Bitcoin’s price has been hovering near $110,000 for weeks now, spearheading the current crypto bull run and lifting other cryptocurrencies like XRP and Polygon.
However, the market performance has been anything but linear. Some cryptocurrencies have more than doubled in price within a single month, only for the hype to die off and a retracement to occur over the coming weeks. This can make it difficult for investors to make the best out of short-term market trends and pinpoint the best cryptos to buy for the short term. In this article, we will examine 3 coins that we believe have serious potential to outperform the broader market this month.
3 Coins with short-term potential in May 2025:
- Bitcoin – A decentralized, peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that enables trustless transactions through blockchain technology and a proof-of-work consensus mechanism. It remains the most widely adopted digital asset, often referred to as digital gold
- XRP – A fast and efficient digital asset tailored for cross-border payments, operating on the XRP Ledger with a unique consensus algorithm. It enables low-cost, near-instant transactions without relying on mining
- Polygon – A scalable Ethereum ecosystem designed to enable faster, cheaper transactions using layer-2 solutions and sidechains. It enhances Ethereum’s usability for decentralized applications and smart contracts.
Exploring the coins with serious short-term potential
In the next sections, we will present our arguments for why the following three projects have strong potential for bullish short-term performance.
1. Bitcoin
Bitcoin is the first and most valuable cryptocurrency, operating as a decentralized peer-to-peer digital currency. Launched in 2009 by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, it introduced blockchain technology and remains the most secure and widely adopted crypto asset. Bitcoin enables global transactions without intermediaries, allowing users to self-custody their BTC and transact 24/7.
Bitcoin is trading just 2.8% below its all-time high of $111,924. It has remained above the $100,000 level since early May, except for a brief dip to $98,500 on June 22.
Corporate acquisitions continue to dominate the Bitcoin narrative. Japan-based Bitcoin treasury firm Metaplanet recently purchased another 2,205 BTC for $238 million, bringing its total holdings to 15,555 BTC—the fifth-largest among publicly traded companies.
Metaplanet has acquired 2,205 BTC for ~$238.7 million at ~$108,237 per bitcoin and has achieved BTC Yield of 416.6% YTD 2025. As of 7/7/2025, we hold 15,555 $BTC acquired for ~$1.54 billion at ~$99,307 per bitcoin. $MTPLF pic.twitter.com/ec7l2JWmb2
— Simon Gerovich (@gerovich) July 7, 2025
An intriguing event was the recent movement of over 80,000 BTC coins that had been dormant for 14 years. While this initially sparked concerns about a potential large sell-off, analysts from blockchain analytics firm Arkham indicated there are “no signs that this whale is selling Bitcoin.” They suggest these transfers were likely just address upgrades, moving BTC from legacy addresses to newer bc1q-addresses.
BILLIONAIRE BITCOIN WHALE UPDATE
Yesterday’s $8 billion transfers were possibly related to address upgrades, moving from 1- addresses to bc1q- addresses.
There are no indications that this whale is selling Bitcoin. pic.twitter.com/wdK4Ppkv0J
— Arkham (@arkham) July 5, 2025
Meanwhile, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk created some buzz by confirming his newly formed “America Party” will embrace Bitcoin. Responding to a user on X, Musk stated that his political party supports Bitcoin because “fiat is hopeless.” Tesla currently holds 11,509 BTC, valued at approximately $1.25 billion.
2. XRP
XRP is a digital asset designed for fast and low-cost cross-border payments, operating on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), a decentralized, open-source blockchain. Its consensus mechanism, based on a network of trusted validators rather than mining, allows for rapid finality and energy efficiency. XRP serves as a bridge currency for global remittances and is used by financial institutions to facilitate real-time settlement and liquidity management.
Ripple has applied for a national bank charter in the U.S., according to CEO Brad Garlinghouse. If approved, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) would regulate Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin. The company is also exploring the potential to offer additional crypto services under the banking license.
Garlinghouse also shared that Ripple subsidiary Standard Custody has applied for a Fed Master account. This would allow it to hold RLUSD reserves directly with the Federal Reserve, boosting trust in the stablecoin.
True to our long-standing compliance roots, @Ripple is applying for a national bank charter from the OCC. If approved, we would have both state (via NYDFS) and federal oversight, a new (and unique!) benchmark for trust in the stablecoin market.
Earlier in the week via… https://t.co/IdiR7x3eWZ
— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) July 2, 2025
Separately, Brazil-based crypto exchange Mercado Bitcoin announced plans to use the XRP Ledger to tokenize over $200 million in real-world assets, including fixed income and equities. The company has previously worked with Ripple to enable cross-border treasury transactions between Brazil and Portugal, and also lists RLUSD on its platform.
3. Polygon
Polygon is a growing ecosystem of layer-2 platforms designed to scale Ethereum. Its most widely used chain, Polygon PoS, offers low fees and Ethereum compatibility. The team also developed AggLayer, a trustless protocol that supports cross-chain interoperability.
Recently, Polygon Labs and GSR introduced Katana, a new layer-2 blockchain built for DeFi. Katana focuses on a narrow set of financial apps to concentrate liquidity and maximize yields. It features VaultBridge, which redirects idle crypto to low-risk lending pools on Ethereum.
defi deserves better. so do your bags.
1b KAT incentives live to bootstrap the chain.
enter katana mainnet and start earning. pic.twitter.com/HDFoIohI98
— katana ⚔️ (@katana) June 30, 2025
Katana avoids governance tokens and is overseen by a foundation and two committees. It uses a custom version of Sushi and Morpho as its core lending protocol. With $200M in pre-launch deposits, Katana complements Polygon PoS by targeting active DeFi traders, while PoS shifts toward real-world asset use cases.
The bottom line
The coins included in this article possess unique characteristics that could help them rally in the coming weeks. Still, you should keep in mind that investing in these coins is still inherently risky and that you shouldn’t approach any kind of investing with a conviction that the investment’s value is guaranteed to increase.
To offset some of the risks, you could consider investing in cryptocurrencies that are best suitable for the long term. If you want a middle-of-the-road approach, you can also check out our list of the best cryptocurrencies to buy right now, which is updated weekly and features a healthy mix of smaller projects with high potential and well-established cryptocurrencies.
Source: https://coincodex.com/article/41554/best-crypto-to-buy-today-for-short-term/