Where to Invest in Crypto in 2026: Which Coins to Choose and What to Avoid

Dmytro, an engineer from Kyiv, still regrets not buying Bitcoin in 2009. Back then, the cryptocurrency seemed like an experiment to him rather than an asset that would one day be worth thousands of dollars. He has set aside $1,000 and is monitoring the market, determined not to miss a potential opportunity a second time.

Where should you start, how do you choose assets, and what should your first crypto portfolio look like? LIGA.net continues its regular series of investment guides and, together with crypto experts, covers everything you need to know before investing in crypto.

Where to start if you decide to invest in crypto

The story of Bitcoin—which cost less than a cent at its inception—has long been on Dmytro’s mind. Bitcoin launched in January 2009, and the first market valuations appeared later that same year; at the time, one BTC was valued at around $0.0008.

Having watched the crypto market grow for years, Dmytro—like many others—could have drawn the mistaken conclusion that an investor's main task is to find, in time, a coin that will increase tenfold in value.

"For a beginner, I would start not with the question 'Which coin will deliver a 10x return?' but with 'Which asset has a chance of surviving in 5–10 years?' In crypto, these are fundamentally different approaches," says investor and AISync Globall founder Mykhailo Patsan.