projects can easily be expanded.
However, this list does not guarantee their growth; it merely suggests which strengths of certain cryptocurrencies might add value to the industry, which could drive up their prices.
In reality, many other factors could influence this, ranging from unknown internal developments to market sentiment in response to unforeseen political and economic events.
Stay tuned for the latest updates, and always carefully analyze all possible aspects that could impact the industry’s dynamics and assets.
