Following a slow day of news that saw Bitcoin (BTC) trade in rangebound fashion in the $70,000-71,000 area, traders are turning to the altcoins markets as they hunt for the best crypto to buy now that could deliver quick gains.

Traders continue to monitor themes including the upcoming Bitcoin halving, the evolving Fed interest rate outlook, and Bitcoin ETF flows.

The halving is now just nine days away as nerves are building that Bitcoin could see price turbulence.

Meanwhile, fading GBTC outflows means spot Bitcoin ETF demand is returning as a tailwind to the market. That is helping to cushion the BTC price against a recent repricing of Fed rate cut bets.

Wednesday’s hot US CPI data, which comes on the heels of strong jobs and activity data a week earlier, suggests that it will be too early for the Fed to cut interest rates this summer.

Whilst the timing of US rate cuts are being pushed back, the long-term trajectory remains towards easing.

New York Fed President John Williams reiterated his stance that rate cuts make sense later this year.

Globally, other major central banks are also easing. The ECB signaled rate cuts to come this summer at its Thursday meeting.

Macro thus looks set to remain a long-term tailwind for Bitcoin and the broader market. Indeed, many continue to bet that BTC can hit $100,000 this year.

That suggests, for investors looking to get involved in crypto, it could be the best crypto to buy today. It is, after all, the oldest, most time-tested and trusted crypto asset on the market.

The 9 Bitcoin ETFs have purchased ~225,000 #Bitcoin since the launch in January.

IBIT alone has absorbed all of the Grayscale selling.

This is a net purchase of ~3,600 Bitcoin for every trading day since the launch.

In the next few months:

– Hong Kong ETFs will be approved… pic.twitter.com/YodaqK6K1e

— Rajat Soni, CFA (@rajatsonifnance) April 11, 2024

But investors who already have experience in crypto and are looking for bigger upside potential will be looking elsewhere.

Many smaller and lesser-known altcoins, while significantly riskier than Bitcoin, have much greater upside potential.

Where Bitcoin’s gains this bull market may be limited to around 2x from here, many altcoins could 5-10x.

Here are some big movers on Thursday that could be the best crypto to buy now.

Best Crypto to Buy Now

BitTensor (TAO)

Decentralized AI protocol BitTensor ($TAO) hit new all-time highs on Thursday above $770 per token.

The token has since pulled back to around $625, but still trades with 24-hour gains of around 12%.

The pump comes in wake of BitTensor securing a listing on the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance.

Congratulations @const_reborn and the whole @opentensor team! You guys are amazing, as unique as each block itself!#bittensor #binance https://t.co/9OZppMxu3t

— Tao Ceτi (@ceti_ai) April 11, 2024

Despite its pullback from highs, $TAO is still up well over 10x versus its October lows. AI remains a big narrative in the market right now.

But it’s still small market cap of currently around $4.1 billion leaves plenty of room for upside. After all, AI companies like Nvidia have valuations to the north of $1 trillion.

Helium (HNT)

DePIN project Helium (HNT), a network that leverages a decentralized global network of wireless hotspot providers and double up as miners, is pumping on Thursday.

As per CoinMarketCap, HNT was last up around 10% in 24 hours and trading close to $6.10.

HNT’s market cap was last around $980 million. For believers in the project’s long-term vision, this is still a bargain valuation.

Bulls will be hoping Thursday’s strong performance is the start of a push back to 2024 highs around $11.0.

NEO (NEO)

Neo (NEO), the cryptocurrency of the up-and-coming smart contract blockchain NEO, is pumping on Thursday.

According to CoinMarketCap, it was last up 10% in the past 24 hours at $21.87 per token. That rally has lifted its market cap to around $1.54 billion.

That’s a very modest market cap still if the blockchain does see some decent real-world adoption.

NEO could easily still 5x this bull market, making it a candidate for the best crypto to buy now.

Crypto Alternatives to Consider

All of the above coins offer potential investors a great chance to make 10x gains.

But, for those looking for a better probability of near-term gains, an alternative high-risk, high-reward investment strategy to consider is getting involved in crypto presales.

Presales allow investors the opportunity to buy tokens of upstart crypto projects at early-bord prices. These projects then put these funds to powering the development of their protocols.

There is a long history of presales delivering huge exponential gains to early investors. Many of these projects have fantastic teams behind them and a great vision to deliver a revolutionary crypto application/platform.

If an investor can identify such projects, the risk/reward of their presale investment is very good.

The team at Cryptonews spends a lot of time combing through presale projects to help investors out.

Here is a list of 17 of what the project deems as the best crypto presales of 2024.

See the 17 Cryptocurrencies

Disclaimer: Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. You could lose all of your capital.