Cryptocurrency might have started as a Wild West of investing dominated by mavericks, but it’s now firmly in the financial mainstream. Institutional investors and big banks treat it as a serious asset despite its volatility, the collapse of a major exchange and regulatory crackdowns. But how do you know what crypto is worth investing in? Keep reading to learn about the next big cryptocurrency.

What Is the Next Big Cryptocurrency? 9 To Watch for 2023

If you’re looking to get involved in the cryptocurrency market, you might be wondering which one will bring the biggest potential return. Although bitcoin might be the obvious choice, it’s not necessarily the best one in 2023. Your chances of having a big payoff might be better with a smaller coin that hasn’t already been pumped up by institutional investors.

Here are nine cryptocurrencies to keep on your radar for 2023:

1. Ethereum (ETH)
2. BNB (BNB)
3. Tether (USDT)
4. Decentraland (MANA)
5. Algorand (ALGO)
6. Render Token (RNDR)
7. Everlodge (ELDG)
8. Shiba Inu (SHIB)
9. Aptos (APT)

1. Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum, commonly known as ether, is the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency behind bitcoin, even outperforming bitcoin at times. In 2021, Ethereum instituted a major upgrade that reduced the supply of ether, currently at 120.26 million coins as of Nov. 1. The upgrade also allowed the Ethereum network to handle more transactions per second, improve the platform’s scalability and lower transaction fees.

Compared to bitcoin, ethereum lacks scarcity — bitcoin’s supply is capped at 21 million coins — and widespread acceptance by companies and governments. However, unlike bitcoin, ethereum isn’t just a store of value. It also powers an infrastructure on which apps can be built. Other cryptocurrencies are issued on Ethereum, and it serves as the foundation of decentralized finance.

Many metaverse projects, including Star Atlas, Axie Infinity and The Sandbox, use the Ethereum blockchain, as do most NFTs. Another upgrade, this one launched in September 2022, transitioned Ethereum to a Web3-ready proof-of-stake mechanism that reduced energy consumption by about 99.95% and further increased security and scalability.

Ethereum experienced a major slump last year, losing 70% of its value between November and June, which is about on par with other major cryptocurrencies. The price is on the rise again, so this might be the right time for investors who’ve been waiting to test the cryptocurrency waters. The coin might also appeal to current investors who bought high and would benefit from dollar-cost averaging.

2. BNB (BNB)

Binance is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of trading volumes. Formerly called binance coin, BNB puts about one-fifth of its profits each quarter into permanently getting rid of, or “burning,” BNB tokens, which raises the value of the remaining tokens. It burned 2.14 million BNB tokens — almost $482 million worth — in mid-October and expects to eventually burn 50% of the maximum supply.

Binance has two blockchains, which reduce the kind of bottlenecks Ethereum is vulnerable to. It’s also fast and scalable, and Binance is in the process of making the platform more regulator-friendly, according to Seeking Alpha — a feature that could be crucial to its longevity and widespread adoption, especially in light of the collapse of rival exchange FTX. 

In addition, Binance recently launched Bifinity, a fiat-to-cryptocurrency payment platform that will help merchants prepare to accept digital assets as payments, CoinMarketCap reported. The payment processing platform supports more than 50 cryptocurrencies and major payment networks like Visa and Mastercard.

On the downside, the Securities and Exchange Commission is looking at whether Binance acted improperly in its launch of BNB, mishandled investor funds and lied to regulators. A major fine or other sanction could hurt BNB prices.

3. Tether (USDT)

Tether is a type of “stablecoin” designed to provide a less volatile alternative to bitcoin because it is linked to another asset. In tether’s case, that asset is the U.S. dollar. In valuation terms, tether usually has a 1-to-1 ratio with the dollar, meaning it is less volatile than cryptos such as bitcoin and ether — “usually” being the operative word.

With an $84.82 billion market cap, Tether is the largest stablecoin and the third-largest coin overall. It’s also the most traded coin — cryptocurrency investors use it to hold funds or make transactions using funds they want to protect against the price swings to which bitcoin, ether and other non-stable cryptocurrencies are vulnerable.

4. Decentraland (MANA)

Decentraland is a virtual reality game on the Ethereum blockchain that uses the MANA token as an in-game currency. Users can purchase goods and services, buy land and visit other players, as well as create and monetize their content. MANA is also the fifth-largest gaming cryptocurrency in terms of market cap.

Although Decentraland does have competition from the likes of The Sandbox and Axie Infinity, and in-game assets are quite expensive, it has some benefits that could push the MANA token forward. For example, users retain ownership of the digital assets they create in Decentraland and can convert them to cryptocurrencies other than MANA.

If the Decentraland metaverse needed a legitimacy boost, it got one in May 2022, when Millennium Hotels and Resorts launched M Social on the platform. According to a press release, this was the first metaverse hotel operated by a hospitality group. Decentraland has also signed a deal to integrate the upcoming film “The Infinite Machine” and its NFT collection into its metaverse, Variety reported.

5. Algorand (ALGO)

Algorand, founded by noted computer scientist Silvio Micali, might be the next big cryptocurrency as it has positioned itself as a competitor to the Ethereum blockchain. Hundreds of companies, including the International Federation of Association Football, use it, as do the governments of El Salvador and the Marshall Islands.

One of Algorand’s biggest advantages is its “proof-of-stake” algorithm, which offers a high degree of security and scalability and requires less electricity than Bitcoin and other platforms. This feature will only grow in importance as cryptocurrencies face more criticism — and possible regulation — for their massive energy consumption.

6. Render Token (RNDR)

Render Token is a graphic rendering network that lets miners with excess graphics processing unit bandwidth parcel it out to artists and creative studios that need extra computing power. RNDR is the native token creators and miners use in their transactions on the Render Network.

