10 Best Short-Term Crypto Investments in May 2024

Michael Graw | Verified by Alan Draper

Last updated: April 24, 2024 08:52 EDT | 21 min read

The crypto market is known for its volatility, and that makes it the ideal place to find short-term gains in explosive tokens. These coins might not have the staying power of Bitcoin or Ethereum, but they can burn bright for a short time and generate massive returns for traders and investors who time them right.

The trick is finding tokens that are about to explode higher, but haven’t taken off yet. This requires a detailed knowledge of the crypto landscape and a strong understanding of what kinds of tokens resonate with other traders, creating opportunity for successful short-term crypto investments.

To help you decide which crypto to buy today for short-term gains, we’ll look at 10 coins that have upcoming catalysts and the potential to shoot higher.

Reviewed: Best Crypto to Invest in for Short-Term Gains

Picking which crypto to buy today for short-term gains requires understanding why a token is poised to experience big price increases. It’s not enough just to pick a coin with high potential, but also to get the timing right.

With that in mind, we’ll take a closer look at the 10 best short-term crypto investment opportunities and explain why we think each is a good choice for traders.

1. Dogeverse – Hot Presale Meme Coin Crossing 6 Blockchains, Raised $7m

If we had to pick just one short-term cryptocurrency to buy today, it would be Dogeverse. This new meme coin is currently on presale, meaning investors have a chance to buy it at a discounted price before it hits exchanges. Successful presale tokens frequently rocket higher when they first launch on decentralized exchanges (DEXs), and we think $DOGEVERSE could be headed for the moon.

Dogeverse is one of the first meme coins to launch on multiple blockchains simultaneously. This token isn’t just one of the best Solana meme coins—it’s also one of the best new meme coins on Ethereum, Avalanche, Polygon, Binance Smart Chain, and Base.

This is a big deal because it puts Dogeverse in front of an audience that’s potentially 6x larger than if it only launched on a single chain. In addition, it lends immediate utility to the $DOGEVERSE token as a means to move value across these popular blockchains.

Dogeverse has raised $7 million in its presale so far, showing how much excitement there is behind this project. Only 15% of the token supply is available in the presale, so there’s likely to be a lot of demand left over when it hits exchanges and we think $DOGEVERSE could be the next crypto to explode.

As an added bonus, presale investors can earn staking rewards up to 152% APY. That’s a great start to this short-term investment.

Visit Dogeverse

2. Slothana – Meme Coin with $10 Million Presale and Devoted Following

Slothana is another Solana meme coin currently on presale that’s reaching a fever pitch of excitement as the launch approaches—it’s now just 10 days away. This project has raised more than $10 million in SOL, positioning it to hit exchanges with a huge community and an impressive market cap.

Slothana stands out as a great short-term crypto to buy because the character behind this meme coin has viral potential. The project features an adorable sloth at a desk, just counting down the hours until the end of the workday—an experience almost everyone can relate to. While there’s no shiba inu involved, we think Slothana has the potential to draw eyeballs and break through in a way that few coins have achieved since Pepe.

This project also has a grassroots feel to it that encourages HODLing. There’s no presale platform, for example. Instead, investors send SOL directly to the project team, and they’ll get $SLOTH tokens airdropped to them ahead of launch. Slothana doesn’t provide any details about tokenomics or a roadmap—it’s just here to create short-term riches.

Visit Slothana

3. Smog – Solana Meme Coin with Massive Airdrops and 42% Staking APY

Smog is a meme coin that started out on Solana, then bridged to Ethereum to put the project in front of even more traders and investors. It’s been hugely successful since launching in February, achieving a market cap of more than $130 million across the 2 blockchains. Smog also has a highly engaged community of more than 119,000 token holders.

Smog is down from its peak price right now, which we think could be an opportunity for short-term traders and investors to swoop in and buy at a discount. If the token returns to its all-time high, traders who buy today would earn a 270% return.

There’s more than just token price gains to Smog, too. This token is built around sharing value with its community through airdrops. The first airdrop just released millions of dollars worth of $SMOG to token holders, and the project promises a ‘Season 2’ airdrop that could land at any time.

On top of all that, if you buy $SMOG on Ethereum, you can qualify for staking rewards up to 42% APY. That’s just the cherry on top of an already potentially life-changing short-term trade.

