10 Best Cryptocurrencies to Buy for Early Retirement

Published June 30, 2021 at 4:49 pm EDT Updated August 19, 2026 at 5:05 am EDT

In this article, we discuss the 10 best cryptocurrencies to buy for early retirement.

Cryptocurrencies have exploded in value over the past few years as a younger generation of internet enthusiasts, who are wary of big finance and eager to exploit the potential of a globally-connected digital network, devote their energies to the development and marketing of new crypto products and offerings. However, Bitcoin, the most popular crypto coin, and Ethereum, the second largest coin in terms of market capitalization, still maintain a stranglehold over the crypto world, accounting for close to $1 trillion and $400 billion in value respectively.

Companies eager to ride the crypto boom, like Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA), Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) have poured billions into making the new technology mainstream so that they can profit off the process. However, in recent weeks, these firms have been experiencing the price volatility often associated with crypto stocks but have so far continued to underline their bullish outlook on the crypto industry for the long-term. Hedge funds have also been piling into crypto-related investments in the past few months.

The influx of institutional investors is a very welcoming sign for an industry that many claim is still in its infancy. Naturally, there is also some resistance to the adoption of the new technology, as crypto is often called a disruptor in the finance world that will one day upend the entire system. However, these polarizing points of view exist side by side and no one has thus far been able to dominate the narrative around digital currencies in general single handedly. A growing US-China cold war over crypto, though, is a major concern among crypto enthusiasts.

Even as a Chinese crackdown against crypto firms intensifies, crypto startups and crypto-linked IPOs have been generating a lot of buzz in investor circles in the United States. According to a report by Fortune Business Insights, the cryptocurrency market will grow to close to $2 billion in overall value within the next four years, growing at a compound annual growth rate of over 11% during the period. It remains to be seen how investors, who are aware of the growth potential of the industry, treat the current dip in the prices of cryptocurrencies.

The entire hedge fund industry is feeling the reverberations of the changing financial landscape. Its reputation has been tarnished in the last decade, during which its hedged returns couldn’t keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. On the other hand, Insider Monkey’s research was able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by more than 124 percentage points since March 2017. Between March 2017 and February 26th 2021 our monthly newsletter’s stock picks returned 197.2%, vs. 72.4% for the SPY. Our stock picks outperformed the market by more than 124 percentage points (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that significantly underperformed the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 13% through November 16th. That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to. You can subscribe to our free newsletter on our homepage to receive our stories in your inbox.

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With this context in mind, here is our list of the 10 best cryptocurrencies to buy for early retirement. These currencies were picked based on their price, the growth potential they offer in the long term, and their ease of use across the globe.

Best Cryptocurrencies to Buy for Early Retirement

10. Uniswap

Uniswap is placed tenth on our list of 10 best cryptocurrencies to buy for early retirement. Uniswap uses the Ethereum blockchain network primarily to facilitate crypto transactions between different types of digital coins. These exchanges take place on the Uniswap exchange through the use of Uniswap coins. The exchange was created by Hayden Adams just three years ago and already, in terms of daily trading volume, Uniswap is among the top five cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.

Another good investment in the crypto sector is CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME), the financial derivatives exchange also popular for offering trades in cryptocurrencies. CME Group Inc. announced on Jun2 that micro bitcoin futures volume, launched last month, had crossed 1 million contracts.

At the end of the first quarter of 2021, 60 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $2.3 billion in CME Group Inc., up from 58 the preceding quarter worth $2.2 billion.

Just like Tesla, Inc., Square, Inc., and Alphabet Inc., CME Group Inc. is one of the best crypto investments for early retirement.

In its Q1 2021 investor letter, Cooper Investors, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:

“CME has been owned by the portfolio for five years. CME’s strategic positioning as a monopolistic global financial exchange operator will continue to afford the business a highly attractive margin profile. CME is well managed however we can no longer identify clear value latency opportunities for the management team to execute against and so decided to exit our position.”

9. Bitcoin Cash

Bitcoin Cash is a cryptocurrency that was launched in 2017 as a spinoff of Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency in the world today. Bitcoin Cash further split into Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV a year later. It is different from the parent coin as it can process transactions quicker. This also translates into other benefits, like lower fee per transaction as wait times are reduced. The Bitcoin Cash network can also handle more transactions per minute than the parent network. It is ranked ninth on our list of 10 best cryptocurrencies to buy for early retirement.

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin Cash are mined using the equipment developed by companies like Canaan Inc. (NASDAQ: CAN), the Chinese firm offering microprocessing solutions for crypto mining. Canaan Inc. recently announced that it had started a crypto mining operation in Kazakhstan. Beijing is cracking down on crypto firms in China.

At the end of the first quarter of 2021, 9 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $47 million in Canaan Inc., up from 4 the preceding quarter worth $3.8 million.

