8 Best Cryptos To Invest in During the January 2023 Bear Market

The current crypto bear market might seem like a daunting time to invest. Still, it represents an incredible opportunity for long-term investors to pick up tokens at discount prices. Certain projects seem severely undervalued right now and this article will list eight of the best cryptocurrencies that could be worth considering during this recent market downturn.

1. Metacade (MCADE) – A play-to-earn token with plenty of potential

Metacade is a community hub that aims to provide gamers, developers, entrepreneurs, and crypto investors with everything they need to succeed in play-to-earn (P2E) gaming. From dedicated forums and leaderboards to game reviews and leading GameFi alpha, Metacade gives players the tools they need to get ahead all under one roof. 

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Alongside these resources, you’ll discover a platform full of earning opportunities. For example, Metacade rewards its users with the MCADE token for contributing valuable content to the community. So whether you’re a seasoned P2E gamer or just getting started, you can earn rewards by posting helpful reviews, tips, or other useful content. If you’re feeling lucky, you can also participate in frequent prize draws and tournaments for a chance to win big.

The earning opportunities don’t stop there. As part of its Work2Earn initiative, Metacade will launch its job and gig board in Q1 2024. Here, you’ll find roles with some of the biggest names in gaming and Web3, ranging from internships to senior, career-defining positions. Not only does this provide revenue for the community through paid listings, but it offers Metacade users the chance to replace their traditional income with their passion for crypto, Web3, and gaming. 

Perhaps the most innovative feature of Metacade is its Metagrant program. Metagrants allow users to directly influence and support the P2E ecosystem by letting the players fund the games they want to see developed. To be eligible for a Metagrant, developers must first enter their ideas into a pool of competing projects. MCADE holders can then vote on the projects they believe deserve funding, with the winner awarded a grant from the Metacade treasury to get their game off the ground. Metacade aims to feature dozens of these community-backed titles in its virtual arcade.

But what makes Metacade the best crypto on this list? For one, community platforms are often popular with gamers because they provide a place for people with a shared interest to connect over their favorite games – think Twitch or Discord. Metacade is no exception, offering forums, chat rooms, and other social features for users to interact with one another.

Moreover, P2E is one of the fastest-growing industries on the planet, expected to balloon to $50 billion by 2025, according to Crypto.com. So while P2E games will come and go, Metacade will likely remain a constant. Like Twitch and Discord, its success lies in its value as a social tool, not as an individual game. This growth potential makes Metacade a more sustainable P2E investment than any single game. 

Above all else, the MCADE token is still in presale, meaning that early adopters have the potential to see significant returns on their investment as the platform grows in popularity. Early backers got hold of MCADE at $0.008 per token in the beta stage, ahead of its 25% increase to $0.01 in stage 1 of the presale. By the time it reaches presale stage 8, the token price of MCADE will be $0.02! 

The hype is building, with over $1.25million in MCADE tokens already sold. Metacade could be the next big thing in P2E gaming, and that’s why it’s the best crypto to invest in during the crypto bear market. 

2. Ethereum (ETH) – A bright future ahead for the queen of crypto

Ethereum is the world’s leading smart contract platform and the go-to network for decentralized application (dApp) developers. There are currently thousands of dApps, DeFi projects, NFT collections, and tokens that rely heavily on Ethereum to function, each with one thing in common – they all use Ethereum to pay transaction fees. 

As the Ethereum ecosystem grows, so will the demand for ETH, and this growth shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. In fact, in January 2022, Electric Capital found around 4,000 monthly active developers working on Ethereum, approximately 22% of the ~18,000 developers working on crypto and Web3 projects.

Ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake (PoS) will likely accelerate this number in 2023. The Shanghai hard fork is expected in March 2023, allowing stakers to access their staking rewards and further moving Ethereum away from proof-of-work (PoW). Sharding, scheduled for autumn 2023, will significantly improve scalability on the network and open doors for new Ethereum use cases. Considering its wide adoption and upcoming improvements, Ethereum is the second-best token to invest in during the current crypto bear market.

3. Bitcoin (BTC) – A solid pick for any crypto portfolio

Bitcoin might seem an obvious choice, but it should be high on the priority list for any crypto investor. It’s the most well-known cryptocurrency on the market, and it’s also the oldest. Arguably, it’s the most decentralized too. Despite recent declines, Bitcoin has been one of the best-performing assets of all time and has far outpaced the returns from the benchmark S&P 500 since its inception.

Not convinced? Consider that, despite a number of high-profile collapses in the crypto industry, multiple bear markets, and a (relatively) slow rate of adoption by institutions, Bitcoin has remained the most valuable cryptocurrency by far. Its price floor has consistently trended upward, and despite declining heavily alongside the rest of the crypto market, BTC’s current value is still higher than many investors could have hoped for just a few years ago. Overall, these factors make Bitcoin a strong choice for anyone looking to grow their portfolio during the crypto bear market.  

4. Cardano (ADA) – Will Hydra make Cardano the leading smart contract platform?

Cardano is a smart contract platform that sets itself apart from the crowd with its methodical approach to on-chain development. Each upgrade is backed by research and agreed upon by several academics before being implemented. Its consensus mechanism, Ouroboros, is the world’s first provably secure PoS protocol and makes Cardano one of the market leaders in blockchain security.

