People often ask if cryptocurrencies priced well under a penny, like Shiba Inu (SHIB -0.88%), or other popular meme coins, like Dogecoin (DOGE -0.04%), can reach $1. While it is fun to think about these types of tokens hitting $1, unfortunately, their total supply of tokens and current market caps make this unlikely, to say the least.
The good news is that there are plenty of cryptos trading under $1 that seem much more likely to hit this milestone. One good example is Cardano (ADA 0.26%).
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Dogecoin is not worth more than Caterpillar
Given its current price and total supply, it would take an astronomical gain of Shiba Inu increasing by over 91,000 times its value at the time of writing for it to reach $1. There is a maximum supply of 589.7 trillion Shiba Inu tokens, meaning that a move to a dollar would take it to a market cap of $589.7 trillion .
At that point, Shiba Inu would be worth about 295 times the current value of Microsoft, so this is unlikely, to say the least. For Dogecoin to reach $1, it would need a comparatively less spectacular increase of about 1,200% from here. This would give Dogecoin a market cap of about $120 billion, making it slightly more valuable than global megacap stocks like Caterpillar and Unilever.
Cardano is trading around $0.59 at the time of writing, so a move to $1 would “only” require a gain of about 70% from where it is now. While this may not sound as exciting as an off-the-charts gain on Shiba Inu, a 70% gain is a great return that most savvy veteran investors would be thrilled about. Cardano will have to earn its way there, but it has far more likelihood of hitting $1 than Shiba Inu.
Cardano’s current market cap is $18 billion. Hitting $1 would give it a market cap of about $33 billion, which would put it in line with a company like Zoom. A market cap of $33 billion would still be less than one-tenth the value of Bitcoin and about an eighth of the value of the total market cap of Cardano-competitor Ethereum.
We’ve been here before
Here’s another reason to believe Cardano can hit $1: It’s already been there before and has traded above $1 for much of the last few years before the current crypto bear market took it down to its current level. In fact, Cardano traded as high as $3.10 last September. Nothing guarantees that Cardano could reach the same highs simply because it’s achieved them before, but there is clearly precedent here for Cardano reaching $1 or more. While the crypto market as a whole has been down in 2022, Cardano is beginning to show some signs of life and has now rallied 50% from its 52-week low in May.
Adding value and users
Even better, Cardano has not been sitting on its laurels during the sell-off. The company has arguably added more utility and value than it previously had at higher prices. For example, the Lagon bridge, which connects Cardano to Ethereum, just launched. This bridge will facilitate the transfer of ERC-20 tokens, such as USD Coin, from Ethereum to Cardano. This will help to bring more users and activity to the Cardano blockchain.
Later in June, Cardano will undergo the Vasil upgrade, which will bolster its smart-contract capabilities. Founder Charles Hoskinson said in a recent YouTube (part of Alphabet) video on his channel that this will lead to a “massive performance upgrade to Cardano.”
From March to April, about 100,000 new users created Cardano wallets, and 400 new projects started on the Cardano blockchain — an increase from prior building rates. Momentum is clearly building under the surface.
Can Cardano hit $1?
People are holding onto a lot of cryptos like lottery tickets, hoping that they will one day hit $1. But a blue chip project like Cardano looks much more likely to hit that mark. It would take a gain of 70% from here, and the crypto has been well above $1 before. Cardano also offers more utility than the vast array of available tokens and has been adding to its utility while the market is down.
While it may not be the boldest choice, Cardano is my best bet of the sub-$1 cryptos to reach $1 the fastest. While it wouldn’t be the astronomical gain of a long shot like Shiba Inu reaching $1, it would still be a great return for investors.