Visit Smog

4. Jupiter – Solana DEX Benefiting from Meme Coin Frenzy

Jupiter is the largest DEX on Solana, and it’s become the go-to hub for trading Solana meme coins. The platform has raked in millions in transaction fees thanks to the recent explosion in meme coin trading.

As a result, the value of Jupiter’s governance token, $JUP, has soared. It’s up more than 100% since launching in February and has achieved a market cap of more than $10 billion.

Thousands of new meme coins are launching on Solana every day, which means the trading frenzy isn’t likely to slow down anytime soon. We think the $JUP token could continue to price gains, especially if token holders vote to approve token buybacks or burns in the future.

It’s possible that Jupiter could be a good long-term play. However, we’re uncertain whether the meme coin craze will last forever, so we think traders are better off treating $JUP as a short-term investment and locking in gains sooner rather than later.

Visit Jupiter

5. BitBot – AI-powered Trading Bot Raised $2.5 Million on Presale

BitBot is an AI-powered trading Telegram trading bot designed for short-term trading. It’s an interesting investment opportunity because you get a token that has potential to shoot higher after listing, plus access to a bot that can help you find more short-term crypto trading setups.

BitBot also promises to reward token holders with a share of revenue from bot trading with project funds. That means investors could potentially earn passive income even as the token’s price is moving higher.

The $BITBOT token is on presale now and it’s already raised $2.5 million, indicating that there’s a lot of excitement behind this token. We think it has the potential to shoot higher once traders see how well the AI behind this bot performs in real trades. However, the trading bot space is extremely competitive, so we’re not sure how well BitBot will fare in the long-term.

Visit Bitbot

6. Dogwifhat – The Biggest Solana Meme Coin Set for Another Pump

Dogwifhat is the largest Solana meme coin by market cap, with a value of more than $2.6 billion. It achieved this valuation in spectacular fashion—the token has existed for less than 6 weeks, so it’s been a meteoric rise. It’s now the 3rd-largest meme coin on any chain, behind only Dogecoin and Shiba Inu.

There are some signs that the $WIF token’s momentum is slowing down—trading volume has decreased moderately and the token is down 48% from its all-time high. However, we think $WIF has another pump ahead.

This token has inspired tons of copycat hat-wearing meme coins, which help keep Dogwifhat in the spotlight. In addition, the team behind $WIF is working on a meme generator, which will let token holders add an infinite number of hats to the dog in the meme. This could create another round of hype around $WIF, sending the token skyrocketing once again.

Visit Dogwifhat

7. Insanity Bets – Crypto Casino on Presale with Revenue Sharing from Bets

Insanity Bets is exciting as a short-term investment because it’s diving into an extremely hot market: crypto gambling. According to one analysis, online gambling has the potential to be a $153 billion market by 2030, so traders and investors are piling into many gambling tokens and driving up their prices.

Insanity Bets is unique in that it plans to share revenue from the casino with token holders. That gives it a significant edge over existing Bitcoin casino sites and could push more investors into the project, driving up its value.

Insanity Bets has just launched its $IBET token presale, so investors have a chance to get in on the ground floor of this project and increase their potential return. There’s no timeline set for the presale, so plan to be in this trade for several months.

Visit Insanity Bets

8. Near Protocol – AI Token with Momentum from Chatbot Hype

Near Protocol is a Layer-1 blockchain built with AI development in mind. It’s perfectly positioned to take advantage of the hype around AI in crypto happening now. In fact, the $NEAR token is riding high with a 140% gain over the past 12 months.

While we don’t think this momentum will last forever, it’s robust enough that short-term traders have a chance to ride the wave of demand. The $NEAR token has trading volume of more than $550 million behind it, and volume has been growing rather than shrinking. This is a strong indicator that $NEAR could be poised for another move higher.

Another benefit to Near Protocol for traders is that the token has tons of liquidity. It has a market cap of more than $6 billion and is listed on almost every major exchange, including Binance, Coinbase, and eToro. That increases the number of eyeballs on $NEAR and makes it easier for traders to move in and out of short-term positions quickly.

Visit Near Protocol

9. Pepe – Dominant Meme Coin Surging Again with Crypto Bull Market

Although Pepe has been overshadowed in some ways by the recent explosion in Solana meme coins, this meme coin certainly hasn’t been forgotten. $PEPE shot up nearly 10x in the first week of March, reminding traders that this token loves to pump.

