Cryptocurrencies under $1 appeal to many investors, as they appear cheap and can easily be accumulated in massive quantities with a small budget. Investors often buy them after being encouraged by success stories of coins trading for fractions of a cent and exploding in value within a few months, weeks, or even days.
However, it’s still important to see beyond the coin’s price, as it doesn’t provide the full context in terms of value. You need to look at the coin’s market cap (price multiplied by total supply) to gauge the true potential size of the project. This metric provides much better context than the price alone, because it helps you determine if a crypto is actually undervalued or just has a highly inflated supply.
| # | Coin | Price | 24h % | Market Cap | Volume | 24h Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
TRON
TRX
|
$0.23 | -2.67% | $21,990,870,760 | $766,822,504 |
$0.23
―
$0.24
|
| 2 |
Stellar
XLM
|
$0.25 | -5.70% | $7,802,399,278 | $258,557,574 |
$0.25
―
$0.28
|
| 3 |
Shiba Inu
SHIB
|
$0.0412 | -3.33% | $7,135,998,652 | $324,674,940 |
$0.0411
―
$0.0412
|
| 4 |
Pepe
PEPE
|
$0.0566 | -11.45% | $2,781,120,294 | $1,250,474,134 |
$0.0565
―
$0.0578
|
| 5 |
VeChain
VET
|
$0.0211 | -7.63% | $1,812,482,193 | $75,135,975 |
$0.0208
―
$0.0237
|
| 6 |
Ethena
ENA
|
$0.30 | -15.20% | $1,612,557,684 | $334,315,208 |
$0.30
―
$0.38
|
| 7 |
Kaspa
KAS
|
$0.0616 | -7.42% | $1,598,007,180 | $102,032,797 |
$0.0607
―
$0.0684
|
| 8 |
Algorand
ALGO
|
$0.17 | -9.40% | $1,460,884,425 | $113,249,281 |
$0.17
―
$0.20
|
| 9 |
Movement
MOVE
|
$0.39 | -3.38% | $945,740,633 | $107,905,264 |
$0.37
―
$0.41
|
| 10 |
Immutable
IMX
|
$0.47 | -9.13% | $838,861,185 | $53,911,536 |
$0.46
―
$0.53
|
| 11 |
Bonk
BONK
|
$0.0410 | -13.31% | $822,066,165 | $186,609,732 |
$0.0410
―
$0.0412
|
| 12 |
Entangle
NTGL
|
$0.0003 | -48.88% | $155,194,811 | $8,894 |
$0.0003
―
$0.0005
|
| 13 |
VVS Finance
VVS
|
$0.0523 | -8.23% | $112,813,440 | $716,031 |
$0.0523
―
$0.0526
|
| 14 |
CorgiAI
CORGIAI
|
$0.0002 | -8.67% | $56,461,852 | $124,601 |
$0.0002
―
$0.0002
|
| 15 |
MESSIER
M87
|
$0.0452 | -7.25% | $46,084,716 | $1,529,740 |
$0.0448
―
$0.0463
|
| 16 |
Orbiter Finance
OBT
|
$0.0113 | -9.62% | $36,067,948 | $22,044,255 |
$0.0112
―
$0.0126
|
| 17 |
STRIKE
STRIKE
|
$0.0047 | -3.06% | $18,328,466 | $40,820 |
$0.0047
―
$0.0051
|
| 18 |
Dione
DIONE
|
$0.0016 | -12.82% | $16,554,078 | $246,420 |
$0.0016
―
$0.0019
|
| 19 |
Jupiter Project
JUP
|
$0.0004 | -20.97% | $426,920 | $20,747 |
$0.0004
―
$0.0006
|
TRON
TRX
Stellar
XLM
Shiba Inu
SHIB
Pepe
PEPE
VeChain
VET
Ethena
ENA
Kaspa
KAS
Algorand
ALGO
Movement
MOVE
Immutable
IMX
Bonk
BONK
Entangle
NTGL
VVS Finance
VVS
CorgiAI
CORGIAI
MESSIER
M87
Orbiter Finance
OBT
STRIKE
STRIKE
Dione
DIONE
Jupiter Project
JUPTop Gainers (24h)
Top Losers (24h)
Ethena
ENA
Bonk
BONK
Pepe
PEPE
Orbiter Finance
OBT
Algorand
ALGO
For instance, Shiba Inu ($SHIB) trades for fractions of a cent, but has a multi-billion dollar market cap. This means SHIB isn’t a “small” project, even though it has a low-cost token.
