Under-the-radar cryptos are among the best assets to bet on if you wish for triple-digit or even quadruple-digit returns in a short timeframe. Of course, they are on the extreme end of speculative investments, and the average person should never put a meaningful amount of money into such startup crypto projects.

However, putting a few tens into some key projects with promising fundamentals is always a good idea. Low-cap cryptos are overlooked and often under-appreciated but can deliver exceptional gains when the market rallies. Solana (SOL-USD) is one recent example, as it was a big winner in the 2021 rally.

I believe the next crypto rally is due sometime in 2024 due to the Bitcoin (BTC-USD) halving overlapping with the Federal Reserve’s rate cuts. Here are under-the-radar cryptos to buy before that happens:

Axelar (AXL)

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Axelar (AXL-USD) is a cross-chain communication protocol that enables decentralized applications (dApps) to interact with any asset or application on any chain with one click. Axelar aims to solve the interoperability problem that plagues the Web 3.0 ecosystem by providing a decentralized network and tools to help dApp builders with seamless cross-chain communication through its protocol suite, tools and APIs.

This project has integrated with over 36 blockchains, including Ethereum (ETH-USD), Binance (BNB-USD), Avalanche (AVAX-USD), Polygon (MATIC-USD), Fantom (FTM-USD), Harmony (ONE-USD) and Arbitrum (ARB-USD). It has also partnered with several projects such as Chainlink (LINK-USD), The Graph (GRT-USD), Thorchain (RUNE-USD) and Injective Protocol (INJ-USD). Axelar has received funding from prominent investors such as Binance Labs, Coinbase Ventures, Dragonfly Capital, Galaxy Digital and Polychain Capital. Simply put, it has a very impressive list of partnerships under its belt.

With that in mind, I believe Axelar has a lot of potential to become a leading interoperability solution in the Web 3.0 space. It is still relatively undervalued compared to other interoperability projects. If Axelar can continue to expand its network and attract more users and developers, it could see significant growth in the next crypto rally.

Synapse (SYN)

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Synapse (SYN-USD) is another interoperability protocol allowing users to transfer and swap their assets across many different chains, including layer 1, 2 and sidechain ecosystems. Synapse uses a stableswap algorithm to ensure low slippage, optimal liquidity pool balances and fair transaction prices. With a market cap of $94 million, it ranks 200 on CoinMarketCap. Not too shabby in terms of upside potential.

Synapse supports multiple EVM-compatible blockchains and is integrated with nearly 18 chains. It also has features that other cross-chain solutions cannot duplicate. For example, Synapse supports general message passing (GMP), which allows applications to compose functions across ecosystems; one-time cross-chain deposit addresses that allow dApps to onboard any token with UX comparable to centralized exchanges; and Synapse Chain, an Ethereum-based optimistic rollup designed for cross-chain use cases.

Of course, it is still relatively new in the market and remains in the testnet phase. The mainnet launch could happen sometime in 2023, and I expect further price appreciation from there.

Aleph Zero (AZERO)

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Aleph Zero (AZERO-USD) is a layer-1 blockchain platform that aims to offer fast, scalable, secure and decentralized solutions for Web 3.0 applications. The cryptocurrency claims to be the first blockchain to achieve sub-second finality, meaning that transactions are confirmed and irreversible within less than a second.

Aleph Zero has several features that make it an attractive platform for Web 3.0 applications. For example, Aleph Zero uses a novel consensus algorithm called AlephBFT, which allows it to process over 100,000 transactions per second (TPS) with sub-second finality and low energy consumption. Aleph Zero also supports smart contracts, interoperability, privacy and zero-knowledge proofs.

The amount of utility offered here is very hard to ignore, but I would note one big caveat. It uses a model similar to Tron (TRX-USD), where it has a system similar to Tron’s “super representatives.” We are looking at just 125 “era validators” for the whole network with just under 8,000 nominators. That’s much less than Ethereum’s nearly 800,000-strong validator count (still growing rapidly!). It is a solid buy among under-the-radar cryptos if you can digest that centralization risk.

On the date of publication, Omor Ibne Ehsan 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.