Cryptocurrency markets are choppy on Monday as traders weigh potentially easing geopolitical risks in the Middle East against another stronger-than-expected US economic data release. This has pushed traders to further downsize bets on near-term rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve. Crypto investors are turning to the altcoin market as they hunt for the best crypto to buy now.
Bitcoin was last trading just above $64,000, leaving it down over 2% on the day, with sell pressure rising following robust US retail sales data.
US Retail Sales Advance (M/M) Mar: 0.7% (est 0.4%; prev 0.6%)
– Retail Sales Ex Auto(M/M) Mar: 1.1% (est 0.5%; prev 0.3%)
– Retail Sales Ex Auto And Gas Mar: 1.0% (est 0.3%; prev 0.3%)
– Retail Sales Control Group Mar: 1.1% (est 0.4%; prev 0.0%)— LiveSquawk (@LiveSquawk) April 15, 2024
But Bitcoin is trading close to 5% up versus its Saturday lows of around $61,000. The market saw a big downside over the weekend after Iran launched a direct attack against Israel.
But Sunday saw an impressive recovery, as fears about an Israeli retaliation that could further escalate the situation eased.
ISRAEL’S OBJECTIVE IS TO HURT IRAN WITHOUT CAUSING ALL-OUT WAR, ISRAEL’S CHANNEL 12 NEWS REPORTS AFTER WAR CABINET MEETING
CHANNEL 12: ISRAEL WANTS TO EMBARK ON ACTION AGAINST IRAN COORDINATED WITH UNITED STATES
— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) April 15, 2024
Assuming Middle Eastern geopolitics stay out of the headlines, macro will be the big focus this week.
All eyes will be on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks on Tuesday. Expectations that the Fed will cut interest rates in 2024 have been a major tailwind to crypto in recent months.
Recent strong US data has weakened that narrative, however.
Major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin could see more downward pressure. That’s especially true ahead of the BTC halving, which could result in elevated short-term sell pressure from miners.
Investors searching for quick returns may have to look elsewhere for the best crypto to buy now.
Here are some altcoins with strong momentum on Monday that investors will be watching.
Best Crypto to Buy Now
Core (CORE)
Layer-1 blockchain protocol Core (CORE) is pumping on Monday.
Its blockchain is secured through a combination of delegated Bitcoin mining hash and delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS).
🔶PROJECT REVIEW: $CORE 🔶
BSCN’s research team takes you deep into the heart of @Coredao_Org and its native token, $CORE.
Learn about Core’s tokenomics, its awesome community, how it’s tapping into #Bitcoin’s success, and much much more… 👀
Make sure to follow… pic.twitter.com/CfW7CgdnDM
— UselessCrypto (@UselessCrypto) April 15, 2024
As per CoinMarketCap, it’s up by more than 50% in 24 hours. That has propelled its market cap to just under $2 billion and into the top 100 cryptos by market value.
Whether the blockchain will experience higher adoption is still anyone’s guess. But at a modest valuation of under $2 billion, there is plenty of room for upside if it does.
CORE could be a great bet for this bull market, and could be the best crypto to buy today.
NEO (NEO)
Neo (NEO), the cryptocurrency of the up-and-coming smart contract blockchain NEO, is performing well on Monday.
According to CoinMarketCap, its price went up by 13% in the past 24 hours at $20 per token. That rally has lifted its market cap to around $1.4 billion.
That leaves NEO still over 7x below its 2021 peaks, above over 10x under its early 2018 peaks.
NEO could easily still 5x this bull market, making it a candidate for the best crypto to buy now.
Pendle (PENDLE)
Pendle (PENDLE), a future yield tokenization and trading protocol, is eyeing a retest of record highs on Monday.
PENDLE is up nearly 15x from last summer’s lows under $0.50. Its rally from its 2022 lows is even more impressive at over 200x.
As per CoinMarketCap, which clocks PENDLE’s 24-hour gains at around 12%, its market cap is at $1.6 billion.
That leaves plenty of room for 10x or more gains as the asset tokenization narrative gains ground.
With Pendle teaming up with Ethena, another fast-rising yield protocol, its TVL could soon jump further.
Kickstarting Ethena x Pendle Season this week with an exciting one – ENA by @ethena_labs 🔥
Pendies can now earn 30x Sats/day with YT-ENA and LP.
Also yes, YT-ENA 𝒊𝒔 considered as part of the locked ENA requirement for +50% Sats boost 🧐 pic.twitter.com/oCd4QRxqfC
— Pendle (@pendle_fi) April 15, 2024
That potentially makes PENDLE one of the best crypto to buy today.
Alternative Crypto Investment Strategy to Consider – Presales
Investing in smaller, lesser-known altcoins is a great way to make a quick crypto profit.
However, investors looking to increase their risk profile shouldn’t neglect another highly profitable strategy: investing in new crypto ICOs.
Up-and-coming web3 start-ups often look to raise funds in their infancy by selling their native protocol token.
These sales are almost always conducted at a steep discount to the project’s potential. For example, most presales will sell their token at a price that gives them a market cap of $10-30 million.
If a good project gains traction, it can easily reach a market cap in the hundreds of millions. So, presale investors can often make as much as 10x or more gains.
Of course, investing in new crypto ICOs comes with many of the same risks as traditional start-up investing. The success of a project relies heavily upon the competency of management and execution.
With so many new crypto ICOs to choose from, getting started can be a daunting task.
Luckily, the experienced team at Cryptonews has already done a lot of digging. Here are 18 of their favorite projects:
See the 18 Cryptocurrencies
Alternatively, check out this video by Cryptonews’ Crypto Arjay, who goes through his top three presales.
Disclaimer: Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. You could lose all of your capital.
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