Cryptocurrency investors are on high alert this week. The asset class is being rocked by some outside factors. Now Bitcoin’s (CCC:BTC-USD) flash crash this past weekend is reminding crypto bulls why you can’t always expect big gains. But with the market largely trending downward, there’s now also a chance to snatch up cryptos to buy at a discount.
Just a handful of weeks ago, BTC hit an all-time high of around $68,000. The moment was one of celebration, as it was evident that Bitcoin could shake off the adversity it faced beginning in the spring which resulted in major losses. However, that bullish attitude is wavering slightly once again as the crypto takes another dip. Over the weekend, Bitcoin prices dropped briefly below $50,000.
This drop in value can be largely attributed to the Covid-19 economy. The Federal Reserve is pursuing tapering down on its rampant buying of assets — and fast. Chairman Jerome Powell has made it known that the Fed will reduce its buying by half.
Indeed, this shopping spree — which has taken place since the start of the novel coronavirus in the U.S. — made the market ripe for buying speculative assets. This is what has incentivized investors to tend toward cryptocurrencies. But the tapering is now making crypto a less appealing investment. Because of that, store-of-value tokens like Bitcoin have been hit the hardest. These cryptos are what people had poured into to hedge against inflation.
So, in the wake of this correction, what are the best cryptos to counter the crash? Well, utility now rains supreme. Here are some cryptos to buy in the aftermath of Bitcoin’s recent fall.
Cryptos to Buy After Bitcoin’s Crash: Terra (LUNA)
If you’re investing in cryptocurrency after Bitcoin crashed, consider something with a little more utility. Sure, Bitcoin’s Lightning Network exists and enables peer-to-peer transactions, but it’s still not something typically transacted. Thus, most buy BTC simply to hold and watch grow. These assets are hindered by the Fed’s coming tapering actions, but if a crypto has a really great model to it, it isn’t hampered in the same way that a store-of-value play is. Terra’s LUNA coin is a prime example of one of the cryptos to buy with great utility — perfect for withstanding these bearish corrections.
Terra is a stablecoin ecosystem. It consists of both LUNA and a stablecoin called UST which is pegged at $1. Both coins have a liquid circulating supply and they can be converted into one another through an arbitrage process which allows users to passively earn. When the price peg of UST is above $1, LUNA holders can convert their LUNA to UST to inflate the UST supply and drop the price back to its peg. They then pocket the profit. If the price dips below $1, UST holders can convert UST to LUNA to reduce the supply and pocket a profit.
The LUNA crypto has quickly grown over the last couple of months. Since the beginning of October, LUNA prices have gained over 70%. This is thanks in large part to a number of updates that have taken shape on the Terra network in that time span. Most recently, the LUNA community passed a proposal to burn LUNA tokens and remove them permanently from the supply; this act is one of the key factors driving prices up.
As it continues to roll out new updates, this name is making the network more robust and inviting further gains. That makes LUNA a crypto to watch.
Polkadot Becomes Sought After Play in the Wake of Web 3.0 Popularity
If you’re looking for cryptos to buy for their future prospects, there are few better than Polkadot. Polkadot’s DOT coin is a savvy play for those seeking out leaders in the coming Web 3.0 wave. The network has the backing of the Web3 Foundation and its model presents one of the most accessible ways in which blockchain will usher in the next era of the internet.
Blockchain buffs think Web 3.0 is the next step of the internet. Web 2.0 came about in the late 1990s thanks to companies like Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL), who helped to create a more interconnected internet. Others like Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:FB) and Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) took this connectivity even further with social media. But somewhere along the way, Web 3.0 bulls feel like the end user lost their power. Now, they are subject to rules and regulations enforced by corporations who have say over nearly every facet of the web.
Web 3.0 will take that power back through decentralization. Users will be able to hop from platform to platform and do whatever it is they want without having to adhere to some tech monolith’s rules or sacrifice privacy or security. Polkadot is one such avenue through which developers can achieve these goals.
Polkadot aims to be the centerpiece of a decentralized internet. It consists of 100 parachains, each with its own dedicated projects. Users can also very quickly bridge assets and data from chain to chain. Additionally, users get to decide which projects get their own parachain through a fair auction process.
As one of the largest cryptocurrency plays, Polkadot stands to be a leader in Web 3.0. Its recent gains evidence that. The DOT coin has grown nearly 250% year-to-date (YTD). It can be expected to continue these gains as we get closer to the Web 3.0 era.
Cryptos to Buy After Bitcoin’s Crash: Polygon (MATIC)
Polygon is a scaling play that has come into huge popularity throughout 2021. Much of this popularity is thanks to the massive influx of users that blockchain networks are seeing. These users are a great addition to the asset class, as they help to grow the ubiquity of blockchain. However, they also have lead to more transactions occurring on these chains. This leads to higher transaction fees as validators require more energy to deal with the pipeline of incoming transactions.
The Polygon network seeks to alleviate the concerns of high gas fees and scalability through the increasingly utilized layer 2 solution. With Polygon, users can utilize side chains to conduct transactions while avoiding higher fees. The network’s popularity comes largely from its Ethereum (CCC:ETH-USD) sidechain. The sidechain operates using a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism and it currently hosts dozens of applications.
Polygon is an interesting crypto play right now because it is seemingly immune to the market corrections that crypto has been facing recently. On days where nearly every cryptocurrency is trading in the red, Polygon will be posting gains. This ties to the many upgrades and deals that Polygon is seeing; it’s employing a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO), growing very quickly in active users and continuing to attract blockchain projects to the platform.
All in all, MATIC is showing the biggest gains of the year among the three cryptos to buy on this list. Since January, the coin has gained over 14,000% YTD.
On the date of publication, Brenden Rearick did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