One of the main reasons cheap cryptos under $1 are appealing to investors is psychological bias. These low-cost coins enable investors to buy more units with a smaller budget, which creates a sense of greater potential wealth (for example, buying 1,000 tokens at $0.10 and imagining the crypto growing to $10 or more). Viral crypto success stories, like early Dogecoin ($DOGE) holders turning into millionaires, further support this psychological bias.
This is why beginners should treat low-cost coins like any other investment, and thoroughly assess the crypto project’s fundamentals and risks. Evaluating the project’s real-world use cases, development activity, community sentiment, and trading liquidity can help you distinguish the real gems from average low-cost coins.
With these points in mind, let’s look at some of the top cryptocurrencies under $1 to watch in April 2025.
Top Cryptocurrencies Under $1 to Watch
Below are five promising crypto projects currently trading under $1, along with an analysis of their success and high potential.
1. Pepe
Pepe ($PEPE) is an Ethereum-based meme coin themed around the famous “Pepe the Frog” internet meme. Launched in April 2023 with no presale and no inherent utility, PEPE relied purely on community hype to gain traction.
PEPE’s massive token supply of 420 trillion tokens keeps its unit price extremely low, at fractions of a cent—but it quickly became one of the most-watched meme coins in the market, even surpassing a $10 billion market cap at its peak during the 2024 meme coin frenzy.
PEPE hit an all-time high (ATH) of around $0.00002825 during that bull run, meaning early buyers who stacked thousands of tokens saw exponential gains.
Although its price then fell by as much as 81% before rebounding in early 2025, Pepe still has a multibillion-dollar market cap that’s enough to rank it among the top 40 cryptos and the top three meme coins.
Pepe Price Chart
(PEPE)Pepe (PEPE)
Pepe doesn’t provide any technological breakthroughs or genuine utility, and its value is primarily driven by speculation and community sentiment. A major reason for Pepe’s success is its loyal and growing community on social media platforms like X and Reddit. The meme coin has already attracted a strong community of over 788,000 followers on X.
Investor support has helped Pepe get listed on some of the best crypto exchanges like Binance, OKX, KuCoin, and Uniswap.
Looking at its historical price performance, PEPE will still have room for growth during the next bull run as long as it trades below its ATH.
Find out more about Pepe:
2. Shiba Inu
Next on our list of best cryptos under $1 is Shiba Inu ($SHIB). It was launched in 2020 as a “Dogecoin Killer” with an initial price of just $0.000000000051 per token, which skyrocketed to an all-time high of $0.000088 because of its viral dog mascot and shoutouts from popular figures like Elon Musk.
SHIB’s price has continued trading above $0.000011 despite an early-2025 dip of -67%. Its massive circulating supply of roughly 589 trillion SHIB tokens keeps the unit price at a small fraction of a cent.
This meme coin’s multi-billion-dollar market cap has consistently kept it among the world’s top-ranked cryptos for the last few years.
Shiba Inu Price Chart
(SHIB)Shiba Inu (SHIB)
For perspective, if SHIB grew to $0.01, its market cap would be nearly $6 trillion (more than double the entire crypto market’s current valuation). This is a classic example that illustrates why price alone can be misleading. As SHIB is still far below its October 2021 ATH of $0.000088, there’s a high potential upside for market participants who buy in before the next meme coin supercycle.
Investors are optimistic about SHIB because it’s one of the few meme coins that’s built genuine utility over the years. Its ecosystem now includes ShibaSwap (a decentralized exchange), Shiboshi NFTs, Shibarium (a Layer 2 blockchain launched in 2023), and even metaverse features.
Shibarium is setting the foundations for new decentralized applications (dApps), ultimately increasing SHIB’s utility across decentralized finance (DeFi), gaming, and NFTs.
Find out more about Shiba Inu:
3. Kaspa
Kaspa ($KAS) is a Layer 1 blockchain project built on its unique blockDAG mechanism—a directed acyclic graph of blocks. Kaspa leverages the GHOSTDAG protocol to establish consensus and arrange blocks within the blockDAG, allowing the network to process multiple blocks in parallel rather than one by one, as is typically done in traditional blockchains.
