Cryptocurrency market: Which are the cheapest to buy?

The top cryptocurrencies have attracted investors looking to diversify their portfolios. While many growing companies are accepting cryptocurrencies as legitimate means of payment, the timing seems optimal for investing in cryptocurrencies based on your budget.

Financial networks like CNBC talk about Bitcoin daily and keep a ticker up on the screen showing the current price.

However, many people are likely still unaware that Bitcoin is not the only cryptocurrency out there. If you're ready to invest in some crypto, check out the 6 cheap options that could generate nice returns in 2022.

XRP, developed by Ripple - a blockchain company that facilitates global transactions - is an open source cryptocurrency that uses an open source distributed ledger called XRP Ledger. Ripple says XRP was built for payments and can settle transactions faster, more reliably and at a lower cost.

VeChain, which is the currency for the impressively named VeChain Thor Blockchain, is used to transfer value across the network. The VeChain Thor Blockchain was designed specifically for supply chain management and business processes through the use of distributed ledger technology.

The coin is certainly “cheap” at under $0.15 per coin as of Jan. 29, especially compared to its 52-week high of $0.73. The current price is down over 58% from a year ago.

Because of its flexible network and fast transactions, Cardano is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies. Charles Hoskinson (co-founder of Ethereum) developed Cardano. Scalability, interoperability and sustainability are some of its main selling points. Cardano has always been a company that takes its time and accomplishes things gradually.

Chainlink is another Ethereum token that powers the decentralized Chainlink oracle network. This network is used to securely connect to external data sources, APIs and payment systems.

Chainlink's price is moving in fits and starts, but currently sits at $16.03, down nearly 30% in a year, giving investors the opportunity to buy cheap.

USD Coin is a stablecoin, which means that its value is pegged to the value of another asset, in this case, the US dollar. This makes it remarkably stable compared to other cryptocurrencies, as USD Coin prices deviate by only a couple hundredths before returning to $1.

While you can't make money by buying low and selling high as you would with other tokens, you can earn interest by lending your USD Coin through a decentralized financial platform like Aave.