Cryptocurrencies have been in a slump lately, especially as the Russian war against Ukraine has spooked the markets. One consequence of the war is that inflation, already high, has new fuel to keep spiraling upward. That also makes many of them cheap cryptos now.
This article will discuss seven undervalued cryptos to buy before they move higher after the war ends. These cryptos could keep on moving lower, but they seem to be of good value now. As a result, investors can take advantage of these cheap prices and buy more if the prices keep dropping.
These cryptos also have very large market capitalizations as measured by Coinmarketcap.com. They range from $800 billion for Bitcoin (BTC-USD) down to $16 billion for Dogecoin (DOGE-USD).
The list of cheap cryptos is:
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum (ETH-USD)
- Cardano (ADA-USD)
- Solana (SOL-USD)
- Avalanche (AVAX-USD)
- Polkadot (DOT-USD)
- Dogecoin
Cheap Cryptos: Bitcoin (BTC-USD)
Market Cap: $803 billion
As of Monday, March 9, Bitcoin, the largest crypto, is sitting around $42,350 — seemingly making a return to former glory. That puts it down 9% year-to-date-from $47,687 where it ended 2021. While it is beginning to retrace its steps, it’s still down significantly from where it was.
Analysts are still very positive on Bitcoin’s upside too, including Steve Wozniak, one of the original co-founders of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). He likes the fact that it “can’t be modified easily with humans in control of it,” unlike the U.S. dollar.
Some analysts are even arguing that the Russian war against Ukraine is going to be good for Bitcoin. Barron’s magazine recently wrote, “Why War and Sanctions Are Good For Bitcoin,” an opinion piece by Daren Fonda. He quotes analysts that say that Bitcoin’s lack of control by any government, plus its unique technology and creation methodology set it apart from other currencies.
However other analysts are concerned about its volatility. Initially, Bitcoin moved higher with the Ukraine invasion. But its move down on Monday, March 7 showed that this is still one of the cheap cryptos that offer opportunities for investors now.
One advantage of the sanctions is that some believe that Russians are now having difficulty accessing Bitcoin. So, despite the collapse in the ruble, the sanctions are preventing a flight to safety, so-to-speak, in Bitcoin. This accomplishes the goal of secluding elites in Russia.
Ethereum (ETH-USD)
Market Cap: $328 billion
Ethereum has had a rough start to the year, as it is down 27% from $3,728 at the end of 2021 to $2,738 as of March 9. That is almost twice as bad as the 18.5% decline in Bitcoin (see above).
I don’t think this is because people have less optimism in Ethereum than Bitcoin. Historically Ethereum has tended to have a more volatile ride than Bitcoin. This might just be due to the fact that its market cap is a little less than half the size of Bitcoin.
Ethereum plans on moving to a non-mining operation sometime during 2022, although the date is not yet set. That will allow people to confirm their Ethereum transactions without having to mine Ethereum. The prospect of this might be helping to lower the traditionally high Ethereum processing fees recently.
Recently, Decrypt magazine wrote that there are “signs that Ethereum’s high-gas-fee woes may be abating.” This has long been a source of frustration to many users. If this begins to happen, that will definitely act as a catalyst for Ethereum’s price.
As a result, now might be a good time to take advantage of Ethereum’s price. It is clearly one of the cheap cryptos that could move higher.
Cardano (ADA-USD)
Market Cap: $28.4 billion
Cardano is the eighth largest cryptocurrency at $30 billion, but its price is now well below $1.00 at $0.84 as of March 9. However, this is clearly one of the cheap cryptos as its price is now down 39% year-to-date (YTD). It closed last year around $1.31, but at 80 cents, the depreciation is pretty dramatic.
I recently wrote that despite Cardano’s recent slump, it could turn around quickly when the market starts to move. Cardano is a proof-of-stake cryptocurrency — it does not use crypto mining to validate crypto transactions, like Bitcoin and Ethereum. It is the largest proof-of-stake crypto now and it is seen as a viable alternative to Ethereum.
Its competitive ability relates to its ability to process smart contracts, other related types of decentralized applications (Dapps), and decentralized finance (Defi) contracts.
Cardano allowed smart contracts to be processed on its platform starting in September 2021. This upgrade initially helped to push the ADA crypto to its peak. But since then ADA crypto has been hit by the market downturn and moved down further than both Bitcoin and Ethereum.
As a result, this makes it one of the cheap cryptos that could rebound significantly when the market turns.
