In a span of just 16 years, cryptocurrencies emerged from obscurity to become an important part of financial markets. But there’s one thing the industry’s evolution hasn’t eradicated: extreme volatility.
At its peak in November 2021, the crypto market was worth upwards of $2.9 trillion. By mid-2022, hit by rising inflation and an aggressive rate-hiking cycle by the Federal Reserve, the entire market was worth less than $900 billion. Fast forward to July 31 of this year, and cryptocurrencies collectively are worth upwards of $3.8 trillion.
That’s quite a roller coaster. If you’re not willing to endure such violent swings, you simply shouldn’t own cryptocurrencies. And if you do get into crypto, there are thousands of coins to choose from, each one with different dynamics. It’s daunting. Here are six of the best cryptocurrencies to buy now:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ether (ETH)
- Solana (SOL)
- Avalanche (AVAX)
- Pepe (PEPE)
- Cardano (ADA)
Bitcoin (BTC)
Cryptocurrency is an incredibly nascent asset class, with origins only dating back to 2009. Extreme volatility is par for the course, so investors looking to insulate themselves from the potential total collapse of their holdings will want to go with more established names. None is more established than Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency and largest by market capitalization with a valuation of $2.35 trillion, or 61% of the overall market.
BTC boasts the most mainstream acceptance of any of the top cryptocurrencies, as evidenced by the January 2024 debut of 11 new Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, or ETFs. The fight with the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve spot Bitcoin ETFs was years in the making, but the approval finally materialized. Bitcoin ETFs have ushered in a new chapter for the leading crypto, as mainstream investors can now track its performance without having to directly own the “digital gold” itself.
After languishing below $17,000 at the beginning of 2023, just two years later Bitcoin hit fresh all-time highs in July 2025 above $123,000. Although BTC has pulled back some from its heights, it’s currently trading above $118,000, and the cryptocurrency is up an enormous 78% in the last year through July 30.
A handful of catalysts in the last year or so have helped fuel Bitcoin’s rally. The first was the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the first quarter of 2024, which quickly attracted billions of dollars in assets under management.
The second catalyst for BTC was the Bitcoin halving event that occurred in April 2024,when rewards for mining Bitcoin were cut in half. It’s a process that happens roughly every four years and goes hand in hand with Bitcoin’s scarcity; within 18 months of previous Bitcoin halvings, the price of the token has rallied fiercely.
And the most recent major event vaulting Bitcoin to all-time highs was the election of President Donald Trump, who has signaled his friendliness toward the crypto industry. That friendliness
arguably turned into a full-on embrace in March, when the president announced on social media that he authorized a working group to move forward with a “Crypto Strategic Reserve” for the country that would include holdings of Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, Solana and Cardano.
One reason the crypto market took off in July 2025 was “Crypto Week,” during which Congress passed, and President Trump signed, legislation known as the Genius Act, which became the first major cryptocurrency legislation and cleared the way for more widespread acceptance of cryptocurrencies known as stablecoins.
Ether (ETH)
Second by market capitalization is Ether, which is the native token on the widely used Ethereum blockchain. Often colloquially referred to as Ethereum, ETH’s market cap is around $455 billion and accounts for about 11.8% of the total cryptocurrency market. Unlike Bitcoin, Ether’s underlying network is far more than just a tool for peer-to-peer payments; the Ethereum blockchain is custom-made for smart contracts and decentralized finance tools, as well as for so-called Web3 applications and the trading of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs
While Bitcoin only functions as a speculative asset and a store of value, Ether has inherent utility as the native token of a wildly popular network. Plus, Ethereum’s switch in recent years from the energy-inefficient proof-of-work protocol to the much more efficient proof-of-stake system gives it a leg up on BTC in an increasingly environmentally conscious world.
These two cryptos are undoubtedly the best in their asset class. To the surprise of many, the SEC greenlit spot Ether ETFs in mid-2024, and a handful of them began trading in late July 2024. ETH is up 16.2% in the last year through July 30..
Solana (SOL)
Like Ethereum, Solana is a blockchain that was built with utility in mind. In Solana’s case, it’s become known for facilitating the easy creation of decentralized applications, or dApps, but the network is actually even faster than Ethereum, has far lower fees and is intended to be more easily scalable than rivals. The native token of this blockchain is the eponymous Solana, also known as SOL.
SOL didn’t start trading until 2020, but it has had a meteoric rise to stardom in the years since. At the beginning of 2021, SOL accounted for just 0.01% of the crypto market’s total value. Come July 31, SOL makes up 2.46% of the multitrillion-dollar space, representing a nearly 250-fold increase in its market share over the last four-plus years.
Excluding stablecoins, Solana is the fifth-largest cryptocurrency in the world, with a market capitalization around $95 billion. SOL is roughly flat over the last year, down 0.8% in the trailing year through July 30.Aside from its low fees, ease of use and thriving ecosystem, Solana has recently attracted a lot of attention to its platform through the popularity of Solana meme coins, which are easy and cheap to create and trade. Dogwifhat (WIF) and Bonk (BONK), another dog-themed meme coin, are two of Solana’s most enduring popular meme coins in 2025. President Donald Trump also issued his own meme coin on the Solana network.
Avalanche (AVAX)
When investing in cryptocurrency, investors should understand that Bitcoin and Ether are in their own tier. Solana has arguably earned its spot as a second-tier coin due to the strong meme coin ecosystem, ease of use and low fees. AVAX and the other altcoins on this list, however, all have more risk, and investors should factor that into their decisions. Consider them purely speculative wagers.
Caveats aside, the Avalanche network’s AVAX token earns its place on this list by virtue of the ambitious goals of the Avalanche blockchain.