The 2 Best Cryptocurrencies to Buy With $100 Right Now

Bitcoin remains the largest and most widely integrated cryptocurrency despite being down about 4% year-to-date as of Dec. 13, 2025, and continues to attract institutional infrastructure plans from banks such as Morgan Stanley, Citi and Bank of America for expanded trading and custody in 2026. PAX Gold (PAXG), a NYDFS‑regulated token backed by one ounce of physical gold stored in London vaults, has climbed roughly 64% in 2025 through Dec. 13, offering dollar-hedging and greater price stability than most cryptos; however, BTC remains highly volatile and PAXG can deviate from spot gold pricing due to on-chain liquidity and demand dynamics.

Analysis

Market structure: Winners are custodial banks (MS, C, BAC) and regulated token issuers (Paxos/PAXG) that can monetise custody/trust fees; losers are small illiquid altcoins and unregulated stablecoins that lose safe‑haven flows. PAXG’s +64% YTD (to Dec 13, 2025) signals strong demand for gold‑linked crypto as a dollar hedge, tightening gold-equivalent liquidity onchain and lifting implied vol in crypto options markets. Cross‑asset: sustained PAXG inflows typically correlate with USD softness and safe‑haven bid for nominal bonds; a large move into PAXG could compress TIPS breakevens and pressure short‑term dollar funding.

Risk assessment: Tail risks include regulatory action (NY/US restrictions on token redemptions or reserve audits) and custodial failure or smart‑contract liquidity dry‑ups that could force PAXG to trade >1–2% off LBMA spot for multiple days. Near term (days–weeks) watch on onchain liquidity metrics and PAXG secondary spreads; medium (3–9 months) is dependent on announced bank rollouts of custody services; long term (12–36 months) outcome tied to institutional product adoption vs. macro (Fed cuts/CPI). Hidden dependencies: Ethereum gas spikes, vault concentration in London, and redemption mechanics.

Trade implications: Direct plays — establish a tactical 1–2% portfolio allocation to PAXG for dollar/real rate hedge and a 1–3% exposure to BTC via options or spot for asymmetric upside if institutional flows materialise. Buy 3‑month BTC 25–50% OTM call spreads sized to 1% notional to limit downside; purchase 6–9 month LEAP call exposure or 3–6 month call options on MS (ticker MS) and BAC sized 0.5–1% each to capture custody revenue upside, trim on flat guidance. Pair/relative ideas — long PAXG vs short GLD/physical gold ETF only if onchain premium >1% persist; long MS vs NDAQ (expect banks to win custody fee share). Exit if PAXG trades >1% off LBMA for 7 consecutive days or if no institutional custody rollout news within 90 days.

Contrarian view: Consensus understates liquidity risk — PAXG’s 64% gain may be driven by thin onchain order books and not structural gold demand, so mean reversion risk is real (target 15–25% drawdown). Also, bank custody normalisation could increase crypto–equity correlation, removing diversification value from BTC; if Fed pauses and USD rallies, both BTC and PAXG could fall together. Historical parallel: safe‑asset rotations in 2019–2020 where narrative drove 30–40% overshoots before mean reversion. Unintended consequence: rapid institutional entry raises systemic linkage risk — hedge portfolio correlation, not just single‑asset exposure.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Establish a tactical 1–2% net long position in PAXG within 7 trading days as a dollar/real‑rate hedge; size takes into account that PAXG can deviate from LBMA — liquidate if secondary market price persists >1% discount/premium to LBMA for 7 consecutive days.
• Add 1–3% BTC exposure via a mix of spot (0.5–1%) and a 1%‑notional 3‑month 25–50% OTM call spread to capture institutional flow upside; increase to 3–5% only if BTC falls >15% within 30 days or institutional custody announcements are confirmed.
• Buy 6–9 month call options on MS (and BAC as second choice) sized to 0.5–1% portfolio exposure to capture expected custody/trading revenue lift; take profits or re‑assess if no product rollouts or revenue guidance within 90 days.
• Implement a hedge: buy 30‑60 day BTC puts equal to 0.5% portfolio notional as tail insurance against regulatory crackdowns; trigger to re‑price/roll after any major regulatory announcement or if 30‑day realized vol >80%.
• Execute a pair trade: long MS (equity or calls) vs short NDAQ (or underweight NDAQ) sized 0.5–1% to express bank custody share gains; rebalance or close if MS outperforms NDAQ by >15% or if banks report negative crypto guidance.