The cloud graphics company Otoy is behind Render. To further level the graphics-processing playing field, Otoy recently launched its Octane X RNDR app for iOS. The app includes the same Otoy GPU renderer that studios like Disney and Marvel use, Fast Company reported. This could help forge a path for RNDR to become a major player in metaverse rendering.

RNDR was launched in a public sale in 2017, and despite fairly recently getting its listing on the Coinbase exchange, it’s already the No. 1 gaming cryptocurrency by market cap, according to CoinMarketCap. While highly speculative, RNDR could benefit from the increased exposure it’s getting on Coinbase, as well as the extraordinary rise of non-fungible tokens for digital art.

7. Everlodge (ELDG)

Everlodge describes itself as being “where Airbnb meets Web3.” Indeed, the company is moving vacation rental ownership to the blockchain, where investors soon will be able to purchase fractional shares of short-term rental properties via NFTs.

While backed by physical real estate, Everlodge investments will differ from traditional real estate investments in that they’ll be completely decentralized and anonymous, and transactions will execute instantaneously — no paperwork or closings to contend with.

Each property’s NFT will be divided into fractional shares that investors can purchase for as little as $100. The NFTs will be linked to promissory notes representing the amount invested, according to the project’s whitepaper. Investors will be able to trade their NFTs on third-party marketplaces such as OpenSea.

Everlodge tokens, which will trade under the ELDG ticker, power the Everlodge platform and will serve as the official currency — investors will purchase their NFTs using ELDG tokens. Presale coins are currently available directly from Everlodge. As of Nov. 1, about 25 million of a total 40 million ELDG coins had sold, and the token price had risen to $0.025 from an initial offering price of $0.01. The launch price is expected to be 0.038.

This is a new, unproven project and a highly speculative investment. But if the idea takes off, it could revolutionize vacation rental ownership and drive up demand for the token. If that happens, investors could see gains not only from property appreciation, but from appreciation of the coin’s value as well. Investors will also get use of the properties they invest in.

8. Shiba Inu (SHIB)

Shiba inu is a meme token developed to capitalize on the popularity of the dog breed that appears on dogecoin, the cryptocurrency hyped by Elon Musk. The coin’s meme status is the result of an enthusiastic community of supporters who call themselves the ShibArmy. Despite having little or no practical use beyond raising awareness about the benefits of decentralization and cryptocurrency in general, SHIB is the 19th-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, according to CoinMarketCap.

The project’s lead developer, who uses the pseudonym Shytoshi Kusama, recently emerged on the social media platform Telegram after a lengthy “quiet mode,” touting some new projects and suggesting that collaborations are in the works for the next stage in the development of the Shibarium blockchain.

For a typical floundering cryptocurrency, a lack of any specifics about what’s in store for the project might raise suspicion that there’s nothing in the pipeline. But with shiba inu, which has never really had a pipeline, riling up the community might be all it takes to trigger a rally. In fact, SHIB “whales” — major holders — recently bought up 4.5 trillion tokens according to Watchter.Guru, citing data from IntoTheBlock.

9. Aptos (APT)

The Aptos blockchain is a layer 1 blockchain like Bitcoin and Ethereum, but its developers say it can do what they haven’t — follow a cloud infrastructure model for security, scalability and reliability to facilitate the widespread adoption of Web3. Its developers made and built Aptos’ predecessor, Diem, which was backed by Meta but, stymied by regulatory issues and opposition from the Federal Reserve, sold off its assets in January 2022, The Verge reported.

A flood of over $350 million in venture capital, including a $200 billion seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz, and lack of transparent tokenomics has led to criticism from the cryptocurrency community, according to The Crypto Times, and some analysts think aptos, the native token, is already overcapitalized. However, Aptos is already faster and more reliable than Ethereum and seems well positioned to emerge as a major force if it can live up to its hype. For example, the development team claims Aptos will eventually process 160,000 transactions per second — transactions users will pay for in Aptos’ native token, APT.

How To Buy Cryptocurrency

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Buying cryptocurrency is relatively easy. Here are the steps you can take to buy the next big crypto:

1. Open an account with a cryptocurrency exchange or broker: Exchanges such as Coinbase or Binance.US are easy to use and match buyers with sellers. Alternatively, you can choose a broker like Robinhood or SoFi, which execute the trades for you and typically have low fees but feature complicated interfaces.
2. Fund your account: Before you can trade crypto, you’ll need a way to pay for your purchases, such as a linked bank account, a wire transfer or a debit or credit card payment.
3. Place your cryptocurrency order: Select the cryptocurrency you want to buy and indicate how many coins you want to purchase. To purchase fractional shares of cryptocurrency, specify a dollar amount instead of the number of coins.

Final Take To GO

Despite the crypto market being highly volatile, many investors remain on the lookout for the next big payoff. In the crypto space, big crypto risks can come with big crypto rewards. No matter how you feel about the nuances of investing in crypto such as blockchain technology, decentralized applications, smart contracts or even just meme coins, it’s good to familiarize yourself with the territory and stay on the lookout for the next big cryptocurrency. 

GOBankingRates’ Crypto Guides

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No Bs Crypto

• What Is Cardano? (ADA)
• What Is Bitcoin Cash? (BCH)
• What Is Chainlink? (LINK)
• What Is Dogecoin? (DOGE)
• What Is Litecoin? (LTC)
• What Is Polkadot? (DOT)
• What Is Ripple? (XRP)
• What Is Stellar? (XLM)
• What Is Tether? (USDT)

Daria Uhlig and Caitlyn Moorhead contributed to the reporting for this article.

Data is accurate as of Nov. 1, 2023, and is subject to change.