C-Trade’s List of the Best Cryptocurrency to Invest In 2022

Does more mean better? Not always. At times, more can overwhelm you, especially with hundreds of crypto tokens launching every day. Many of these tokens will lose relevance in the next few years, and some of them will continue to grow in value. So, which is the best cryptocurrency to invest in, in 2022?

To help you with your decision, we, at C-Trade, conducted a SWOT analysis for each cryptocurrency we think you should invest in, in 2022. We chose these cryptocurrencies based on their roadmaps, current adoption rate, the strength of the projects backing these currencies and more factors.

Some of these coins are below 10 USD so that anyone can buy them. We haven’t included BTC and ETH deliberately in our list because everyone invests in these classic coins. This list looks beyond general knowledge and includes cryptocurrencies that are disrupting the space and are crucial to the evolution of DeFi.

Read our detailed guide on cryptocurrency investment for 2022.

Cardano (ADA)

Cardano is a blockchain network that is solving scalability issues, the primary problem plaguing the blockchain industry. High gas fees, due to low scalability, is contradictory to the ideology of blockchain technology in making global transactions seamless and cost-efficient. Projects like Cardano are the missing links between the ideology and the technology behind it which make them indispensable.

Cardano’s native token ADA which was about USD 1 at the time of writing has grown by 50 times since its launch. Caradno’s ADA is one of the best cryptocurrencies to invest in, in 2022, because it fuels a project considered as one of the Ethereum killers. A few factors that make ADA in association with Cardano a game-changing crypto asset are as follows:

• It belongs to the class of the third-generation cryptocurrencies that are far more scalable, supporting 1 million transactions per second.
  
• According to Investopedia’s report, Cardano’s aim is to create side chains to enable seamless transactions between cryptocurrencies and the existing global financial system and between cryptocurrencies across different blockchains.
• Cardano is far more energy-efficient than Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Polygon (MATIC)

Polygon is a layer-2 scaling solution of Ethereum. It goes without saying that Ethereum has created an entire ecosystem for DeFi to evolve. The only sore spot it is currently suffering from is sustainability to which Polygon has presented the most efficient answer. If you want to use a dynamic Ethereum Dapp like OpenSea, for example, but don’t want to pay the high gas fees, you can choose Polygon as the mainnet to complete your transaction at a lower cost.

Polygon strikes the balance between Ethereum’s large-scale usability in the DeFi space and cost-efficiency.  At the time of writing Polygon’s native token MATIC was trading at USD 1.61. Last year the price of MATIC rose from USD 0.01 to USD 2.92. Considering Polygon’s noteworthy roadmap which includes enhancing the interoperability between Ethereum and other blockchains and the large-scale adoption of Web3 apps, analysts are positive about MATIC’s growth.

According to GovCapital, Polygon’s price will hover around USD 4 by the end of 2022 and by 2027, the average estimate for Polygon is going to be approximately USD 9; all the more reason for you to buy this crypto right now in 2022.

Polkadot (DOT)

Trading at USD 17.59 at the time of writing, Polkadot is one of the most complex and radical projects at the moment, attempting to disrupt the way cryptocurrencies interact across blockchains. So, currently there’s no way for cryptocurrencies of one blockchain to work on another blockchain. For instance, one cannot directly use their BTC to pay for a service on the Ethereum blockchain. Therefore, the usual workaround is converting existing tokens to wrapped tokens that the target blockchain can interact with. Every conversion incurs an extra transaction cost and everyone (especially newcomers) may not be comfortable with a circuitous process.

Polkadot removes wrapped tokens from the equation. It introduces a relay chain where different blockchains can be hosted and made to communicate with each other. Polkadot’s DOT token acts as the bridge that handles transactions across blockchains while looking after their security.

Polkadot adoption among current DeFi projects is gradually building momentum. For instance, Gamestar Exchange is a DEX for gift cards built on Polkadot to provide an efficient, safe and profitable platform for global digital asset enthusiasts. Since its launch in 2020, the DOT token has grown by almost 564% from USD 2.93 to USD 19.49 as of the beginning of February. DOT token will see unprecedented growth in the coming days having the potential to change the way cryptocurrencies are managed making it one of the best cryptocurrencies to invest in 2022.