As a result, Kaspa’s users experience unparalleled throughput and instantaneous transaction finality without compromising decentralization.
Having launched at the end of 2021 without an ICO or pre-mine, Kaspa emulated Bitcoin’s fair distribution and community-first model. By early 2025, it had become a top 50 cryptocurrency, with a market cap of around $2 billion.
Even investors who bought KAS in 2022 saw a massive return on investment (ROI) of over 44,000% from its all-time low.
Kaspa Price Chart
(KAS)Kaspa (KAS)
The project’s technical backbone has gained traction with passionate retail investors, which is evident in its growing community of over 247,000 X followers.
Moreover, Kaspa’s open-source development shows consistent activity with frequent GitHub commits. While KAS is available on KuCoin, Gate.io, and MEXC, its community believes KAS could soon be listed on Binance.
The KAS coin’s token supply is capped at just 28.7 billion tokens, adding an element of scarcity that’s unusual for cryptos under $1.
Find out more about Kaspa:
4. VeChain
VeChain ($VET) is a promising low-cap crypto under $1 to watch because it already has significant real-world use cases and high enterprise adoption. It’s the native cryptocurrency of a Layer 1 blockchain platform built to improve supply chain management using distributed ledger technology and IoT integration.
VET is a prime example of an established low-priced crypto with strong fundamentals. The coin’s long-standing utility as an infrastructure solution for multiple industries supports a strong reputation not commonly seen with many penny cryptos. VeChain has worked with Walmart China to track food products, and with firms like PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to implement blockchain solutions for business auditing processes.
VeChain Price Chart
(VET)VeChain (VET)
The VeChain ecosystem uses a dual-token model. VET is the platform’s primary token used for staking and governance, and VTHO is generated from VET holdings to pay for transaction gas fees on the network.
VeChain runs with a proof-of-authority consensus mechanism, which is useful in enterprise ecosystems—and the blockchain has had no major outages since its launch, proving high network reliability and operational stability.
The “VeChain Renaissance” roadmap for 2025 includes new plans to help grow VET’s value. The roadmap includes tokenomics changes, EVM compatibility to onboard more developers, and improved governance through a DAO structure organized by VeChain developers.
Find out more about VeChain:
5. Entangle
Entangle ($NTGL) is an innovative blockchain infrastructure project that launched in 2024 with a mission to build the “decentralized digital highway” for Web3. As it currently trades around $0.001 (with extreme moves in both directions), NTGL is a classic example of a high-risk, high-upside crypto under $1.
The project’s technical vision revolves around three pillars. It includes a Universal Interoperability Protocol to allow cross-chain communication, Universal Data Feeds to allow high-speed oracle services, and Universal Proof of Compute to allow for the verification of off-chain computations on-chain.
Entangle Price Chart
(NTGL)Entangle (NTGL)
What truly sets Entangle apart is its broad scope. The platform functions across both EVM and non-EVM ecosystems, such as Ethereum, Solana, and Cosmos, while leveraging secure enclaves (TEE) for validated data delivery. This allows it to potentially service emerging sectors, including AI integration, decentralized science, and real-world asset tokenization.
The NTGL token is used to pay gas fees, and as collateral for network validators (staking). NTGL’s current micro-cap status (ranked in the #4000s) shows that Entangle is still in its developmental stage.
Therefore, this coin offers investors a ground-floor opportunity, and may provide a high upside if the project executes on its vision.
Find out more about Entangle:
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How to Evaluate Cryptocurrencies Under $1
Not all cryptos under $1 are inherently good investments. Some are cheap for a reason, like abandoned projects or meme tokens with little or no utility, while others are just early in their growth cycle or have large supplies despite solid fundamentals. Here’s what to consider when looking at low-priced cryptocurrencies:
Market Capitalization
A token’s market cap (price per coin × circulating supply) is more important than the price, as it tells you how large a project really is. A coin that costs $0.50 and has a supply of 10 billion coins has a $5 billion market cap—but a coin that costs $5 and has a supply of 50 million coins has a $250 million market cap.
Why it matters: Market capitalization helps to indicate a coin’s potential for growth and significant price increases. Coins with a high market cap, such as Cardano or XRP (which are worth billions of dollars), are unlikely to increase by 100x easily. As a rule of thumb, a lower market cap means a higher potential reward—but also higher risk.
