We’ve all dreamed of stumbling upon the next Bitcoin (BTC-USD) and riding a little-known cryptocurrency to unbelievable gains. While stories of overnight crypto millionaires often rely more on luck than judgment, the coming years could present unique opportunities for daring investors.

I believe now is the time to start positioning ourselves to capitalize on the next wave of growth in the crypto markets. Major catalysts like Bitcoin’s upcoming halving and potential rate cuts could drive increased adoption and prices in digital assets. Rather than chasing short-term gains in established coins, we can better maximize our long-term wealth potential by identifying and investing in promising “moonshot” altcoins while they still have room to multiply our money.

I don’t promise it will be an easy ride – the crypto markets are notoriously volatile, and these altcoins could drop heavily during the bear markets. Accordingly, investing what you can afford to lose may be better than gambling away your “fun money.”

Crypto Asset Governance Alliance (CAGA-USD)

Crypto Asset Governance Alliance (CAGA-USD) operates as a community-driven Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) focused on innovation in blockchain governance, providing profitability through collaboration.

Since launching quietly in mid-November 2023, CAGA’s token price has have rocketed more than 6,000% to $0.000984. However, its current $60 million market cap remains tiny for a crypto project with ambitious decentralized governance goals. This signals substantial room for upside if CAGA gains further traction.

CAGA increased accessibility and exposure by listing on two major exchanges, Gate.io and Bitmart, in late-November 2023. This move further propelled the token’s price and popularity gains. CAGA’s newly-released 2024 roadmap also displays its commitment to meaningful community-driven utility by launching a governance platform, boosting social media and partnerships, and collaborating with other DAOs and DeFi projects.

I’m particularly excited that CAGA is preparing to unveil a community-proposed and voted “mega pool” to develop the protocol collectively and distribute rewards.

With inherent risks remain with speculating on early-stage altcoins, I believe CAGA has substantial upside potential thanks to its focus on community-based governance innovation if a new crypto bull run starts this year. There is also an airdrop underway with a total prize pool of 5 billion CAGA tokens that can spur additional excitement around this token.

Numeraire (NMR-USD)

As AI technology continues to infiltrate industries and our daily lives, the next wave of cryptos gaining traction could emerge from this red-hot sector. One unique project fusing AI and crypto investing that has caught my attention recently is Numerai.

Numerai (NMR-USD) is an Ethereum (ETH-USD)-based platform allowing developers and data scientists to experiment with and create machine learning models with improved reliability. The main goal is to bring decentralization to the data science sphere and enable developers to compete in constructing effective prediction models.

Founded in late 2015 in San Francisco, Numerai claims the mantle as the first hedge fund ever to launch a cryptocurrency. Unlike traditional funds, Numerai relies heavily on data and predictions from tournament participants to guide stock market investments. I love this project’s positioning on the cutting edge of technology, aggressively implementing machine learning and AI to refine its underlying investment strategies.

As AI hype continues growing exponentially across industries, the upside momentum for Numerai’s token, NMR, could persist if this technology spills over more into crypto investing. With potential applications like using AI algorithms to trade coins or guide staking strategies, Numerai appears well-positioned to capitalize on this trend.

While risks abound with early-stage altcoin investing, I believe projects intersecting red-hot sectors like AI with crypto have strong wealth-creation potential. Numerai and NMR present intriguing opportunities to place an early bet on this fusion while market caps remain under $150 million. The AI excitement has shown no signs of cooling off, so cryptos at this crosse-section of the market could erupt.

Meter Governance (MTRG-USD)

As decentralized finance and cross-chain interoperability emerge as hot crypto trends in 2024, Meter Governance (MTRG-USD) offers an appealing option encapsulating these features. Meter defines itself as the infrastructure scaling and connecting traditional finance to Web3 across multi-chain environments.

Its core offerings creating value include: cross-chain Interoperability (Meter Passport, the official bridge for Ampleforth, Moonbeam, Theta and more); Scalability (a Layer-1/Layer-2 Ethereum-compatible chain based on the state-of-the-art HotStuff PoS consensus used by Facebook’s Libra); and uncensorable money (MTR tokens mined by SHA256-PoW using 10 kWh of electricity). Meter believes electricity proves more stable long-term than fiat currencies when adjusted for inflation.

With decentralized finance exploding and demand for seamless cross-chain applications surging, I believe the technology powering this connectivity provides exposure to several potent crypto trends.

As with any small-cap altcoin, risks abound, especially for protocols still building out offerings. However, with a fully-diluted market cap of around $56 million, I see massive upside potential for Meter if its technology is widely-adopted during the next bull run. The DeFi project’s total locked value exceeds $60 billion, so this blockchain offers room for exponential growth if it captures more of this market.

Small, low-volume cryptos

On Low-Capitalization and Low-Volume Cryptocurrencies: InvestorPlace does not regularly publish commentary about cryptocurrencies that have a market capitalization less than $100 million or trade with volume less than $100,000 each day. That’s because these “penny cryptos” are frequently the playground for scam artists and market manipulators. When we do publish commentary on a low-volume crypto that may be affected by our commentary, we ask that InvestorPlace.com’s writers disclose this fact and warn readers of the risks.
 Read More: How to Avoid Popular Cryptocurrency Scams

On the date of publication, Omor Ibne Ehsan 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.