Solana (SOL)

Currently trading at USD 95.52, Solana is another Ethereum killer solving scalability issues. By design, Solana can process 1 million transactions for roughly $10. Typically, you don’t have to spend more than 0.000005 SOL, i.e., $0.001, to make a transaction using Solana.

The throughput rate of Solana is higher than other blockchains owing to its implementation of the Proof-of-History mechanism. This can solve the issue of slow integration of price oracles too, which is currently plaguing the Ethereum network.

The SOL token is key to the sustainability of the blockchain as it is used to pay for network and smart contracts related fees. Other than that, it enables Solana’s Proof of Stake consensus mechanism. When it launched in 2020, SOL’s price started at $0.77. By Feb. 1, 2022, its price was around $100, a gain of almost 13,000%.

Developed to help enhance decentralized finance (DeFi) uses, decentralized apps (DApps) and smart contracts, Solana has a long run ahead of it and makes it one of the best cryptocurrencies to buy in 2022.

Binance (BNB)

Binance is currently the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange. Its native token BNB is not only used to trade and pay fees on Binance,  it also empowers Dapps built on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC). BSC is another widely-used blockchain enabling a higher number of transactions, thereby, reducing gas fees significantly.

Since its launch in 2017, the use cases of BNB have expanded beyond the crypto verse. In the real world BNB is used as a payment method and many real-world services are accepting BNB. Its price in 2017 was just $0.10; by Oct. 29, 2021, it rose to over $530, a gain of more than 530,000%. Currently trading at USD 390.77, BNB is an important cryptocurrency to hold in 2022 and beyond as its status would soon reach those of classic cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH.

Tether (USDT)

A cryptocurrency portfolio without stablecoins is like a door without a handle. Stablecoins are pegged to the values of fiat currencies like USD or Euro. So, their values remain stable unlike other cryptocurrencies. This means, in order to preserve the value of your cryptocurrency gains, you must convert them to stablecoins. Among stablecoins, USDT is the one that is the most popular and widely used. Therefore, deploying them anywhere is never an issue and this is one stablecoin that is here to stay. Do include Tether in your 2022 cryptocurrency investment portfolio. Some benefits of using Tether includes:

• Trading
• Borrowing
• Reducing Transaction cost
• Lending out and earning interest

Image Source: Go Banking Rates

Final Thoughts

Quantity is not always the key and everything is to be consumed with a grain of salt. A hype around a new coin doesn’t necessarily make it the best crypto to invest in. Take, for instance, the Squid Game token whose value shot up in two weeks only to turn out to be the product of a rug pull scam. Likewise, a portfolio made up of 10 tokens with a 100x yearly growth is better than a portfolio made up of 100 tokens, half of which may go kaput.  It’s important to weigh all options and build a solid portfolio that would continue to earn you returns for the next 10-20 years. So, choose small, but select the best.

Consider a project’s timeline before buying a token. Ask questions like whether a particular cryptocurrency has enough room to grow or has it reached a point of saturation? This means a cryptocurrency that would have made a great addition to your portfolio in 2015 may have lost some of its allure in 2022. It could be that a coin that launched in 2012 has covered a lot of ground and does not exhibit much growth possibility from here on. Therefore, when you look for the best cryptocurrencies to invest in in 2022, make sure your investment decision strikes the balance between time, roadmap ahead, feature updates in the next quarters and most importantly, product-market fit.

C-Trade is a crypto derivatives exchange offering Bitcoin perpetuals with up to 150x leverage. It also supports derivatives trading for Ethereum and XRP. One of the most standout feature of C-Trade Exchange is that it can handle up to ten million transactions per second. In addition, it uses machine learning to detect market manipulation to help secure your investments.

Disclaimer: The content in this article comprises personal opinions and should not be construed as containing personal and/or other investment advice and/or an offer of and/or solicitation for any transactions in financial instruments and/or a guarantee and/or prediction of future performance. C-Trade, its affiliates, agents, directors, officers, or employees do not guarantee the accuracy, validity, timeliness or completeness of any information or data made available and assume no liability as to any loss arising from any investment based on the same.