Real-World Utility
It’s important to know what real-world problems a project and its crypto token will solve, because coins with utility tend to have better longevity. Utility comes in many forms, such as powering blockchains (like ETH for Ethereum and ADA for Cardano), unlocking unique features (like VET for supply chain tracking), or even participating in DeFi protocols, games, and other decentralized applications.
Why it matters: There needs to be a reason to buy and hold cryptos beyond speculation. If a coin is required for transactions on a popular network or gaining access to services, it creates organic demand. For instance, Chainlink became valuable because its network participants use LINK to pay node operators for decentralized oracle network (DON) services.
It’s always better to choose coins with utility that have already been adopted, or at least have a documented roadmap that leads to adoption. The stronger and more unique the utility, the better the crypto’s long-term prospects—although delivery and execution quality still matter as well.
Development Activity
Active development is a positive sign that a project has room to grow. Investors can watch for consistent and frequent commits on GitHub, regular updates, transparent roadmaps, and active developer communities. A coin under $1 with no code updates in a year probably isn’t a good investment, as it’s likely an abandoned project. On the other hand, a cheap coin with an active development team may well be undervalued.
Why it matters: Blockchains and decentralized protocols are dependent on carefully coded and securely designed software—and if the underlying mechanisms don’t get upgraded over time, they risk becoming obsolete or even vulnerable to hacks. In that regard, development activity is essential as it signifies the rollout of new features on the blockchain, bug fixes, and network expansion to new use cases.
For example, the fact that the Kaspa team pushes periodic technology upgrades shows that the team is actively building the project. Likewise, Shiba Inu’s development of Shibarium shows efforts to increase utility beyond its meme origins.
You can visit any coin’s official channels to see how often they release updates, and what those updates consist of. Projects that hold AMAs with the community, and/or regularly publish reports on their progress, are more reliable. An active third-party developer community is also a positive sign of a project’s health and long-term potential.
Trading Volume
This is the amount of crypto transacted in a single day, and is often expressed in US dollars. Trading volume is an important metric to watch, as it indicates not just a coin’s liquidity but also investor interest—both of which contribute to price stability and consistent growth.
Why it matters: If a token doesn’t have liquidity, you may not be able to sell it when you want to. Large volume spikes generally happen ahead of price moves. Before investing, it’s also worth ensuring that volume hasn’t been artificially inflated via wash trading (fake volumes) on obscure exchanges.
What Kinds of Crypto Can You Buy Under $1?
The under $1 crypto space is quite diverse, ranging from the top 20 coins to lesser-known emerging tokens. In general, cryptos that cost less than $1 tend to fall into one of the following categories.
Established Low-Priced Cryptos With Strong Fundamentals
These cryptos have been around for a while, with relatively large market caps, solid technology, and real-world use cases—yet they still trade under $1. Their low price usually comes from a large token supply rather than low project value.
Examples include:
- Stellar ($XLM): Stellar is a payment network facilitating cross-border transactions, has been active since 2015, and has several partnerships with legacy fintech players (including the US Federal Reserve). XLM’s price is low due to its massive supply of 50 billion tokens.
- TRON ($TRX): TRON is a high-throughput blockchain known for entertainment dApps and DeFi. It primarily excels in stablecoin transfers and gambling dApps.
- Cardano ($ADA): Cardano is a Layer 1 smart contract platform that’s remained in the top 15 cryptos by market cap for several years. Although it has seen a recovery above $1 during previous bull runs, it generally trades below that level.
- VeChain ($VET): An enterprise blockchain leader with actual use cases in supply chains and sustainability.
Investing in these established coins is like buying blue-chip stocks instead of penny stocks. They’re less likely to go to zero because of their strong communities, continued development, actual use cases, and adoption. Because they already have relatively large valuations, a 100x return is unlikely—although a 5x over the course of a few market cycles could be feasible if they capture more market share.
Emerging Cryptos Under $1 With High Growth Potential
This category includes newer projects that are still developing their tech and ecosystems, and/or growing their communities. Their tokens usually have a mid-to-low market cap, and could offer exponential gains in the right market conditions. Some examples include:
- Kaspa ($KAS): As we saw previously, this is the native coin of a Layer 1 blockchain with unique blockDAG technology. As investors recognize its potential, KAS has already climbed into the top 50 cryptos by market cap.
- Entangle ($NTGL): This is a relatively new project that aims to offer core Web3 infrastructure. The NTGL token is both cheap and extremely volatile, and has a total supply of 843 billion.