Cardano is also one of the only blockchains developed with regulation in mind. In a recent Youtube interview, Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson explained the network’s plans for a privacy protocol called Midnight. He acknowledged the issue of privacy regulations in the context of transparent blockchains. He said that Midnight aims to offer “smart private contracts,” which will likely add further value to the network. 

The much-anticipated Hydra upgrade should launch sometime in 2023, which could lead to Cardano achieving speeds of 1 million transactions per second! While Ethereum may sometimes overshadow Cardano, its slow and steady approach could lead to long-term success, making it the third-best crypto to invest in during the current crypto bear market.

5. Binance Coin (BNB) – A multi-purpose utility token 

Binance Coin is the native token of the Binance exchange and currently the third most valuable cryptocurrency, excluding USDT and USDC. BNB started as a trading discount fee token built on the Ethereum network in 2017, but in 2019, it migrated to the Binance Chain. One year later, Binance launched the Binance Smart Chain, which added smart contracts to the network. Now, Binance Smart Chain (or BNB Chain today) is Ethereum’s closest rival, powering thousands of dApps and tokens.

However, unlike Ethereum, BNB isn’t just mainly used for gas fees. In addition to the discounts it offers traders on the Binance exchange, users can purchase items through the Binance Marketplace and participate in token offerings on Binance Launchpad. This multi-purpose utility makes BNB an exceptional choice for an upcoming bull market, given its potential to benefit from increased activity on the Binance exchange and growth in other areas of the Binance ecosystem. Moreover, its versatility makes it an excellent opportunity for those looking to invest during the crypto bear market.

6. ApeCoin (APE) – The native token of one of the most hyped metaverse projects

ApeCoin is a token that’s gained plenty of popularity since its launch in April 2022. It’s the native utility and governance token of the Ape Ecosystem. Yuga Labs – the team behind Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), the second most valuable NFT project of all time – created ApeCoin. 

While APE offers holders exclusive access to features of the Ape Ecosystem and voting rights in the Ape DAO, its most exciting use is as the medium of exchange in Otherside. Otherside is Yuga Labs’ metaverse project, which has already garnered significant hype amongst crypto investors. Animoca Brands, the company behind what some would call the most successful metaverse crypto project to date, is partnering with BAYC to build Otherside. 

Otherside is expected to come out in 2023, and its launch could cause a flood of investment into ApeCoin as eager players gear up to experience a new frontier in digital interaction. Like BNB, APE is a multi-use token, and its connection to the rapidly-growing NFT and metaverse markets make it a strong investment choice during the current crypto bear market. 

7. Chainlink (LINK) – Playing a vital role in crypto’s mass adoption

Chainlink is a decentralized oracle network that allows smart contracts on the blockchain to securely access off-chain data feeds, APIs, and other external information. Instead of being limited to purely on-chain data, Chainlink opens doors for blockchains to incorporate data that would otherwise be unavailable to them, vastly improving the number of use cases for blockchain technology. Not only is Chainlink used by many projects in the DeFi space, like Aave, Synthetix, and Compound, but it also has partnerships with Google, Oracle, and SWIFT – an impressive roster. 

As more institutions and industries adopt blockchain technology, the need for secure and reliable data integration will only increase. Chainlink is the leading decentralized oracle on the market today and is perfectly positioned to meet this increased demand. It might not be the most glamorous project on the market, but Chainlink provides the critical infrastructure needed for the mass adoption of crypto. It will likely play a significant role in Web3. As such, it’s the sixth-best crypto to buy during this bear market. 

8. NEAR Protocol (NEAR) – A user-friendly Ethereum rival

NEAR Protocol is an increasingly popular smart contract-enabled project that aims to bring scalability to the masses without compromising on usability. While Ethereum has yet to implement sharding, NEAR already uses sharding to achieve lightning-fast transaction speeds at a negligible cost. Once fully implemented, NEAR should reach around 100,000 transactions per second. 

One of the key differentiating factors of NEAR compared to other smart contract platforms is its focus on user experience. For example, it allows human-readable wallet addresses for end-users. In addition, those developing on NEAR can use languages they’re already familiar with, like Javascript and Rust, to create dApps. This flexibility is critical for the mass adoption of crypto in general and is likely to drive the platform’s growth in 2023. Considering its partnerships with Google Cloud, Binance, and ConsenSys, NEAR is the seventh-best crypto to buy during the crypto bear market. 

Metacade (MCADE) is the best investment during this crypto bear market

While it’s likely that each cryptocurrency on this list will outperform in the next bull market, Metacade stands out as the token with the most potential. Its unique status as a community hub for the rapidly-accelerating P2E space, combined with its already-exceptional presale success and growing popularity amongst crypto investors, makes Metacade a standout choice for investors looking to capitalize on this new trend. 

Don’t worry, there’s still time to get involved in the MCADE presale. Metacade is in stage 1 of its presale, meaning that by the time the presale finishes, you’ll be up 200% – even if you missed out on the early stages!

You can purchase the coins mentioned above at eToro here.

You can participate in the Metacade pre-sale here.