Just like Tesla, Inc., Square, Inc., and Alphabet Inc., Canaan Inc. is one of the best crypto investments for early retirement.

8. Polkadot

Polkadot is a cryptocurrency created by Gavin Wood, one of the founders of Ethereum, the second most popular coin, in 2017. Polkadot is different from the parent coin as it was created on the basis of research identifying hurdles blockchain networks might face in the future as crypto became more mainstream and trying to come up with solutions. Polkadot placed eighth on our list of 10 best cryptocurrencies to buy for early retirement. One of the distinguishing features of the currency is functioning on a network that connects to other blockchains.

The mainstreaming of the new technology is being supported by firms like Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA), one of the largest payments companies in the world. Mastercard Incorporated recently announced the launch of a new credit card that offers users incentives for qualifying purchases in cryptocurrencies.

Out of the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, Virginia-based investment firm Akre Capital Management is a leading shareholder in Mastercard Incorporated with 5.8 million shares worth more than $2 billion.

Just like Tesla, Inc., Square, Inc., and Alphabet Inc., Mastercard Incorporated is one of the best crypto investments for early retirement.

In its Q4 2020 investor letter, Bretton Fund, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:

“While consumers resumed much of their spending by summer, what and how they used their Visas and Mastercards changed. For obvious reasons, people shifted to contactless payments—one of the Covid-era changes we think is permanent—and replaced travel purchases with online shopping and food delivery. Consumers spent more on their debit cards and less on their credit cards; Visa and Mastercard make more per transaction on the latter. They also make more on cross-border transactions that come mostly from international travel, which ground to a halt early in the pandemic. Visa’s and Mastercard’s earnings per share fell by 7% and 16%, respectively, compared to their usual mid-teens growth. We’re not too worried, and we think they’ll catch up nicely in the post-vaccine world. Visa’s stock returned 17.1% and Mastercard’s 20.2%.”

7. Ripple

Ripple is a digital payments platform that uses the Ripple cryptocurrency for transactions. It is ranked seventh on our list of 10 best cryptocurrencies to buy for early retirement. The Ripple platform debuted in 2012 and was originally developed by Arthur Britto, David Schwartz, and Ryan Fugger. More than a hundred banks around the world have utilized the services offered by the Ripple network, including a secure messaging service named XCurrent Messaging. Ripple is now one of the largest cryptocurrencies in the world in terms of market capitalization.

The crypto mania that has swept the world in the past few years has forced firms like PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL), the payments firm renowned for facilitating cross-border transactions at low fees, to jump on the bandwagon as well. PayPal Holdings, Inc. stock was recently rated Buy by DA Davidson with a price target of $325.

At the end of the first quarter of 2021, 143 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $14.7 billion in PayPal Holdings, Inc., down from 147 in the preceding quarter worth $15.9 billion.

Just like Tesla, Inc., Square, Inc., and Alphabet Inc., PayPal Holdings, Inc. is one of the best crypto investments for early retirement.

6. Cardano

Cardano is a blockchain platform and cryptocurrency from the Ethereum family of coins. It was initially released in 2017 and a stable release did not take place until just a month ago. Cardano is placed sixth on our list of 10 best cryptocurrencies to buy for early retirement. On June 27, the platform reached a new milestone as the number of staking addresses on the network crossed 650,000 for the first time. Cardano is now among the top five cryptocurrencies in the world in terms of market capitalization, after gaining 5% in value more than a day ago.

The role of companies that make and sell equipment for cryptocurrency mining, like NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA), cannot be understated in the digital currency universe. NVIDIA Corporation recently partnered with internet search giant Google for an artificial intelligence-based 5G innovation laboratory.

At the end of the first quarter of 2021, 80 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $6.2 billion in NVIDIA Corporation, down from 88 the preceding quarter worth $8.6 billion.

Just like Tesla, Inc., Square, Inc., and Alphabet Inc., NVIDIA Corporation is one of the best crypto investments for early retirement.

In its Q1 2021 investor letter, Vulcan Value Partners, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and NVIDIA Corporation was one of them. Here is what the fund said:

“NVIDIA Corp. is the dominant supplier of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) worldwide. NVIDIA’s GPUs are at the intersection of a number of important computing trends including the movement to the Cloud, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, edge computing, gaming, and more. We previously owned NVIDIA and sold it in the third quarter of 2020 as the price to value gap closed and our margin of safety was reduced. As with all our MVP companies, we continued to follow NVIDIA closely. Since that time, NVIDIA reported excellent results and its value has compounded rapidly. The technology selloff at the beginning of the year negatively affected the stock price while our estimate of NVIDIA’s value per share increased. This happy combination of events created a margin of safety and an opportunity to once again add NVIDIA to the portfolio.”