Solana (SOL-USD)
Market Cap: $28.3 billion
Solana skyrocketed last year and it became one of the top-performing cryptos for the year. However, so far this year it’s down to $87.80 as of March 9.
That is well off of its peak of $258.93 on Nov. 5, and also represents a drop of 48% from $178.52 where it ended 2021. That is a huge drop, even greater than the other cryptos above (Bitcoin, Ethereum and Cardano), even though it is still the 9th largest crypto, according to Coinmarketcap.
Solana is an extremely popular competitor to Ethereum to dominate smart contracts, decentralized finance (DeFi) apps and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). It is also designed to facilitate the creation of decentralized apps (dApps).
I recently wrote how Solana has been moving into the wallet space, based on a collaboration between Solana Labs and Web3Auth. This will eliminate technical obstacles for consumers to set up wallets and move into the DeFi space. It could help push SOL crypto higher, especially when the markets start to turn around.
Avalanche (AVAX-USD)
Market Cap: $19.3 billion
Avalanche is the 10th largest cryptocurrency, according to Coinmarketcap.com, given its $20.8 billion market capitalization. However, just like the other major cryptos, it is down significantly YTD.
For example, AVAX crypto ended last year at $114.16 per token, but as of March 9, it trades for $78.39. This gives it a YTD loss of 28%, which is not as bad as Cardano and Solana, and more or less equivalent to the performance of Ethereum.
Like Cardano and Solana, Avalanche is an Ethereum competitor. Its platform is designed to build decentralized applications and custom blockchain networks based on its unique architecture.
It has three blockchains: the X-Chain, C-Chain and P-Chain. Each chain has a distinct purpose, with all nodes validating all transactions. Avalanche blockchains even use different consensus mechanisms based on their use cases.
So far Avalanche is slowly gaining popularity. As I wrote recently, this is because its unique architecture gives it flexibility and speed. For example, According to ZyCrypto, Avalanche boasts a rapid 4,500 transactions per second output rate.
This compares to 15 transactions per second for Ethereum. Although this is slower than Solana, it still shows that Avalanche can help companies that need a large, scaling solution to handle many transactions at fast speeds.
This is one reason why Avalanche can be seen as one of the cheap cryptos that could rebound significantly once the markets turn.
Cheap Cryptos: Polkadot (DOT-USD)
Market Cap: $17.5 billion
Polkadot is the 12th largest cryptocurrency according to Coinmarketcap.com, with its $17.5 billion market value. However, unfortunately, DOT crypto is now down to $17.78 per DOT token. This puts it down 33.4% YTD from its price of $28.58 at the end of 2021.
Polkadot is known as a layer-0 blockchain because it underlies a network of layer 1 blockchains known as parachains (parallel chains). A number of these parachains have started to launch on the Polkadot blockchain platform.
Recent news is that the Ukrainian government has started accepting Polkdot donations from crypto investors. Reports are that the Ukrainians have already received $5 million in Polkadot donations from the founder of Polkadot, Gavin Wood. This is one indication of the popularity of the Polkadot chain, as the government published its Polkadot wallet address. In fact, as of March, donations from all cryptos reached $50 million.
Once the war ends, investors will likely go back to investing in Polkadot again as more and more parachains launch on the Polkadot platform.
Cheap Cryptos: Dogecoin (DOGE-USD)
Market Cap: $16.3 billion
Dogecoin, originally known as a meme crypto, is now being taken more seriously as a means of transaction payment throughout the world. It is now the 13th largest crypto with a $16.3 billion market cap.
As of March 9, the Dogecoin price was sitting around 12.3 cents, which is down from 17.17 cents at the end of the year. That means it is down 28% YTD.
I have written in the past about the growing number of companies that accept it as a payment mechanism. This includes companies like Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC), and The Dallas Mavericks. Other merchants accepting Dogecoin are on Sofi Learn.
As a result, Dogecoin has slowly been gaining respectability and novelty as a means of payment, including donations to Ukraine. However, as I wrote recently, investors and donors should be leery of scam sites and fake wallet addresses for Dogecoin donations to Ukraine.
Nevertheless, Dogecoin is not down as much like many other larger cryptos on this list on a YTD basis. This may be a testimony to its appeal, but also makes it one of the cheap cryptos. Investors in cryptocurrencies may want to take advantage of its bargain price now.
On the date of publication, Mark Hake did not hold (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.