- Mina Protocol ($MINA): Described by its creators as the world’s lightest blockchain, Mina Protocol uses zk-SNARKs (zero-knowledge proofs) to build a constant-sized blockchain (22KB). MINA is priced well below $1, but has a vibrant dev community and is advancing use cases around private DeFi and identity.
- Web3 Gaming Tokens (such as Yield Guild Games ($YGG) and Aavegotchi ($GHST)): These tokens often start below $1, and can appreciate quickly as their platforms attract more users. Depending on hype and broader market conditions, it’s not uncommon to see 10x or 15x gains in this category.
Regardless of which category of crypto you’re drawn to, it’s important to read every project’s whitepaper, learn about the team members, look for well-known investors backing the project, and observe the general community sentiment. A useful portfolio management strategy is to spread your bets among a few good projects that you find the most appealing.
Meme Coins and Speculative Low-Cost Tokens
Finally, there’s a whole class of cryptos under $1 that thrive purely on speculation and/or memes. These include well-known meme coins, as well as countless penny tokens with no serious projects behind them.
Dogecoin is still well below $1, and has proven its worth as the most legitimate meme coin on the market. A major reason behind this is DOGE’s growing utility in the real world, as it’s used for tipping, buying Tesla merchandise, and online microtransactions. Shiba Inu is another popular meme coin that’s witnessing high developer activity and attracting new users to its Layer 2 solution, Shibarium.
Similarly, Pepe and Floki Inu are other examples of animal-themed meme coins that have gone viral on social media.
The price of a meme coin is normally tied more to the size and enthusiasm of its community than the token’s utility. For instance, Dogecoin skyrocketed in 2021 to reach an all-time high, primarily driven by Elon Musk tweets.
Based on social media trends, meme coins can typically pump 10x in a week and dump 90% the following week. So, while meme coins can be fun and sometimes profitable if timed right, they carry the highest risk. Many are outright scams or pump-and-dump schemes.
It’s also important to remember that some decentralized exchanges allow users to list multiple tokens with the same names, tickers, and even logos. This enables scammers to imitate popular coins and trick exchange users into buying a scam coin instead of the one they actually wanted. Before buying any crypto through a DEX, always double-check to make sure you’re buying the correct coin and not a fake.
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Where to Buy Cryptocurrencies Under $1
After identifying low-price crypto gems, the next step is buying them safely. Many sub-$1 cryptocurrencies are listed on major exchanges, but some coins are so new or ultra-low-cap that they’re only available on decentralized exchanges. Here’s a quick guide to where and how to build a complete portfolio of cryptos under $1:
Exchanges
- Large Cryptocurrency Exchanges: Many well-established cryptos under $1 (including well-known meme coins like SHIB or DOGE) can be bought on large exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and KuCoin. The advantages of purchasing cryptos on major cryptocurrency exchanges include high liquidity, regulatory oversight, and user-friendliness. Most platforms let you create an account, deposit funds (using a credit card, debit card, or wire transfer), and execute trades.
- Mid-Tier and Niche Exchanges: New and emerging coins usually list first on Gate.io, MEXC, OKX, or similar small- to mid-sized exchanges, often before larger platforms host them. For example, Kaspa was on MEXC and Gate.io before it reached bigger exchanges. If the coin you’re looking for isn’t on a major exchange, there’s a good chance you’ll find it on one of these platforms. It’s important to stick to trusted names like MEXC, Gate.io, and KuCoin, which have solid reputations for reliability.
- Decentralized Exchanges (DEXes): Very new tokens often start trading on DEXes like Uniswap (for Ethereum tokens), PancakeSwap (for BSC tokens), or TraderJoe (for Avalanche). To buy cryptos from a DEX, you’ll need a Web3 wallet like MetaMask or Best Wallet, and some base crypto to swap. This is often the only way to buy many cryptos under $1 in their early days—although some (like PEPE) can go on to achieve major exchange listings and mainstream success.
Safety tip: Always verify official sources and token contract addresses to avoid impersonation scams on DEXes.
How to Buy Low-Priced Crypto
- Choose an Exchange and Sign Up: Register with a centralized exchange and complete identity verification, or create a crypto wallet to start trading on a DEX.
