A $0.01 Crypto Is NOT Cheap. Here's What I Check Instead.
I've seen this happen so many times.
Someone finds a crypto trading at $0.01 and says:
“This is cheap. If it reaches $1, I'll make 100x.”
Sounds great, right?
There's just one problem.
The price of one coin doesn't tell you whether a crypto is actually cheap.
And once you understand this, you'll start looking at low-priced coins very differently.
1. Look at the Market Cap
This is the first thing I check.
A coin at $0.01 can have billions of tokens in circulation.
Another coin at $100 might have a much smaller supply.
So the $0.01 coin isn't necessarily “cheaper.”
The market cap gives you a much better idea of how much the entire circulating supply is worth.
That's why I never look at the coin price by itself.
$0.01 tells me almost nothing.
2. Check How Many Tokens Exist
This is where things get interesting.
Imagine two coins:
Coin A: $1 with 10 million tokens.
Coin B: $0.01 with 100 billion tokens.
Which one looks cheaper?
At first glance, most people would say Coin B.
But look at the numbers.
Coin B already has a huge amount of supply.
So when someone says:
“It only needs to reach $1!”
I immediately want to know:
“Okay… but how many tokens will exist at that point?”
That's a much better question.
3. Don't Ignore Future Supply
This is one that can catch people off guard.
A project might have a relatively small circulating supply today, but more tokens could enter circulation later through unlocks, emissions or other distribution mechanisms.
And when more supply enters the market, it can change the numbers completely.
So I like checking:
Circulating supply
Total supply
Maximum supply
And, when available, the project's token unlock schedule.
I don't automatically treat future unlocks as bad.
I just want to know they're there.
4. What About That “100x” Calculation?
This is where things can get dangerous.
You see:
$0.01 → $1 = 100x
Technically, yes.
But that's only looking at the price.
The better question is:
“What market cap would the project need at $1?”
Once you do that calculation, some of those “easy 100x” ideas suddenly don't look so easy.
And that's exactly why I like checking the numbers before getting excited.
5. Check the Liquidity Too
Here's another thing people forget.
A coin can have a huge market cap on paper and still have relatively limited liquidity.
That matters because the ability to buy or sell without moving the price dramatically depends on the available liquidity and market depth.
So before I get too excited about a tiny-priced altcoin, I want to know:
Can I actually trade it easily?
Or am I just looking at a number on a screen?
My Quick Check
Before I call a crypto “cheap,” I look at:
Price
Market cap
Circulating supply
Future supply/unlocks
Liquidity
Then I ask myself one more question:
“What would the market cap have to be for this coin to reach my target?”
That question alone can kill a lot of unrealistic 100x dreams.
And honestly, that's a good thing.
The Big Takeaway
Don't fall in love with a coin just because you like the number next to the dollar sign.
$0.001 doesn't automatically mean cheap.
$0.01 doesn't automatically mean cheap.
And $100 doesn't automatically mean expensive.
The price of one token is just one piece of the puzzle.
Look at the whole picture.
Because in crypto, sometimes the “cheap” coin isn't cheap at all.
It just has a lot more tokens.
If You Use Binance
If you trade on Binance and want to sign up through my referral link, you can use it here:
https://www.binance.com/register?ref=IDOGGFIL
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As always, this isn't financial advice. Crypto is risky, so do your own research before putting your money into anything.
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