The token has now found a new price floor after the latest pump, but we think it could be setting up for another run. Trading volume in Pepe is still extremely high—over $600 million in the last 24 hours alone—and this is one of the first coins traders think to buy when they hear that meme coins are going up.

While all the best short-term crypto investments are high-risk, high-reward, that’s especially true for Pepe. This token has seen more than its fair share of ups and downs, and it’s impossible to know whether it will skyrocket or sink as its next move.

Visit Pepe

10. Ethereum – Bet on the SEC’s Decision to Allow an ETH ETF in the US

While we would normally consider Ethereum to be a long-term crypto investment, it has some interesting potential for short-term trading right now. This is primarily because the US Securities and Exchange Commission is considering whether to allow a spot ETH ETF in the US, the approval of which could cause a significant price increase.

Recently launched Bitcoin ETFs have seen huge inflows and their approval was followed by a run-up in Bitcoin, so it’s reasonable that if an Ethereum ETF was approved, $ETH could see similarly large short-term gains.

You can also consider a short trade on Ethereum if you think the ETF won’t be approved and the price of $ETH will drop as a result. Most major exchanges support short $ETH trading, which isn’t possible for a lot of the other tokens we highlighted.

Either way, we think the SEC’s decision is likely to have a significant impact on the price of $ETH, creating opportunities for short-term profit.

Buy Ethereum on eToro

What is Short-Term Crypto Trading?

Short-term crypto trading involves buying and selling cryptocurrencies over short timescales. There are different types of trading that focus on different timescales:

• Day trading involves buying and selling a token within the span of a single day, and potentially within a few minutes.
• Swing trading takes place over multiple days or up to several weeks.
• Short-term investing has a timeframe of several weeks to several months. Typically, short-term investments are shorter than a year.

The goal of short-term crypto trading is to achieve a return relatively quickly. Traders aren’t concerned with whether a cryptocurrency is a good purchase for the long-run or whether a project team develops its token further. The only focus is turning a profit through upward price movement.

Short-Term vs Long-Term Crypto Investing: Which is Better?

When it comes to investing in the crypto market, there are two broad strategies to take: short-term investing and long-term investing. Short-term investing involves buying and selling cryptocurrencies on a timeframe of several months. Long-term crypto investing involves buying and selling on a timeframe of several years.

These strategies aren’t mutually exclusive. You can invest for the short-term in one token and for the long-term in another. You can also have different pools of money within your trading account that you allocate to different investing strategies.

Both approaches have benefits and drawbacks, and we’ll explain the differences between them so you can decide which is better for you.

Quicker Profits vs Higher Returns

When you invest in crypto for the short-term, you can realize profits from trades more quickly. This is important because you can reinvest money from your trade in another token, giving you a chance to earn more profits. If you invest the profits from the previous trade, your potential return for the next trade will be even higher.

However, the amount of profit you’ll get from a short-term investment may be limited. For example, targeting a 25% gain in a month is reasonable, but targeting a 200% gain in a month may not be (unless you pick a very explosive token).

With long-term investing, you have the potential to earn more on each investment. If you were to buy and hold Bitcoin for several years, for example, your position could be up hundreds of percent by the time you sell. In the meantime, though, the money you have invested is locked up and cannot be used for other investments.

Active vs Passive Investment

Short-term crypto investing is what’s known as an active strategy. It requires you to pay close attention to the market, conduct research, keep an eye on market news, and work to find new investment opportunities every few weeks or months. Active investing takes a lot of time and can even be a full-time job.

Long-term crypto investing is a type of passive strategy. There’s upfront work involved in choosing what to invest in. But after that, you can mostly sit back and forget about the market. You don’t have to continuously allocate time to research or worry about what the market is doing on any given day.

Transaction Fees: High vs Low

Every time you buy or sell crypto, you’ll pay a fee to the exchange you use. So, the more trades you make, the more you’ll pay in transaction fees.

This means that transaction fees can add up to a significant amount of money for short-term investors. In contrast, they’re usually minimal for long-term investors, who may only make a few transactions each year.

Short-term investors can minimize transaction fees by buying and selling cryptocurrencies on a centralized exchange (CEX). CEXs typically have much lower fees compared to DEXs like Uniswap or Jupiter.

