What Is the Best Altcoin to Buy Under $1?

The recent slide in crypto prices has created a unique market opportunity: One-half of the top 20 cryptocurrencies (by market cap) now trade for $1 or less. Of those, five are stablecoins, and five are highly speculative altcoins.

For the sake of argument, let's ignore the stablecoins (which always trade for $1) and focus on the altcoins, which are capable of truly stratospheric gains.

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Five altcoins under $1

The list of top altcoins currently trading under $1 is an interesting one. It includes Tron (CRYPTO: TRX), Stellar (CRYPTO: XLM), Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA), Canton (CRYPTO: CC), and Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE).

Of these, the only one that is in the green in 2026 is Tron, up 12% year to date. Tron is a Layer 1 blockchain network, just like Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH). It currently ranks second in stablecoin transaction volume, and that would appear to make it an attractive play on the $300 billion stablecoin boom.

But there's just one problem. Tron is based offshore and primarily caters to stablecoin users outside of the United States. Moreover, its founder, Justin Sun, is a controversial billionaire who has run afoul of U.S. regulators on numerous occasions. As a result, some U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchanges still do not list Tron for trading.

That makes the task of finding a viable stablecoin under $1 much harder. Until recently, Cardano would have been a no-brainer pick. But it's now down a whopping 52% for the year, and its blockchain ecosystem is under tremendous duress right now. Its founder, Charles Hoskinson, recently said he's stepping away from Cardano, and that has investors running for the exits.

Dogecoin, too, can be safely avoided for now. It's still the world's most popular meme coin, but it has been going nowhere fast for the past five years and is down a whopping 89% from its all-time high in May 2021.

That leaves just Stellar and Canton. Of these two, my personal preference is Canton. It's a Layer 1 smart contract blockchain network purpose-built for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. Top-tier consulting firms project RWA tokenization to be a multitrillion-dollar market opportunity, so the upside here is obvious.

Even better, Canton appears to have buy-in from some of the biggest names on Wall Street. In May, a Canton ETF started trading, proof of interest from big-name institutional investors. If RWA tokenization takes off, as many now project, Canton could go along for the ride.

What about XRP?

Of course, you could always just wait for XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) to fall below the $1 price level. The world's sixth-most valuable cryptocurrency is currently trading for just $1.11, and it's almost a certainty that XRP will dip below $1 at some point in 2026.

If so, then XRP would be the clear-cut best altcoin to buy under $1. While Canton offers upside appeal, it has a limited track record dating back less than a year. In contrast, XRP has been around for more than a decade and is backed by Ripple, a fintech firm currently valued at $50 billion.

Dominic Basulto has positions in Cardano, Ethereum, and XRP. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Ethereum and XRP. The Motley Fool recommends TRON. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.