Best Crypto To Buy Now As Prices Explode: Pepe, Bittensor, Render And New Altcoins

A new bull market is underway in 2026, with both meme coins and utility tokens among the best crypto to buy now. 

The total crypto market cap is now firmly above the $3 trillion resistance, while Bitcoin and Ethereum have finally broken out above $89,000 and $3,000, respectively. 

Crypto prices are rallying across the board, with Pepe leading the market after surging 36% over the past 24 hours. Floki, SPX6900 and Pudgy Penguins are also among the top gainers on Friday, indicating that the strong demand for meme coins remains strong. 

However, utility coins are also posting strong gains, suggesting that the highly anticipated “altseason” might finally have started. Besides the large caps, mid-caps like Chainlink, Hedera, Avalanche and Render are among the top performers. 

There is also strong evidence that investors are rotating profits from Gold and Silver to crypto. 

The above Bitcoin/Gold price chart shows a massive bullish divergence, characterized by a lower low in price and a higher low in RSI. 

This is extremely bullish for the broader crypto market and suggests that a new bull run might truly have started. 

Best Crypto To Buy Now As New Bull Market Begins

Bitcoin (BTC)

Despite being in such late stages of the cycle, Bitcoin continues to be backed by experts as the best crypto to buy now. 

The large-scale whale accumulation for BTC has started once again. Analyst Ali Martinez highlights that nearly 20,000 BTC have left exchanges in the past week. 

CryptoQuant’s indicator, Realized Cap for New Whales, is also skyrocketing, even as the price action remains tepid. 

Similarly, VanEck’s Matthew Sigel notes that long-term holders have flipped back to net accumulation after exerting the heaviest selling pressure on Bitcoin since 2019. This is another key indicator that last year’s crypto crash is now over and a new bull market has begun. 

In the short term, attention is focused on whether Bitcoin can break above the $94,000–$95,000 resistance zone, a move that would likely lift the broader crypto market and signal an end to the Q4 2025 mini bear phase.

In the long term, there is a strong consensus among experts that the Bitcoin price could hit $150,000 in 2026. 

Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum (ETH) could be an even better investment than Bitcoin, which underscores the high upside potential for the second-largest crypto.

There is a massive institutional and whale demand for ETH. Treasury firms like BitMine and SharpLink Gaming continue to accumulate and stake hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Ethereum every week. 

Now, Binance whales are contributing to the ETH buying spree. 

With the Ethereum price currently trading at $3,055, the token is on the cusp of securing its first daily close above the 20-day and 50-day simple moving averages. A subsequent breakout above $3,200 and the 200-day exponential moving average would invalidate all bearish scenarios. 

In the long term, experts believe that the Ethereum price could hit $7,000 in 2026. 

XRP (XRP)

With Friday’s strong rally, the XRP price is back above the $1.90 support level, a major victory for the bulls. A subsequent breakout above $2 would invalidate all bearish possibilities. 

The XRP price is up by 3% over the past 24 hours, outperforming both Bitcoin and Ethereum on Friday. 

The spot XRP ETFs continue to provide a strong boost to the token price. The asset class has recorded $1.17 billion in inflows since its November 14th debut and had $1.24 billion in AUM as of December 31st, data from SoSoValue reveals. 

The buying pressure from the ETFs has contributed to the XRP exchange supply falling to a seven-year low. If the demand ramps up, the token price could see an explosive rally. 

Right on cue, the Tom DeMark indicator has flashed a “buy” signal in the bi-weekly chart, a massive signal that could be the start of the next XRP bull run. 

https://twitter.com/alicharts/status/2006742962194317519

Bittensor (TAO)

Bittensor (TAO) is positioning itself as one of the best mid-cap altcoins to buy now. 

For the uninitiated, it is a decentralized network that rewards AI models for contributing useful intelligence. 