Will The Coin Survive in the Long Run?

It’s important to think about whether a short-term or long-term strategy makes more sense for the specific token you’re investing in. Some tokens can produce huge gains over the span of a few months, but sink if you hold onto them for too long. Other tokens may gain ground slowly and steadily, making them better suited to long-term investing.

We recommend taking a short-term investing approach whenever you’re investing in new cryptocurrencies. That’s because many new tokens shoot up after launch, but fizzle out after a few weeks or months.

Best Strategies for Short-Term Crypto Investing

We’ve found several strategies that work very well for short-term crypto investing. While no strategy is perfect, using one of these can increase your chances of turning a profit.

Buy New Crypto Before Listing in Presales

Crypto presales offer excellent opportunities for short-term investors. Presales offer the ability to buy a new crypto before listing at a discounted price. So, you can lock in unrealized gains before trading begins.

We recommend looking for presale cryptos like Dogeverse that are divided into rounds and have progressive price increases for each round. That way, investors who buy during the early rounds receive an even greater discount to the list price, and the unrealized gains at listing are proportionally larger.

Qualifying for Upcoming Airdrops

Crypto projects with upcoming airdrops can also offer excellent opportunities for short-term investing. That’s because you have the potential to receive an additional reward—which can be quite large—in addition to any gains that come from a rise in the token’s price.

When investing for airdrops, keep in mind that token prices often fall in the days after an airdrop occurs. So, you may want to plan to hold for a longer period while the price recovers.

Join VIP Crypto Telegram Groups

Being among the first to know about token news and developments can give you a leg up in the market. For example, if you know that a token is about to announce a new exchange listing before everyone else, you can buy coins and profit when the news gets out and the price goes up.

Crypto Telegram groups are a great place to get this kind of insider news. Many top groups are led by crypto influencers who have direct access to project teams and are privy to developments before the general public. These groups can also help you figure out which rumors are true and whether certain news is likely to be bullish or bearish for a token.

Follow Top Crypto Influencers

Crypto influencers have a lot of power within the crypto market. If a prominent influencer endorses a new crypto token, its value can double in a matter of hours. Conversely, if an influencer criticizes a project, that could be a death knell.

So, it’s important to know who the most widely followed influencers are and to listen to what they’re saying about various tokens. Short-term investors need to be able to react quickly when an influencer puts out a new tweet or a video.

Conclusion

Short-term investing can be a very effective way to approach the cryptocurrency market, and it’s especially good for new tokens or coins that are experiencing a burst of momentum. We think the best cryptocurrency to invest in today for short-term gains is Dogeverse. This meme coin has raised more than $7 million in its ongoing presale and looks like it could shoot for the moon once it hits exchanges.

Visit Dogeverse

FAQs

Which crypto should I buy today for short-term?

The best short-term cryptocurrency to buy today is Dogeverse. This meme coin is launching on 6 blockchains, including Solana, Ethereum, Avalanche, Polygon, Binance Smart Chain, and Base. It’s already raised $7 million and looks set to shoot higher after hitting exchanges.

Which crypto is increasing in price rapidly?

Smog and Jupiter are two Solana tokens that have a lot of price momentum right now and could be good targets for short-term investing. We’re also watching Dogeverse and Slothana, two meme coins on presale that could see rapid gains when they list on exchanges.

Which coin will perform best in the short-term?

We think Dogeverse will have the best short-term performance over the next few months. This meme coin is on track to sell out its presale, and investors today can benefit from staking rewards and price increases ahead of listing. After listing, we think Dogeverse could explode higher.

Is it better to invest in crypto for the short-term or long-term?

Both short-term and long-term investing strategies can work well for cryptocurrencies. We recommend short-term investing for new tokens and long-term investing for established tokens that have clear utility.

About the Author

Michael Graw

Gambling and Finance Writer

Michael Graw is an experienced freelance finance and tech writer, specializing in cryptocurrencies, decentralized finance, and Web 3.0 since 2018. His work has been featured on various financial news sites like Business2Community, InsideBitcoins, LearnBonds, and tech-focused outlets like TechRadar. He has collaborated with fintech and crypto startups on whitepapers and investor resources, and also has expertise in sports betting and crypto gambling. Michael holds a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University and a PhD in Oceanography from Oregon State University. He now resides in Bellingham, Washington, and writes full-time.

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