- Deposit Funds: Deposit fiat (like USD or EUR) or crypto into your exchange account. If you’re using a DEX, you’ll need the network’s native token in your wallet (such as ETH for Uniswap or BNB for PancakeSwap) to pay for transactions.
- Find the Coin: Look for the trading pair you need. On DEXes, you can either paste in the token’s contract address or search for it on the list.
- Place a Buy Order: You can place a market order to immediately buy the crypto at the current price. You could also place a limit order that executes only when the token hits a certain price (useful for avoiding slippage in volatile, low-cap coins). On DEXes, just enter how much you want to swap and set your slippage tolerance.
- Storage: If you plan to hold coins long-term, it’s better to move them to a secure self-custody wallet, especially after the $1.5 billion Bybit hack which highlighted the vulnerabilities of centralized exchanges. If you bought your crypto from a DEX, the tokens are already stored in your wallet.
- Stay Informed: Follow project updates and news that could affect your investment. Also, when buying very cheap tokens, make sure trading fees don’t eat up a large percentage of your funds.
Common Risks When Buying Cheap Cryptos
- Scams and Rugpulls: The low-cap crypto market is especially infamous for scams, “pump-and-dump” schemes, and even fake projects. Some red flags include a lack of a whitepaper, minimal GitHub activity, anonymous founders, and overly aggressive marketing promises.
- High Volatility: These cryptos are also prone to large price swings. This is why using limit orders and stop-losses can be helpful.
- Liquidity Risk: Lower trading volume means a higher chance of not being able to sell at your desired price.
- Regulatory Risk: Some smaller coins might get delisted if they’re seen as unregistered securities in certain jurisdictions.
- Security Risk: Be alert for phishing when using DEXes. Double-check that you’re on the correct site, and protect your private keys.
- FOMO: Don’t invest heavily in a coin just because it’s cheap, as most of these coins never reach $1. Only risk what you can afford to lose.
- Project Failure: Small crypto projects can fail easily due to a lack of funding, team issues, or tough competition.
Do Cryptos Under $1 Really Have Potential?
One of the most common questions newcomers ask is if penny cryptos can ever amount to anything significant. Let’s understand this by looking at history, key price catalysts, and portfolio strategy.
Historical Examples of Cheap Cryptos That Exploded in Value
History is full of examples of coins once priced below $1 that later reached valuations of 100x, 1000x, and more:
- Bitcoin ($BTC) and Ethereum ($ETH): Bitcoin traded for just a few cents in 2010—but by January 2025, it was valued at over $108,000. Ethereum also saw massive price increases, as it traded for under $1 during its 2015 crowd sale and eventually soared to nearly $5,000 in November 2021.
- Dogecoin ($DOGE): For most of its early days, DOGE was priced well below 1 cent. As the first-ever meme coin to get mainstream attention and recognition from popular figures like Elon Musk, it surged from about $0.005 in early 2021 to highs of $0.73 by May of the same year—an almost 15,000% return.
- Shiba Inu ($SHIB): SHIB launched in late 2020 at around $0.00000000005—but by October 2021 it had reached $0.00008, an almost 160,000,000% increase. Some early investors turned a few hundred dollars into millions.
- Cardano ($ADA): ADA debuted on exchanges at about $0.02 before shooting up to around $1.10 in January 2018. By 2021, it had reached a new ATH above $3.
- Binance Coin ($BNB): BNB started at around $0.10 during its ICO in 2017 and is currently trading well over $600, an approximately 6,000x return from its ICO price.
These examples show that cryptos under $1 can deliver outstanding returns, but such opportunities are quite rare. Most crypto launches fail or stagnate. Investors who buy price peaks (usually due to the fear of missing out) can incur significant losses, making purchase timing (and early buying) extremely important.
Factors That Could Influence Price Growth
For a cheap crypto to explode, the following factors should typically align:
- Bull Market Conditions: When overall sentiment is bullish, speculative money flows into lower-cap coins in search of the next big thing. On the other hand, even promising projects can stall if the market mood is bearish.
- Exchange Listings: Getting listed on major exchanges (like Coinbase or Binance) suddenly makes a coin available to millions of buyers. Coins often jump 20-50% on listing news alone.
- Community and Social Media Hype: If a coin trends on Twitter, Reddit, or Telegram, the buzz can fuel a self-fulfilling price rise. An enthusiastic army of supporters rising behind a coin can be a huge catalyst.
