Given all the volatility in the crypto market over the past six months, it's perhaps not surprising that nearly every major crypto is trading at a steep discount from its all-time highs. In fact, some of these cryptos are now trading for less than $1, making them very affordable ways to buy the dip and boost your portfolio returns.
Of course, buyer beware. Anytime you're spending less than $1 for a crypto coin or token, there's a reason. But these are three of the most trusted, high-profile cryptocurrencies in the world right now. They just happen to be trading for mere pennies, making them a great way to profit once the crypto bull market returns.
1. Polygon
At the top of our $1 shopping list is Polygon (MATIC 0.36%), a Layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum (ETH 0.97%). Polygon is a blockchain that is built on top of Ethereum, enabling super-fast transactions and near-zero transaction costs, which gives it tremendous utility. As a result of the close link between Polygon and Ethereum, Polygon continues to benefit from all the excitement surrounding The Merge.
Whereas Ethereum is trading at close to $1,700 these days, Polygon trades for just $0.81. If you're expecting Ethereum to skyrocket to the moon, then Polygon offers a way to participate in this same upside at a mere fraction of the price. Going forward, Polygon has a number of exciting projects in the works related to gaming, metaverse, and NFTs, so there is plenty of future potential.
2. Cardano
There are a number of Ethereum competitors in the market right now, and one of the most popular options is Cardano (ADA 3.15%), an established blockchain project that has been around since 2017. While the pace of development at Cardano has been slower than that of other blockchains, this is due in large part to the peer-reviewed, academic-style process of software development that Cardano pioneered. Cardano is currently close to finalizing another major technological upgrade, which will further bolster its competitive market position.
Image source: Getty Images.
And, best of all, you can now use Cardano to do almost everything you can do with Ethereum. In late 2021, Cardano acquired smart contract functionality, and that has led to a blossoming of gaming, NFT, and decentralized finance (DeFi) projects being built on top of Cardano. Right now, Cardano is trading at just $0.45, making this a deep value play.
3. Dogecoin
The last crypto on our list is Dogecoin (DOGE 2.30%), which is currently trading for mere pennies ($0.06). What makes Dogecoin unique is that it is one of the most popular meme coins in the world. It started as a joke back in 2013 but has blossomed into a more serious blockchain project that has even attracted the attention of Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.
Dogecoin has a large, passionate online community backing it and has spawned countless other meme coins, including Shiba Inu (SHIB 0.83%). While Dogecoin admittedly is very speculative, it is also the most mainstream of the most popular meme coins. A growing number of online retailers support it as a form of payment (including luxury retailer Gucci), and it has the online backing of influential billionaires Mark Cuban and Elon Musk.
Other cryptos trading for less than $1
Of course, there are plenty of other crypto tokens trading for less than $1 that could have made the list. STEPN (GMT -0.42%), for example, is an innovative crypto token powering the popular move-to-earn game STEPN. Algorand (ALGO 1.22%) is a relatively new, sustainable blockchain project from a renowned MIT professor. And XRP (XRP 1.18%) is the native token of the once high-flying payment network Ripple, which promised a seamless, zero-cost way to transfer money (especially remittances) around the world within seconds.
But for now, we'll go with Polygon, Cardano, and Dogecoin as the best cryptos right now trading for less than $1. With Polygon, you get access to all the upside potential of Ethereum. With Cardano, you get access to a world-class Layer-1 blockchain project that is close to completing a major, new technological upgrade. And, with Dogecoin, you get access to all the uncapped, speculative upside of a meme coin during a bull market rally. Mix these $1 coins together, and you have the beginnings of a well-diversified crypto portfolio at a bargain-basement price.
