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10+ Best Altcoins to Buy: Top Altcoins to Invest in 2023

09/29/2023
Bitcoin Ethereum News

Finding the best altcoins to buy can be a difference maker between enjoying a strong portfolio performance and holding “bags” in the red zone. However, given the abundance of new altcoins to invest in and a plethora of established projects, making a selection of the best altcoins for 2023 can be quite challenging.

In addition, poor macroeconomic conditions are adding further downside pressure on crypto prices, and the negative market climate will most likely persevere throughout 2023.

With the crypto winter and the general negative market trend in mind, we’ve put together a list of the best altcoins to buy in 2023, which features a combination of established crypto staples, newcomers to the space, and a few smaller market-cap currencies with strong upside potential.

Here’s our list of the best altcoins to buy in 2023:

  1. Ethereum – The best altcoin to invest in 2023
  2. BNB – The top challenger to Ethereum’s DeFi supremacy
  3. Aptos – A cutting-edge layer 1 capable of reaching 160,000 TPS
  4. Optimism – A leading layer 2 solution for Ethereum
  5. Shiba Inu – One of the best memecoin projects
  6. Polkadot – The best parachain ecosystem
  7. Mina Protocol – The world’s lightest blockchain
  8. Arweave – The most advanced distributed storage altcoin project
  9. Celo – The best mobile-first DeFi platform
  10. Cosmos – Building the “Internet of Blockchains” powered by ATOM
  11. Lido DAO Token – The leading liquid staking protocol for Ethereum, Polygon, and others
  12. Osmosis – An innovative DEX project with superfluid staking

10+ Best Altcoins to Buy: Examining the best and new altcoins to invest in 2023

The following selection includes a number of top altcoins that hold promise for robust market performance in 2023. They range from the biggest crypto assets in the industry to lesser-known projects, so there is a very decent chance you’ll find a project that’s right for you.

1. Ethereum – The best altcoin to invest in 2023

Starting any list of best altcoins to buy without including Ethereum (ETH) is impossible. The second largest crypto by market cap and by far the largest decentralized finance (DeFi) platform in the space is easily one of the best altcoins to buy right now. With the successful transition to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism in September 2022, the network became over 99.9% more energy efficient and set the stage for upcoming scalability improvements that are set to boost Ethereum’s transaction per second (TPS) count from today’s 15 to 100,000 in the future.

Launched in 2015, after a 2013 whitepaper published by its co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum is the leading smart contract platform in the industry, accounting for a nearly six times larger total value locked (TVL) as the second-placed TRON ($23.4 billion compared to $4.19 billion, per DeFiLlama). For the time being, Ethereum seems to be retaining the upper hand over Cardano, Solana, and other “Ethereum killers”.

Why is Ethereum a good altcoin to buy in 2023?

Ethereum's growth prospects make it one of the best altcoins to buy in 2023

Ethereum’s projected investment growth over 5 years, with an initial investment of $1,000 and a monthly contribution of $100. For more details, visit our Ethereum profit calculator.

Ethereum is the backbone for thousands of crypto projects that depend on its blockchain. From popular decentralized exchanges (DEXs) like Uniswap and dYdX to a number of liquid staking services and numerous digital assets living on the Ethereum blockchain, including NFTs, the crypto space as we know it today wouldn’t exist without Ethereum. Ultimately, an investment in ETH is a bet on the long-term success of the crypto industry.

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2. BNB – The top challenger to Ethereum’s DeFi supremacy

BNB is the native asset of BNB Chain, the third-largest cryptocurrency ecosystem in terms of decentralized applications (dApps) deployed and third in terms of TVL, with over $3.3 billion as of September 2023. Moreover, BNB is the native asset of Binance, a digital assets trading platform that accounts for 70% of all crypto trading volume, according to some reports. BNB enables Binance users to pay less on trading fees and unlocks several perks, like eligibility for Launchpad and Launchpool projects, crypto credit card cashback, and more.

In 2023, BNB Chain reached several major milestones – it surpassed Ethereum in terms of unique addresses with 390 million (compared to 243 million for Ethereum). In addition, it reached a yearly high transaction number of 5.3 million in May and a daily user peak of 1.37 million in that same month. Interestingly, these milestones came amid a prolonged crypto winter, which indicates that the crypto could see even more substantial growth when opportune market conditions arise.

Why is BNB a good altcoin to buy in 2023?

