Bitcoin might grab the majority of headlines, but it’s far from the only crypto opportunity. In fact, a more wide-ranging list could include dozens of altcoins. But to try to keep things simple, we are just going to go over the five best altcoins that have gotten our attention.

Since you landed on this article, you probably already know what an altcoin is. But just in case, an altcoin is any cryptocurrency that isn’t Bitcoin… And just so you know, that describes more than 5,000 cryptocurrencies. So there really are a lot to choose from. However, a whole lot of them are junk. Lots of them have little to no trading volume. And even more of them will fail to make any sort of impact before fading into oblivion (taking investors’ money into the void with them).

Based on this, it’s imperative to dig into a crypto that’s captured your attention before investing in it. That being said, this also depends on what kind of investor you are…

At the beginning of the year, crypto was on fire. It was minting millionaires left and right. Even meme coins like Dogecoin and its meme-of-a-meme spinoff, Shiba Inu coin, have turned a few hundred bucks into tens of thousands – if not millions – of dollars. But this was blind speculation that just happened to pay off. That’s not investing so much as gambling. And if that’s your strategy, might I direct you to Telcoin? Or perhaps Dromos?

But if you’re looking for the best altcoins to invest in, here are our five favorites.

The Five Best Altcoins for 2021

• Ethereum (ETH)
• Litecoin (LTC)
• Binance Coin (BNB)
• Stellar Lumens (XLM)
• Tether (USDT)

Ethereum

We’re starting our list with the second-biggest cryptocurrency out there. This is one of the best altcoins available for two major reasons. The first is that it has the second-largest market cap of any crypto on the market. This shows that it has market power in the crypto world. And it also means that popularity and adoption are widespread. The second reason this is one of the best altcoins is that it powers a dominant percentage of the NFT marketplace. And that dominance has helped it outperform most of its largest competitors.

So far this year, Ethereum is up around 370%. And that’s despite a nearly 40% decline in price after news resurfaced of a China crypto ban. Ethereum bounced back from this flash crash in a major way though. And it’s only continued that upward momentum since. All of this makes Ethereum one of the best altcoins – if not the best – available right now.

Litecoin

This is one of the oldest altcoins on the market. But don’t let its age fool you. It was founded by a former Google and Coinbase engineer who knows the power of utility. And this is what this crypto was based on. This coin was established as a Bitcoin fork. But it’s not trying to compete with it. Rather, it’s been described as “silver to Bitcoin’s gold.”

Another thing that separates Litecoin from its larger competitors is its ease to mine. There’s no need for specialized equipment to get in on the mining action. Consumer-grade hardware is enough for most folks.

But perhaps its strongest asset is transaction speed. Transaction times are nearly instant. What’s more, its fees are among the lowest in the cryptosphere. This all adds up to the ability to send Litecoin around the world in less than three minutes. And because it’s been around so long, you can find it in just about any exchange you choose. It’s available in consumer-friendly apps like Robinhood and Webull. You can easily find it in one of our favorite exchanges, Coinbase. And most recently, PayPal’s (Nasdaq: PYPL) crypto checkout began allowing Litecoin to be one of the cryptos it accepts. After all these years, Litecoin is still growing in popularity. And that clearly makes it one of the best altcoins out there.

Binance Coin

This altcoin has also seen a staggering increase in value this year. Starting at just $38 a token, it’s ballooned to nearly $500. Even though it declined in May (like just about every other altcoin), it’s not poised to stay down for long. It’s simply too valuable because of the essential role it plays in many other altcoins’ ability to be traded.

Your big centralized exchanges like Coinbase, Binance, Kraken and the like can’t list every altcoin out there. There are just too many. And listing every new initial coin offering (ICO) wouldn’t be good for their images or their customer bases. They want to be able to verify the validity of the coins they list. Because not every new crypto is developed with the best intention in mind. So getting listed there can take time. And for new cryptos looking to build up momentum and interest, they need to operate via different channels. This is where the Binance Coin plays a major role…

Let’s say you wanted to invest in Dromos crypto. Well, before it gets listed on larger exchanges, the only place you can find it is the decentralized exchange PancakeSwap. And you can’t just go there and exchange dollars for crypto. For the most part, you need to start with some Binance Coin in your wallet and exchange it for the altcoin of your choice. Based on this utility alone, Binance Coin will remain one of the best altcoins on the market to invest in.

Stellar Lumens

Stellar Lumens started out the year trading for less than $0.15 a pop. It’s since more than doubled in value. It even approached the $1 mark back in May when all things crypto were rocketing in value. But part of Stellar Lumens’ increase in value has been its growing popularity as an alternative to traditional banking. With more than half of the world living without a bank account, that spells huge opportunity for this altcoin.

Stellar Lumens is the crypto for Stellar – a blockchain protocol built for payments systems. This is intended for folks who don’t have bank accounts. The goal here is to be able to offer the bankless access to financial products. The team behind it has been making successful strides to connect financial institutions to its blockchain and allow cheap transactions in developing markets.

It also happens to be one of the more environmentally friendly altcoins. Stellar uses a proof-of-stake system – as opposed to the proof-of-work model. This means that there is no electricity-intensive mining associated with Stellar Lumens. Of the total 50 billion Stellar Lumens in creation, roughly 22.5 billion have been sold into the market. The rest currently sit in the Stellar Lumens Development Foundation. As adoption in emerging markets continues in places like Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Argentina, Stellar Lumens is likely to increase in value. If nothing else, its altruistic nature makes Stellar Lumens one of the best altcoins to keep an eye on this year.

Tether

This altcoin is a little different from the rest. Tether is a stablecoin. And it’s the largest one of its kind by a wide margin. This isn’t a crypto to bank on to make you rich. This one is a means of diversifying your crypto portfolio with a little stability.

When it first launched in 2014, it was backed 1-to-1 with U.S. dollars. And even though this is no longer the case, it’s proven to be an effective store of value.

Today, most of the U.S. dollars the stablecoin Tether is backed by actually consist of “commercial paper.” While this is a riskier asset, it’s proven to be a solid store of value. And the team behind it has made every attempt to remain transparent about what that means. This transparency and stability have had a huge impact on usage. Tether currently makes up more than half of the stablecoin market. And adoption is still rising. Now that its on-chain volume has surpassed $1 trillion on a yearly basis, Tether is clearly the most promising stablecoin. And that makes it a powerful example of one of the best altcoins on the market today.

The Bottom Line on the Best Altcoins Your Money Can Buy

Altcoins have proven to be an amazing way to invest your money this year. Naturally, there have been some hiccups along the way. The roller-coaster rides that cryptos offer is part of their charm to some. But that’s also part of the reason some investors remain skeptical. So, to paraphrase the old adage, never invest more than you can afford to lose. However, if you stick with it long enough, riding out the volatility will become second nature.

Even the best altcoins will continue to see dips in value. But over time, the highs are proving to get higher. And the lows have been nowhere near as low as they have been in the past.

If you’d like to learn more about the best altcoins and what the future holds for them, we suggest signing up for the Manward Financial Digest e-letter. Founder and crypto expert Andy Snyder has been showing readers how to find the best altcoins on the market for ages. And he’s got the stellar track record to prove it. To follow his advice, just drop your email address in the box below.