Unlike most AI projects run by centralized companies, Bittensor lets independent models compete and earn tokens based on performance, creating an open, market-driven system for building and monetizing artificial intelligence.

Recently, its MEV Shields have been gaining significant traction. MEV bots continue to steal hundreds of millions of dollars worth of value from most blockchain ecosystems by front-running transactions. 

However, the OpenTensor Foundation has announced an encrypted mempool that will soon make MEV bots obsolete. 

Prominent analyst Captain Faibik highlights that the TAO price has broken out of a falling wedge that could result in a 60% rally in the short term. Satoshi Flipper, on the contrary, is calling TAO an easy 3.5x hold. 

Render (RENDER)

Render Network is a decentralized platform that connects users who need GPU power with providers who have idle graphics hardware, making it easier to run rendering, AI, and compute-heavy workloads without relying on centralized cloud services.

In 2025, Render quietly delivered one of the strongest builder years in crypto. 

It launched Dispersed, which aggregates global GPUs for scalable AI workloads, pushed forward RNP-021 to onboard enterprise-grade NVIDIA and AMD hardware, and powered large immersive art exhibitions at ARTECHOUSE NYC. 

Render was also a headline sponsor of Solana Breakpoint 2025, signalling ecosystem maturity. Increasingly, the project is being viewed as AI and GPU infrastructure, not just render tech. 

Supporting that view, LunarCrush data shows around $230 million in recent whale inflows, suggesting growing conviction that Render is still underpriced for where this narrative is heading.

The RENDER price has broken out of a multi-month downtrend, making it one of the best cryptocurrencies to buy now. 

Bitcoin Hyper (HYPER)

Bitcoin Hyper (HYPER) is making a strong case for being the best low-cap crypto investment on the market. 

It is a new cutting-edge Bitcoin scaling solution, powered by zero-knowledge architecture and the powerful SVM. It aims to be the launching pad for DeFi apps, payment protocols and meme coins within the BTC ecosystem. 

Throughout this cycle, several new low-cap assets have made early investors massively rich, especially during bull markets. HYPER could soon join that list. 

It ticks all the boxes for being a successful crypto launch, including strong fundamentals, in-demand utility and significant whale demand. Massive six-figure buys from whales have already pushed HYPER’s total presale raise past the $30 million milestone. 

There is a reason why top layer-2 projects tend to reach multibillion-dollar valuations. Unsurprisingly, smart money investors have secured early allocation in HYPER, now eyeing up to 10x returns from it. 

Pepe (PEPE)

A new Pepe bull run has finally started. 

The PEPE price has surged by 30% over the past 24 hours and 42% over the past week. Notably, it has rallied above the $0.0000054 resistance level, a major accomplishment for the bulls. 

A weekly close above it could invalidate all bearish scenarios and serve as a major “buy” signal for sidelined investors. 

All eyes are now on whether Pepe could secure a breakout above its 200-day Exponential Moving Average. 

Not only is Pepe an excellent multi-bagger investment itself, but its rally also paves the way for a bull run in other low-cap meme coins. 

Pepenode (PEPENODE)

With Pepe’s rally, low-cap frog meme coins like Pepenode become extremely attractive investments. 

Pepenode (PEPENODE) is a high-utility meme coin that blends meme culture with a mine-to-earn ecosystem, setting it apart from typical hype-driven launches. 

Instead of simply holding tokens, users can earn ongoing rewards through virtual mining mechanics, making participation more interactive. 

What makes Pepenode stand out is its reward structure. Alongside native mining rewards, participants can earn bonus payouts in popular meme coins like PEPE and Fartcoin, adding an extra layer of appeal. On top of that, Pepenode offers presale staking rewards close to 500%, attracting early interest.

However, the Pepenode presale, which has already raised nearly $3 million, is ending in less than a week. Interested buyers have a very short window before Pepenode hits the open market and explodes.

Looking for more high-upside coins for the new bull market? Check out our best cryptocurrency to buy now list for January 2026.