BNB Chain's development make BNB one of the best altcoins to buy in 2023

The BNB Chain team is well on its way to reaching most of the roadmap goals set out for 2023. Source

The impressive user metrics are a result of community growth and blockchain developments that have taken place in the past couple of months. BNB Sidechain, zkBNB, Binance Oracle, and AvengerDAO security initiative are just some of the developments that have enhanced the BNB-powered network in 2022. In 2023, the BNB Chain team launched opBNB, a layer 2 solution based on Optimism that further reduces fees and transaction processing times. Going forward, we could easily see BNB’s strong growth momentum starting to be reflected in the markets.

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3. Aptos – A cutting-edge layer 1 capable of reaching 160,000 TPS

Aptos (APT) is a cutting-edge project that is developing a highly scalable and secure layer 1 blockchain platform. The Aptos platform utilizes a modular approach, with different aspects of transaction processing, such as metadata ordering, transaction execution, and batch storage, being processed at the same time. After several incentivized testnets, the Aptos mainnet finally launched in October 2022.

The team behind Aptos previously worked on Diem, the blockchain stablecoin project initiated by Facebook in 2019, but was later abandoned due to regulatory concerns. The Aptos platform utilizes Move, a security-oriented programming language for smart contracts, which enables decentralized application developers to avoid common pitfalls of current-generation smart contract languages.

Why is Aptos a good altcoin to buy in 2023?

The Aptos team is striving to create the most efficient and scalable layer 1 in the crypto space, capable of onboarding billions of users to Web3. The team has attracted interest from some of the biggest investors in crypto, with the likes of Binance Labs and Jump Crypto investing a total of $350 million in the project. This gives the team considerable leeway and makes them capable of withstanding harsh market conditions while continuing to build and optimize their platform. Recently, Aptos managed to secure high-profile partnerships with industry giants Microsoft and NBCUniversal.

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4. Optimism – A leading layer 2 solution for Ethereum

Optimism is a layer 2 solution for Ethereum that leverages the so-called Optimistic Rollups technology (hence the name) to move a large majority of transaction and computation data off the layer 1 blockchain. This frees up the main chain and allows for cheaper and faster operations, unlocking more opportunities for DeFi, NFT, gaming, and other use cases that can quickly become prohibitively expensive when running on the main chain.

In May 2022, the Optimism team launched the Optimism (OP) token, which is the native governance token of the Optimism protocol. The token gives holders the ability to participate in the decision-making process involving project incentives, protocol upgrades, and the allocation of treasury funds. OP saw a simultaneous launch on several cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance and KuCoin, which are widely considered as the best places to buy altcoins.

Why is Optimism a good altcoin to buy in 2023?

Optimism's transaction count growth make OP one of the best altcoins to invest in in 2023

The number of transactions facilitated by Optimism. Source

Until Ethereum undergoes several planned scalability-focused upgrades (which could take years), layer 2 solutions like Optimism will continue unlocking the power of DeFi, blockchain gaming, and other use cases that require a high degree of transactional throughput. In June, the Bedrock upgrade rolled out on the Optimism mainnet, improving the usability of the chain by lowering fees and cutting transaction confirmation times by 90%. With unique governance mechanics and over $1 billion in gas fees saved since its launch, Optimism could be one of the best altcoin investments in 2023.

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5. Shiba Inu – One of the best memecoin projects

Shiba Inu made its debut as an “experiment in decentralized community building” in August 2020, and what followed was a historic market run that saw the price of SHIB increase by millions of percent, propelling Shiba Inu to the top ranks of the world’s most successful crypto projects. 

The Shiba Inu ecosystem boasts a range of innovative features, including the native ShibaSwap decentralized exchange (DEX) platform, the SHIB Burning Portal, and a mixture of NFT and metaverse offerings. This ecosystem is powered by a trio of tokens – SHIB, LEASH, and BONE – and is loosely headed by Shytoshi Kusama, the volunteer project lead who commands the allegiance of the “Shib Army,” an active social media following of more than one million users.

Why is Shiba Inu a good altcoin to buy in 2023?

There are several reasons why Shiba Inu is one of the best cheap altcoins you can buy right now. As we’ve already established, a strong community, which is often a strong indication of positive market performance, is a given. However, the recently launched Shibarium layer 2 for Shiba Inu could be the real game changer, lowering fees and making the network that much more efficient. These are just some of the reasons why Shiba Inu tops our list of the best cryptos under 1 cent.

