Over the past few years, it’s been tough to figure out which cryptos to buy. The crypto market has seen its fair share of high highs and low lows since the tail-end of last year.

The markets have taken a beating, with many of the most popular cryptos to buy tanking to historical lows. Nevertheless, there has been a resurgence of sorts in the last few weeks, suggesting that the markets have probably found a floor.

The crypto winter has gone on far too long and obliterated most of the best cryptos to buy are expected to soar to new heights following an incredible 2021. In the past couple of months, we have seen jumps in value for two of the leading cryptocurrencies, with the market inching its way back above the $1 trillion mark.

Moreover, JPMorgan analyst Kenneth Worthington also said, “It appears that the crypto markets have found a floor despite trading volumes still being depressed.” Hence, it’s an ideal time to pounce and add the best cryptos to buy to your portfolio.

BTC-USD	Bitcoin	$19,722.70
ETH-USD	Ethereum	$1,493.28
MATIC-USD	Polygon	$0.80
ADA-USD	Cardano	$0.44
MANA-USD	Decentraland	$0.76
SOL-USD	Solana	$31.05
DOT-USD	Polkadot	$6.95

Bitcoin (BTC)

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) is always one of the best cryptos to buy. It moves the needle for the crypto markets and remains the most popular digital asset.

It was created on the heels of the last financial recession and quickly became the most popular digital store of value. The pandemic years brought about step-changes for BTC and its peers, who saw truckloads of cash being poured into the market from institutional investors.

BTC gained over 500% from 2020 to 2021, but the opposite has transpired so far this year.

Nevertheless, crypto markets have been moving somewhat positively in the past few months. Moreover, institutional investors seem to be back in the game and looking to take the market by storm again.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, recently announced rolling out a new Bitcoin trust. Moreover, BTC should continue to benefit from its growing ecosystem supported by some of the largest payment platforms, crypto exchanges and fintech players.

Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum (ETH-USD)  is the top digital asset in terms of real-world utility. It continues to gain traction over Bitcoin with its laundry list of use cases, making it one of the best cryptos to buy for the long term.

ETH’s infrastructure has effectively set it up for long-term growth. It has established itself as a juggernaut in the non-fungible token (NFT) and decentralized finance (DeFi) markets. The sky is the limit regarding its long-term growth as more developers jump onto the platform.

Perhaps the most talked about event in ETH’s incredible history is “The Merge.” It’s expected to be rolled out in the second week of September and comes with game-changing implications.

The transition to a proof of stake (PoS) protocol could result in transaction speeds close to 100,000. Moreover, the network may require 99.95% less energy than its current protocol. Hence, if you’re looking for anything close to being a secure investment in crypto, ETH is probably it.

Polygon (MATIC)

Polygon (MATIC-USD) is an Ethereum-scaling solution that is piggybacking on the enthusiasm surrounding the ground-breaking ETH update.

However, MATIC’s bull case doesn’t hinge primarily on ETH 2.0. It was recently added to Disney’s Accelerator program for 2022, where the company is looking for new ways to integrate the coin into its newer projects. Hence, it is likely to have a promising future ahead.

Polygon essentially makes everything on ETH run more efficiently and cost-effectively. This makes it one of the best cryptos to buy for utility.

It effectively reduces the load on the blockchain by significantly improving speeds and reducing transaction costs. Therefore, any innovation that improves MATIC’s ability to scale should gain plenty of attention.

Additionally, the Polygon platform rolled out zkEVM, a technology that could potentially “roll up” thousands of transactions simultaneously.

Cardano (ADA)

Cardano (ADA-USD)  is another popular crypto that broke through the top major cryptos to buy in terms of market cap in just a five-year span.

It utilizes a PoS system and differs from its peers in its unique development process based on academic research. Consequently, over 1,000 different applications are running on the platform, and quickly gaining market share from its competition.

It has proven to have massive real-world utility in NFT, enterprise solutions, security solutions, and other profitable crypto areas.

Each of the five stages in its roadmap has focused on improving a key network feature. Its current phase, Basho, focuses on refining its scalability and interoperability processes.

The next phase will involve the improvement of its governance structure. Moreover, it recently added a layer 2 solution called Hydra on top of its primary network, which could potentially process an unbelievable one million transactions per second.

Decentraland (MANA)

Decentraland (MANA-USD)  is essentially a virtual world that its users own, making it one of the more interesting cryptos to buy for the metaverse.

Users can buy virtual real estate on the platform and purchase Decentraland’s MANA tokens to enhance their experiences. Moreover, there are over 250,000 monthly active users on the platform, which was growing at a healthy pace up until the crypto winter.

Virtual land prices soared last year, boating MANA’s price to new heights. A piece of virtual real estate last year on the platform sold for a whopping $2.4 million.

However, all that has changed dramatically in the crypto winter, with sales growing by a measly 0.97% in July. Nevertheless, it presents a long-term opportunity to scoop up properties at a massive bargain.

According to a study conducted by Brandessence market research, the virtual real-estate market could grow by a remarkable 31.2% from 2022 to 2028.

Solana (SOL)

Solana (SOL-USD)  is another of the popular cryptos to buy that shot to the moon last year.

It’s one of the top so-called Ethereum killers for a good reason. Its PoS and proof of history protocols effectively streamline the validation process for transactions on the blockchain. It can process close to 50,000 transactions per second at a minimal cost. Its speed and low fees make it one of the top picks in the crypto space.

Consequently, SOL has been giving ETH a run for its money in the NFT and DeFi space. For instance, SOL surpassed ETH in NFT transactions in a particular week in July.

Solana’s governing body also launched Solana Pay, a service that effectively bypasses the traditional hegemony of credit card companies and directly links with clients. Its potential remains massive, and if developers can boost the platform’s security, it could be at a significantly quicker pace.

Polkadot (DOT)

Polkadot (DOT-USD) is essentially an ecosystem of blockchains that utilizes sidechains to increase network capacity while the central chain provides security for its network.

DOT soared to incredible heights during the pandemic but has lost a ton of value since then. Nevertheless, the promise of a network that can process one million transactions per second is too big to pass up.

DOT’s bull-case hinges on the proliferation of the Web3 concept. With Web3, users will have more and the ability to monetize their content more efficiently than the current Web2 system.

Moreover, the next-generation functionality that’s needed for the phenomena to work will need blockchains. The network’s co-founder in, Gavin Wood, envisions DOT to be the beating heart of the Web3 vision. If that turns out to be the case, Polkadot could make a lot of people richer.

Disclosure: On the date of publication, Muslim Farooque held a LONG position in SOLANA AND ETHEREUM. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines