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The current meme token craze in the crypto market shows no signs of stopping. Every investor, it seems, is looking for wildly inexpensive meme tokens that could explode in value. Things have gotten so out of control that cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) recently issued a warning about the dangers of investing in meme tokens.

The good news is that you don't need to invest in meme tokens to generate huge returns. You can still get significant upside from large market-cap cryptos priced under $1 -- and with a lot less risk. Here's a closer look at three bargain-priced cryptos that have explosive upside potential.

First up is Cardano(CRYPTO: ADA). Priced at just $0.37, Cardano is now trading at 88% below its all-time high of $3.10. Yet, it is still a top-10 crypto by market capitalization. The Cardano blockchain launched back in 2017, so you're not investing in a fly-by-night meme token that could disappear tomorrow. Cardano perennially ranks as one of the top Layer 1 blockchains.

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For the year, Cardano is up nearly 50%, and based on its strong recent growth, could soar even higher. One particular area of growth is non-fungible tokens (NFTs), where Cardano has suddenly emerged as one of the top three blockchains. In 2022, Cardano ranked as the top blockchain by overall development activity, a potential sign of good things to come.

Most importantly, Cardano is finally turning things around in decentralized finance (DeFi), which is one of the most important sectors of the blockchain world. Thus, DeFi is the one catalyst that could propel Cardano much higher. Total value locked (TVL) -- a key metric used to evaluate DeFi strength -- is now at a 10-month high. In Q1 2023, Cardano's TVL grew by an astounding 172%.At the same time, Cardano continues to roll out new products and offerings for DeFi.

Next up is Polygon (CRYPTO: MATIC), another top-10 crypto by market capitalization. Polygon currently trades at $0.88 but has traded as high as $2.92. It is generally considered one of the top Layer 2 scaling solutions for the Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) blockchain, which is what makes it so valuable. Right now, Ethereum can't process transactions quickly or cheaply enough for users, so it relies on Layer 2 solutions such as Polygon.

Polygon continues to benefit from growth in Ethereum, and will for the foreseeable future. Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has said that, even after The Merge, the blockchain continues to need Layer 2 solutions like Polygon. The only problem is that the Layer 2 space has gotten crowded of late, and that has put a cap on Polygon's recent price performance. For the year, Polygon is only up 14%. That being said, it continues to impress with its stellar client list, which now includes both Nike and Starbucks.

Trading at just $0.27, SingularityNET (CRYPTO: AGIX) is one of the highest-upside AI cryptos you can buy. For the year, SingularityNET is up a head-spinning 492%. Plenty of new AI cryptos have seemingly appeared out of nowhere in 2023, but SingularityNET has been doing this for years. The team behind this crypto pioneered the concept of combining AI with blockchain technology and is best known for its work with Sophia, arguably the most famous AI robot in the world.

For SingularityNET to surge even higher, though, you might have to be patient. While ChatGPT specializes in a form of artificial intelligence known as generative AI, SingularityNET is working toward a much bigger goal: artificial general intelligence, or AGI. This type of AI usually appears in Hollywood science fiction films -- you know, the ones where the computers are smarter than the humans.

But just a caveat to investors: Predicting winners in the nascent AI space is difficult. What's hot today -- such as anything involving ChatGPT -- might seem quaint in just 12 months. Considering all the effort big tech companies are putting into AI right now, it might be safer to invest in Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), which reportedly has $13 billion invested in ChatGPT, and call it a day.

In terms of balancing risk and reward, Cardano is probably the best crypto you can buy under $1. You're getting a premier Layer 1 blockchain at a dumpster-diving price. If you take into account Cardano's recent growth in DeFi, then it's conceivable it could finally retrace its path back to its all-time high of $3.10 from September 2021. If it does that, then you'd be close to getting a 10X return on your investment. And you'd be able to do so without investing in silly meme tokens and worrying that your investment might fall to zero overnight.

Dominic Basulto has positions in Cardano, Ethereum, and Polygon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Cardano, Coinbase Global, Ethereum, Microsoft, and Polygon. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Forget About Meme Tokens: These Cryptos Are Under $1 and Have ... - The Motley Fool