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6. Polkadot – The best parachain ecosystem

From a technological standpoint, few cryptocurrency projects are as ambitious and unique as Polkadot (DOT). Polkadot is based on a novel, modular architecture that enables the creation of “parachains,” which are independent, parallel chains that can operate alongside the main chain and communicate with it through “bridges.” This design allows for greater scalability, flexibility, and modularity compared to traditional blockchain architectures.

Polkadot is powered by a native cryptocurrency called DOT, which is used to secure the network through the Nominated Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism and facilitate transactions. Polkadot was initially launched in May 2020 by Gavin Wood, a co-founder of Ethereum and the creator of the Solidity smart contract language. The platform fully launched in December 2021, following the rollout of the first parachains.

Why is Polkadot a good altcoin to buy in 2023?

Polkadot is one of the most actively developed projects in the industry, regularly topping the list of daily GitHub activity, ahead of projects like Cardano and Cosmos. In addition to the pace of development, Polkadot offers a comprehensive dApp platform that is capable of taking on Ethereum in terms of features. In addition, the DOT coin allows users to decide which projects are the next to be deployed on their own parachain in exchange for staking rewards. If you are interested in participating in projects with strong fundamentals and clear goals, then buying DOT could arguably be one of the best altcoin trading decisions you can make right now.

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7. Mina Protocol – The world’s lightest blockchain

Whereas some blockchains have reached hundreds of gigabytes in size (Bitcoin’s chain size is currently 445 GB, for example), the Mina blockchain has a fixed size of just 22 kilobytes. There is an immense advantage in having such a small blockchain, as virtually any device is capable of becoming a node, enabling genuine decentralization to take place.

To achieve such a high degree of efficiency, the Mina protocol leverages zero knowledge technology that allows for the creation of Mina-based zkApps powered by smart contracts. In addition, Mina allows users to validate and upload proof of their data, instead of the original data, which minimizes privacy-related concerns.

Why is Mina Protocol a good altcoin to buy in 2023?

The Mina blockchain is arguably the most community-focused crypto project on our list. It enables each network participant to essentially become a node, no matter whether they have access to powerful servers or basic smartphones, since Mina’s hardware requirements are so low. This obviously presents unprecedented decentralization opportunities. In addition, the Mina team plans to roll out zkBridge in 2023 to make zkApps accessible from Ethereum and other EVM-compatible chains. These reasons make the MINA token one of the best altcoin buying opportunities right now.

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8. Arweave – The best distributed storage altcoin project

Decentralized data storage is one of the most revolutionary technological solutions enabled by blockchain technology. Arweave (AR) is building a censorship-resistant network for storing data that challenges the current cloud computing paradigm that is controlled by only a handful of companies, including Google, Amazon, and Microsoft.

Arweave promises a permanent record of web content (called permaweb) – from websites and videos to articles and web apps – that can be retrieved quickly and is completely decentralized. Users are incentivized to maintain the permaweb with the AR token, the network’s native digital asset.

Why is Arweave a good altcoin to buy in 2023?

As the native utility token of the Arweave platform, AR fulfills several use cases, from being the mining fee payment currency to being the main currency to pay for distributed data storage on the network. Arweave has established several high-profile partnerships in 2022, including a deal with Meta that involves storing Instagram’s digital collectibles.

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9. Celo – The best mobile-first DeFi platform

Celo is a decentralized platform that aims to provide a global payment infrastructure for cryptocurrencies, with a focus on mobile users. It enables payments to be sent to and from any phone number in the world and supports the development of decentralized applications on its blockchain. 

These DApps include a universal basic income scheme and a crowdfunding platform for social causes. Celo operates three native tokens: CELO, a governance token used for voting on protocol changes, as well as cUSD and cEUR, stablecoins pegged to the value of the US dollar and euro, respectively.

Why is Celo a good altcoin to buy in 2023?

Beyond a focus on mobile users, which is a clear trend in the broader technology sector, Celo integrated the blockchain interoperability protocol LayerZero on its mainnet in December 2022. The integration allows Celo to connect to more than 13 EVM-compatible chains and other non-EVM blockchains. LayerZero improves the user experience of cross-chain transactions by allowing users to pay for transactions using the token of the source chain, thanks to its gas abstraction functionality.

