The Best Cryptocurrency to Buy With $500 Right Now

By Dominic Basulto – Mar 3, 2026 at 12:45AM ESTKey PointsDespite the broader downturn in the crypto market, PAX Gold is up 18% for the year.As a gold-backed stablecoin, PAX Gold tracks the price of physical gold on a 1:1 basis.For now, gold-backed stablecoins appear to have supplanted Bitcoin as "digital gold."At a time when market leader Bitcoin (BTC +2.51%) is down nearly 30% for the year, it's becoming increasingly difficult to find any winners in the crypto market right now. But one pocket of strength remains in the crypto market: stablecoins pegged 1:1 to the price of physical gold. For the year, PAX Gold (PAXG 1.73%) is up 18%, mirroring the performance of physical gold. As gold goes, so goes PAX Gold. Considering all the geopolitical turmoil in the world right now, combined with all the new uncertainty over global tariffs, I can't think of a better cryptocurrency to buy right now with $500. PAX Gold vs. Bitcoin It's important to note that there are various ways to get your gold exposure today. You could, for example, buy a physical gold bar and store it in a home vault. You could buy a gold ETF in your brokerage account for indirect exposure to gold. Or, you could buy "digital gold." Until recently, that meant buying Bitcoin, which has been characterized as "digital gold" for years now.

Even Fed Chair Jerome Powell has referred to Bitcoin as a type of gold that is both "virtual" and "digital." However, given the recent poor performance of Bitcoin, investors are searching for other ways to get their gold exposure. Image source: Getty Images. That's where PAX Gold comes into the picture. PAX Gold is "tokenized gold," which is gold in the form of a crypto token. It is a cryptocurrency fully backed by physical gold held in a London gold vault. At any point, you can exchange your crypto token for physical gold, no questions asked. So, by holding PAX Gold, you have direct ownership rights to physical gold. ExpandCRYPTO: PAXGPAX GoldToday's Change(-1.73%) $-93.84Current Price$5325.48Key Data PointsMarket Cap$2.6BDay's Range$5306.68 - $5453.0952wk Range$2862.47 - $5619.09Volume763M As long as the price of gold continues to soar, so will the price of PAX Gold. That's what makes PAX Gold so attractive. The price of gold is up 79% over the past 12 months and 194% over the past five years. PAX Gold has been on a similar upward trajectory. The long-term outlook Over the long haul, though, I'm fully expecting Bitcoin to outperform gold. Looking back at historical returns, that has been the case for much of the past decade. The only years when gold outperforms Bitcoin are when Bitcoin is collapsing in price. That happened in 2014, 2018, and 2022. And now it appears to be happening in 2026. But all is not lost. Bitcoin typically trades in a four-year cycle, and this appears to be the "bust" phase of its boom-and-bust cycle. Bitcoin will eventually recover, but probably not until 2027. So, for now, I'm putting $500 into tokenized gold and tapping into the potential for double-digit returns this year.Read NextFeb 20, 2026 •By Dominic BasultoThe Best Cryptocurrency to Buy with $1,000 Right NowDec 31, 2025 •By Dominic BasultoThe Best Cryptocurrency to Buy With $500 Right Now (Hint: It's Not Bitcoin)Dec 30, 2025 •By Lyle DalyBetter Stablecoin Buy: PAX Gold vs. Tether GoldAbout the AuthorDominic Basulto is a contributing Motley Fool crypto analyst covering cryptocurrencies, digital assets, and crypto-related companies. Prior to The Motley Fool, Dominic was a technology and innovation journalist at The Washington Post and Fortune. He holds a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University and an MBA in finance from Yale School of Management.TMFCryptoDomX@dominicbasultoStocks MentionedPAX GoldCRYPTO: PAXG$5,325.48(-1.73%)-$93.84BitcoinCRYPTO: BTC$67,931.00(+2.67%)+$1,769.35*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.