Which Cryptocurrencies Under $1 Could Take Off? A Look at Dogecoin, Cardano, Stellar, HBAR, and a Comparison with XRP at $1.47
Coins priced under a dollar feel like bargains, but that logic can quietly wreck a portfolio. Before you trade XRP for Dogecoin, Cardano, Stellar, or Hedera, there are a few uncomfortable truths about supply, market cap, and real growth potential…
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When new investors venture into the world of cryptocurrencies, they often want to know which coins under $1 might skyrocket. Dogecoin (CRYPTO:DOGE), Cardano (CRYPTO:ADA), Stellar (CRYPTO:XLM), and Hedera (CRYPTO:HBAR) often top these discussions. The idea that a coin priced in pennies has more growth potential than XRP (CRYPTO:XRP), which trades at $1.47 as of October 7, 2026, can be misleading.
On the surface, all five coins have seen declines over the past day: Cardano dropped about 5%, Hedera fell by 4%, and both Dogecoin and Stellar lost around 4%, while XRP fell about 1%. So, which of the four coins priced under $1 has the best chance for a major price increase, and how does XRP stack up?
Why a Price Under $1 Doesn’t Make a Coin Cheap
A cryptocurrency’s market value is determined by its price multiplied by the total number of coins in circulation. This means that price alone isn’t a clear indicator of a coin’s value. A price under $1 doesn’t necessarily mean the coin is inexpensive.
Take Dogecoin, for example. It is valued at around $0.091, yet its market capitalization is about $14.2 billion, which is larger than that of Cardano, Stellar, or Hedera. This is because approximately 156 billion Dogecoins are currently in circulation. In comparison, XRP has about 63 billion coins, HBAR has 44 billion, ADA has 38 billion, and XLM has 35 billion.
The number of coins in circulation also impacts how much the price can grow. Cardano limits its total supply to 45 billion coins, Hedera to 50 billion, and XRP to 100 billion. Stellar, which stopped producing new coins in 2019, has a fixed total of about 50 billion coins. On the other hand, Dogecoin has no supply cap and increases its supply by about 5 billion coins each year, which can hinder price increases.
How Dogecoin, Cardano, Stellar, and Hedera Compare
Among the four, Dogecoin has the largest market cap, yet it has plummeted about 65% over the past year and is currently trading about 88% below its 2021 peak of $0.73. While large holders continue to accumulate Dogecoin, its boundless supply poses challenges for any potential price rallies.
Cardano, trading at approximately $0.26, has a market cap close to $9.7 billion. It’s the only one of the four that has risen recently—up about 6% over the past week—thanks to the launch of Cardano’s RealFi stablecoin yield product. Nevertheless, ADA still sits about 92% below its all-time high of $3.09 from 2021.
Stellar is currently priced around $0.21, with a market cap of about $7.2 billion. It has experienced the smallest decline over the past year, around 48%. However, XLM has dropped about 7% over the past week and is now trading about 76% below its 2018 high of $0.88.
Hedera, the smallest by market value at about $4.2 billion, is trading near $0.096. After a rally of about 22% through early October, HBAR has given back some gains, dropping about 9% over the past week. It remains about 83% below its 2021 peak of $0.57.
Why XRP Costs More but Carries a Bigger Market Value
XRP, priced above $1, has also declined, dropping about 50% over the past year and currently standing about 60% below its peak price of $3.65. With a market value of around $93 billion, XRP is worth more than the combined total of the other four coins, approximately $35 billion.
This higher market cap has its pros and cons. While XRP needs significantly more investment to double in value, it also attracts more substantial buying interest, including from exchange-traded funds that deal with XRP. In contrast, a coin with a market cap of $4 billion can double with far less new money, but it also risks falling more quickly when buyers retreat.
Which Crypto Under $1 Has the Best Chance at a Big Move?
In our assessment, Hedera appears to have the most potential for significant growth, while Dogecoin has the weakest case. As the smallest cryptocurrency of the four with a capped supply, Hedera could see a substantial percentage increase with even modest buying interest. Cardano ranks second due to its supply cap and recent positive performance.
However, it’s essential to remember that a low price alone doesn’t guarantee any of these coins will see explosive growth, especially since all four are currently over 75% below their all-time highs. For Hedera, a sustained move above $0.11, where it started in 2026, could suggest its recent rally is more than a temporary bounce. For XRP investors considering a shift, the smaller coins could offer more theoretical upside, but they also present a higher risk of abrupt losses.
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Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst and the editor of 24/7 Wall St.'s Crypto Desk, where he covers Bitcoin, XRP, Ethereum, Solana and the altcoins investors search for most. His work focuses on price levels, spot ETF flows, on-chain data and the regulatory decisions that move crypto markets, written so a first-time buyer and a seasoned trader can both use it.
Sam has written about crypto professionally since 2019 and has published more than 2,000 articles. Before joining 24/7 Wall St., he wrote for crypto media outlets and Web3 companies and ghostwrote for crypto founders and token launches. His analysis is syndicated on Yahoo Finance, MSN and AOL and has been cited by other crypto news sites. He also founded MacLabs Marketing, a content and personal branding agency for crypto founders and executives.
When he isn't reading charts, Sam is usually at the gym or watching One Piece, a series he maintains has better tokenomics than most altcoins.