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10. Cosmos – Building the “Internet of Blockchains” powered by ATOM

Cosmos (ATOM) is a decentralized network of independent parallel blockchains that use BFT consensus algorithms like Tendermint consensus. It is designed to be an ecosystem of blockchains that can scale and interoperate with each other, overcoming the limitations of previous blockchain architectures that were siloed and unable to communicate with each other. Cosmos aims to address the issues of low scalability and difficulty in building blockchains by offering a new vision for the underlying technology.

Cosmos’ end goal is to create an “Internet of Blockchains”, or, in other words, a network of blockchains that will be able to communicate with each other in a decentralized manner. To this end, the Cosmos team has developed the Cosmos SDK, a modular framework that streamlines dApp development, and the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol, which allows blockchains to exchange data between one another in a decentralized way.

Why is Cosmos a good altcoin to buy in 2023?

Cosmos’ network is secured by the ATOM token holders, who, in return for securing the services on the Cosmos Hub, receive staking rewards. ATOM’s prospects of being a good altcoin to buy in 2023 hinge primarily on the Cosmos network’s user growth. One of the reasons for a positive outlook is the high number of active developers in the ecosystem, with Cosmos being the second most actively developed project, trailing only Polkadot and Cardano as of June 2023.

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11. Lido DAO Token – The leading liquid staking protocol for Ethereum, Polygon, and others

Lido is a liquid staking solution for proof-of-stake blockchains, which enables users to earn staking rewards on Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Polkadot, and Kusama while maintaining liquidity. It does this by issuing staking assets (such as stETH) in exchange for users depositing their own assets (such as ETH). 

These staking assets can then be used to earn staking rewards on the relevant PoS blockchain and can be “unstaked” to reclaim the underlying assets when desired. Lido launched in December 2020 and has since added support for multiple PoS blockchains (and removed support for Terra after the LUNA ecosystem collapsed).

Why is Lido DAO Token a good altcoin to buy in 2023?

Lido supports Ethereum, Solana, and several other staking pools

Over $14.6 billion worth of ETH has been staked through Lido so far. Source

Lido DAO token, the governance token of the Lido Finance platform, holds significant upside potential primarily thanks to the popularity of Ethereum staking. Whereas users need 32 ETH if they want to self-stake, Lido allows users to deposit any amount of their ETH in staking pools and start earning staking rewards. In addition, users retain liquidity of deposited funds via Lido’s staked tokens (stETH in the case of Ethereum).

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12. Osmosis – An innovative DEX project with superfluid staking

Osmosis is a decentralized exchange with crosschain functionality that allows users to launch liquidity pools with customizable parameters such as trading fees and customized asset weights. It operates within the Cosmos blockchain ecosystem, which is a network of many different blockchains connected through the IBC protocol. Osmosis also supports a feature called superfluid staking, which allows users to earn staking rewards on their OSMO tokens even while they are being used to provide liquidity. 

The platform’s governance token OSMO enables its holders to influence the future direction of the protocol and decide on liquidity mining rewards for specific token pools. Osmosis is a useful platform for users interested in the Cosmos ecosystem and is likely to become more influential as time passes.

Why is Osmosis a good altcoin to buy in 2023?

Osmosis' bullish price prediction for 2023 makes OSMO a good altcoin to invest in

Our price prediction algorithm forecasts a +211% growth for OSMO by 2025.

Osmosis is one of the most important projects in the Cosmos ecosystem, allowing users to take advantage of advanced decentralized exchange features and superfluid staking. In late October 2022, OSMO got listed on one of the best altcoin exchanges, Binance, which greatly increased access to the token and introduced Osmosis to a large number of new potential users.

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The bottom line: Which is the best altcoin to buy depends on your risk profile and financial goals

With thousands of cryptocurrencies to choose from, it can be overwhelming to try to determine which ones may be good investment options. Some factors to consider when evaluating the best altcoins to invest in include the team behind it, the technology it is built on, the potential use cases, and its adoption and market demand. Ultimately, the decision on how to invest in cryptocurrency and which crypto to buy depends on your individual financial goals and risk tolerance.

If your risk tolerance is high, you can try your luck in finding the next Shiba Inu and try to 10x or more your investment. On the other hand, if you cannot stomach the huge swings that come with investing in memecoins and other volatile assets, you should consider buying cryptos with strong long-term potential instead.

You might also want to check out the video below for an alternative option.

Disclaimer: The content of this article should not be considered as investment advice. Always do your own research before deciding to buy, sell or transfer any crypto assets

Source: https://coincodex.com/article/22819/best-altcoins-to-buy/