2 Altcoins to Buy With $100 Right Now

By Leo Sun – Mar 20, 2026 at 2:12AM ESTKey PointsSolana’s high speeds and expanding ecosystem could lock in more developers.Cardano’s upcoming catalysts could attract a lot more attention.Altcoins, or any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin (BTC 0.43%), are often considered speculative investments. Whereas Bitcoin can be actively mined, valued by its scarcity, and considered a hedge against inflation, many altcoins have fewer visible strengths. Instead, they often trade on headlines, market hype, and a "fear of missing out". That said, investors shouldn't simply gloss over all these altcoins. Some of them can still be valued for their scarcity and utility, attracting more attention from developers and investors as the crypto market heats up again. Two such coins are Solana (SOL 1.00%) and Cardano (ADA +0.06%). While I wouldn't bet the farm on either of these altcoins in this wobbly market, I believe they could turn a modest $100 investment into a lot more money over the next few decades as more catalysts kick in. Image source: Getty Images. Solana Solana, like Ethereum (ETH 1.95%), is a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain that supports staking (locking up tokens to earn interest-like rewards) and smart contracts, which are used to develop decentralized apps and other crypto assets. However, it accelerates those transactions with its own proof-of-history (PoH) mechanism, which timestamps them before they're validated. ExpandCRYPTO: SOLSolanaToday's Change(-1.00%) $-0.90Current Price$89.08Key Data PointsMarket Cap$51BDay's Range$87.28 - $90.2752wk Range$70.61 - $252.78Volume3.5B That upgrade enables Solana's native Layer 1 (L1) blockchain to achieve real-world speeds of 2,000 to 5,000 transactions per second (TPS). Ethereum's L1 blockchain can only achieve real-world speeds of about 15-30 TPS, but it's keeping up with Solana with Layer 2 (L2) "rollups" that bundle together transactions and process them off-chain at much higher speeds. Solana hosted 17,708 active developers at the end of 2025, making it the second-largest blockchain-based developer platform after Ethereum (31,869 developers). Visa (V +0.23%) also uses Solana to settle stablecoin payments, while Shopify (SHOP 1.12%) integrates Solana Pay into its checkout services, enabling its merchants to accept cryptocurrency payments. With 571 million tokens in circulation and no fixed supply limit, Solana can't be valued by its scarcity. However, its high transaction speeds, rapid growth in developers, and digital payment and e-commerce partnerships make it more useful than other smaller altcoins. Moreover, Solana's first spot price exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with staking features were approved last year -- and big inflows from institutional investors could drive its price a lot higher. Cardano Cardano is another PoS blockchain that supports staking and smart contracts. Its L1 blockchain achieves real-world speeds of around 250 TPS -- putting it ahead of Ethereum but behind Solana -- but it's only used by a few hundred developers. That's because each of its projects must be approved through formal peer reviews to ensure scalability and security. ExpandCRYPTO: ADACardanoToday's Change(0.06%) $0.00Current Price$0.27Key Data PointsMarket Cap$10BDay's Range$0.26 - $0.2752wk Range$0.23 - $1.01Volume428M That selective nature makes Cardano an appealing blockchain partner for large companies and government clients, but it hasn't yet scaled those partnerships as much as Ethereum or Solana. However, Cardano can also achieve higher speeds of about 1,000 TPS through its Layer 2 (L2) Hydra "heads" -- that bundle together its transactions and process them off-chain. Cardano has a circulating supply of 36 billion tokens with a supply cap of 45 billion, so it can be valued by both its scarcity and its usefulness to developers. In 2026, the bulls expect Hydra to attract more partners with its high-speed, low-cost transactions, its Mithril validation upgrade to improve syncing and efficiency for wallets and nodes, and its next-gen Ouroboros Leios consensus mechanism to significantly boost maximum speeds. Cardano's upcoming Midnight privacy upgrade, which enables confidential smart contracts, could make it more appealing for tightly regulated industries. Its first spot-price ETFs could also be approved in the near future, attracting more attention from institutional investors. All of these catalysts could make Cardano an appealing long-term investment.Read NextMar 16, 2026 •By Chris MacDonaldSolana Spotlight: Why This Top-10 Token Surged More Than 7% TodayMar 7, 2026 •By Alex CarchidiIs Solana Still Worth Buying After Falling 37% in 90 Days?Feb 23, 2026 •By Alex CarchidiGot $4,000? Which Is the Better Cryptocurrency to Buy Right Now: Dogecoin vs. Solana?Feb 22, 2026 •By Anthony Di PizioCrypto Crash: Is Solana a Buy After Its 67% Plunge?Feb 20, 2026 •By Leo SunCrypto Crash Playbook: 2 High-Conviction Buys to Consider Before the ReboundFeb 19, 2026 •By Emma Newbery2 Top Altcoins to Consider Buying Before Prices ReboundAbout the AuthorLeo Sun is a contributing Motley Fool stock market analyst who has worked with the company since 2013, covering technology, consumer goods, industrial, and financial sectors. He became a self-made millionaire by age 40 through long-term investing, crediting lessons from Warren Buffett and Peter Lynch. Leo is a regular guest on CNBC Asia providing stock analysis on Chinese technology companies, including Tencent, Baidu, and Alibaba. He previously wrote for InvestorGuide and holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Texas at Austin.TMFSunLionX@TMFSunLionStocks MentionedSolanaCRYPTO: SOL$89.08(-1.00%)-$0.90VisaNYSE: V$299.88(+0.29%)+$0.86ShopifyNASDAQ: SHOP$122.36(-1.12%)-$1.39BitcoinCRYPTO: BTC$70,487.00(-0.43%)-$306.48EthereumCRYPTO: ETH$2,135.03(-2.52%)-$55.09CardanoCRYPTO: ADA$0.27(+0.06%)+$0.00*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.