5. Tether

Tether is ranked fifth on our list of 10 best cryptocurrencies to buy for early retirement. It is one of the most popular stablecoins, types of coin that are backed by the US dollar. It has issued tokens on several different blockchain platforms, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others. Tether is incorporated in Hong Kong but has offices in Europe as well. Tether is an open source, peer-to-peer blockchain-based cryptocurrency.

Stablecoins like Tether exist because of crypto mining operations led by technology companies like Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA), the Nevada-based firm with a wide array of digital assets under possession. Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. recently announced a 40% month-on-month increase in Bitcoin production.

At the end of the first quarter of 2021, 10 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $197 million in Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc., up from 8 the preceding quarter worth $5.9 million.

4. Litecoin

Litecoin is one of the earliest Bitcoin spin-offs. It was launched in 2011 and is placed fourth on our list of 10 best cryptocurrencies to buy for early retirement. It is very similar to Bitcoin in many respects except transaction speeds, which are four times faster on the Litecoin network. Other differentiations from the parent coin include block generation time, hashing algorithm, and the maximum number of coins. Litecoin is also among the top cryptocurrencies in the world in terms of market capitalization.

Litecoin was founded by Charlie Lee, a former employee at Alphabet Inc., the California-based technology company. Alphabet Inc. recently allowed cryptocurrency wallets to run advertisements through the Google platform in a major concession for crypto firms otherwise barred from marketing by top tech giants.

Out of the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, London-based investment firm TCI Fund Management is a leading shareholder in Alphabet Inc. with 2.9 million shares worth more than $6 billion.

3. Stellar

Stellar is a payments network that uses the Stellar cryptocurrency to convert digital coins into fiat currency and move them across borders at low fees. It is ranked third on our list of 10 best cryptocurrencies to buy for early retirement. It was initially released in 2014 and developed by Jed McCaleb and Joyce Kim. Stellar is marketing itself as the digital currency of choice for those who do not want to go through banks to move their money around. Stellar is one of the best altcoins available on the market today.

Stellar is mined by firms like Riot Blockchain, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT), the Colorado-based crypto mining company with a fleet of over 7,000 miners at its disposal. Riot Blockchain, Inc. stock has surged over the past few hours on the back of media reports revealing the 900% jump in crypto trading in India, one of the largest internet markets in the world, over the past year.

Out of the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, Chicago-based investment firm Citadel Investment Group is a leading shareholder in Riot Blockchain, Inc. with 2.2 million shares worth more than $120 million.

2. Ethereum

Ethereum is the second most popular and the second most expensive cryptocurrency on the market. It is placed second on our list of 10 best cryptocurrencies to buy for early retirement. It is a decentralized, open source blockchain initially released in 2015. It was developed by Vitalik Buterin, a Russian-Canadian computer programmer. Ethereum is often marketed as a more secure and environmentally-viable alternative to Bitcoin in the crypto world and several market analysts expect it to overtake Bitcoin in popularity in the coming years.

Cryptocurrencies like Ethereum have exploded in value over the past few years as digital payment mechanisms, like those offered by Square, Inc., become more popular. Square, Inc. has invested over $400 million in crypto-related assets.

At the end of the first quarter of 2021, 92 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $9.2 billion in Square, Inc. , up from 89 the preceding quarter worth $8.8 billion.

1. Bitcoin

Bitcoin is placed first on our list of 10 best cryptocurrencies to buy for early retirement. It is the largest cryptocurrency in the world in terms of market capitalization. It is a cryptocurrency that operates on a blockchain network through which transactions can be made via verified network nodes. The coin was launched in 2008 and climbed to a record high of around $64,000 in April this year before taking a breather since then. Bitcoin was made by Satoshi Nakamoto, although not much else is known about the identity of the original author.

One of the largest institutional holders of Bitcoin is Tesla, Inc., the California-based EV maker that bought more than $1 billion in Bitcoin earlier this year. Tesla, Inc. has since suspended Bitcoin payments for vehicle sales on the back of environmental concerns over crypto mining operations.

Out of the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, Chicago-based investment firm Citadel Investment Group is a leading shareholder in Tesla, Inc. with 24.4 million shares worth more than $16.3 billion.

Here is what Baron Partners Fund has to say about Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) in its Q1 2021 investor letter:

“Tesla, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells fully electric vehicles, solar products, energy storage solutions, and battery cells. The stock fell during the quarter as a result of general market dynamics and a potential production slowdown due to parts shortages. A refreshed S/X and China Model Y ramp could also have a negative impact on margins in early 2021. We anticipate strong growth and improved margins driven by new production capacity, manufacturing efficiencies, localization of its manufacturing and supply chain, and maturation of Tesla’s full self-driving technology.”

You can also take a peek at 10 Companies that Benefit From Crypto Mining and 10 Best Nickel Stocks to Buy Now.

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