A bull market is coming: one crypto to buy now

General market turmoil last year crushed the cryptocurrency market, wiping out about $2 trillion in value. When investors worry about the economy, they usually gravitate to safer assets and leave the riskier stuff for another day. Crypto, as a new industry, is risky because we won’t know exactly what the industry will look like for years – even if it seems promising.

But better days for crypto may be on the horizon. That’s because a bull market is coming. Of course, we cannot predict exactly when it will arrive. However, history tells us that bull markets always follow bear markets. And under the favorable and optimistic conditions of a bull market, crypto can slide. To prepare you, here is one cryptocurrency you can buy right now.

Something in common with Ethereum

And that player to buy is Cardano (ADA -3.21%). Cardano has something in common with Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency. Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson also created Cardano.

Ethereum is already a successful blockchain, leading the worlds of decentralized applications (dApps) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). But Hoskinson aims to make Cardano even better. The Cardano team is working to make this younger blockchain a stronger player in terms of decentralization, scalability and security.

To do this, Cardano software engineers use peer review. That means they publish details of upcoming plans and seek the thoughts of other experts before releasing updates. The one major disadvantage is that this makes Cardano slower than its competitors. But the advantage is that it leads to fewer errors – and makes Cardano a blockchain you can trust.

All this wins over users. Cardano recently hit a record high in total value locked at more than 365 million Ada ($136 million), its native token, according to DeFiLama. It represents the value of assets deposited into the system.

Cardano enabled smart contract functionality back in 2021. Since then, the creation of these contracts using Cardano’s Plutus language has been increasing. In fact, over the past year, Plutus scripts have increased by around 200% to more than 5,000, Cardano Fans Stake Pool data shows.

Finally, Electric Capital’s annual developer report also supports the idea that more and more users are flocking to Cardano. The platform saw a 16% increase in full-time developers last year.

The Hydra Head Project

And Cardano’s progress is far from over. Software engineers are working on an exciting project that could make Cardano one of the fastest and most efficient blockchains out there. This is through the creation of Hydra heads, small off-chain ledgers that handle certain operations. This will avoid overloading the main network – and increase data volume and speed.

Cardano has not offered a release date for the Hydra project, but the launch could clearly be a big step for this young crypto player.

Now let’s take a look at Cardano’s performance. The crypto has gained some momentum this year, going about 50% to almost 40 cents. Back in 2021, Cardano’s price peaked at more than $2.90. I believe that if Cardano continues to gain users and successfully launches Hydra, it could return to that level – and surpass it over time.

Of course, cryptocurrency remains a risky sector, as I mentioned above. So you should not invest more than you can afford to lose. But if you want to bet on this innovative industry, Cardano makes a good choice. This player has what it takes to stand out over time – and today’s price gives you a very reasonable entry point.