- Technical Breakthroughs: Hitting major development milestones (such as launching a working mainnet) or solving important industry problems can attract attention and justify higher valuations.
- Regulatory and Legislative Developments: Regulators like the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and lawmakers in every country, can impact crypto price movements with new announcements.
- Genuine Adoption and Partnerships: Real-world integrations and big-name collaborations provide a strong proof of concept and value.
- Scarcity Events: Token burns or halvings that cut supply can drive prices up if demand holds steady.
- Market Narrative Fit: Being in the right sector at the right time (for example DeFi, the metaverse, and/or AI) can help a token’s price to quickly pump.
It’s usually not one factor, but a confluence of them, that helps to create a new crypto rally. When everything is going right and euphoria peaks, it often signals a top—which is when savvy investors might begin taking profits.
Should You Invest in Multiple Low-Cost Cryptos?
Diversification is typically a good idea when it comes to cheap cryptos. By spreading your bets, you have a better chance of hitting a big winner. For example, if you invest $100 in 10 different coins, and nine go to zero while one does a 100x (turning $100 into $10,000), you still get a 10x overall return. Diversification also mitigates project-specific risks.
However, spreading yourself too thin can dilute your potential gains. It’s also harder to track developments across too many projects. Most importantly, diversification only within crypto (and not other assets like stocks and commodities) might not protect you from a market-wide downturn.
Therefore, it’s generally considered ideal to identify 3-10 low-priced projects from different niches that you really believe in. Allocate more toward established projects, and less toward ultra-speculative ones. Then, periodically review and rebalance your portfolio by realizing gains and selling coins showing low potential for growth.
FAQs
What is the best cryptocurrency under $1?
If you're more interested in established cryptos, Cardano and Stellar are worth considering. If you want cryptos with more room for growth, newer projects like Kaspa could be better.
Can a cheap cryptocurrency reach $100 or more?
A few coins like BNB have gone from pennies to $100+ through massive adoption and relatively low supply. For most coins with large supplies, reaching even $1 is challenging.
Are cryptos under $1 a good investment?
They can be, but price alone doesn't determine potential. Under-$1 cryptos offer potential for large percentage gains, but include many risky ventures with higher failure rates. They’re ideal for a portion of a diversified portfolio if you've researched the fundamentals and understand the project's potential.
How do I know if a low-cost crypto is a scam?
Watch for red flags like anonymous developers, unrealistic promises of guaranteed returns, lack of working product/code, pressure tactics, negative community feedback, concentrated token distribution, and no security audits.
Where can I buy cryptos under $1?
Most established under-$1 cryptos are available on major exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and KuCoin. For newer tokens, check mid-tier exchanges like Gate.io or MEXC. Very new tokens might only be on decentralized exchanges like Uniswap or PancakeSwap.
Why are some cryptocurrencies priced so low?
This is usually due to the high token supply (billions or trillions of tokens), early project stage, low market demand, or intentional design for psychological appeal. A low price often reflects tokenomics rather than project quality.
Do low-priced cryptos have a higher risk of failure?
In general, yes. Cheap coins with a smaller market cap are typically small and new projects. They’re also vulnerable to security, regulatory, and technical risks.
What is the difference between price and market cap?
Price is how much one token costs. The market cap (price × circulating supply) is the total value of a project.
Should I buy meme coins under $1?
Meme coins can deliver exponential gains, but are highly volatile and risky—so it’s important not to give in to FOMO (fear of missing out) when making an investment decision.
How long should I hold cheap cryptocurrencies for potential gains?
This depends on your strategy, and a coin's current price performance. Short-term trades on fast-moving cryptos might last for weeks, days, or even hours—but long-term investments could require months or years of patience.
References
- Pepe Price (CoinGecko)
- Shiba Inu Price History and Prediction (CoinMarketCap Blog)
- Here’s Why Kaspa (KAS) Could Be Listed on Binance ‘Very Soon’ (CoinMarketCap Blog)
- VeChain: What It Is, How It Works, Examples, and History (Investopedia)
- “VeChain Renaissance” roadmap for 2025 (VeChain via X)
- Overview of Universal Interoperability Protocol (Entangle)
- What’s behind Dogecoin’s price surge—and why seemingly unrelated brands are capitalizing on its popularity (CNBC)
- Bybit Hit by Crypto’s Worst Hack With Almost $1.5 Billion Stolen (Bloomberg)
