1. Bitcoin (BTC)
We can’t publish a list of the best cryptocurrencies without mentioning Bitcoin. As the OG cryptocurrency (having launched in 2009), it is leading the list by many measures, despite its scalability challenges.
Bitcoin has continuously maintained the largest market capitalization and the strongest liquidity of all cryptocurrencies, which we see as a sign of strong investor confidence. It is traded on virtually all crypto exchanges, making it an attractive option for both individuals and institutions.
Bitcoin's primary use case is as a digital alternative to traditional currencies, aiming to be a medium of exchange and a store of value. Even though it is already widely adopted for both use cases, we believe its volatility is still a challenge for regular transactions.
On the other hand, its fixed supply cap of 21 million coins (and the scarcity that comes with it), an incredibly strong and active community, and the expected performance boost triggered by April’s Bitcoin halving event make it the #1 on our best crypto ranking.
Bitcoin surged over 100,000$ following the 2024 U.S. presidential election, fueled by market optimism over potential crypto-friendly policies. The milestone reflects heightened investor confidence, with the expectation of more capital inflow and new heights in 2025. Crypto markets remain bullish amid renewed institutional interest and favorable regulatory prospects.
2. Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum has established its market presence for quite some time now, reflecting its position as a leading platform for decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contracts. Widespread availability and large daily trading volumes make Ethereum easily accessible, without significantly affecting the price.
Ethereum’s strong use cases extend beyond a digital currency, leading to adoption in various sectors including finance, gaming, art. Similar to Bitcoin, Ethereum’s performance has been a mixed bag in the past, plagued by network congestion and high transaction fees.
These issues are being addressed with the multi-step Ethereum 2.0 roadmap, which include the large “Ethereum Merge” in September 2022, integrations of Layer 2 solutions, and most recently the Dencun upgrade in March 2024.
We also liked the introduction of EIP-1559 back in 2021, which shifted Ethereum’s tokenomics from an inflationary model to a deflationary model, therefore reducing overall supply over time.
Ethereum’s dev team is continuously working on upgrading the network, featuring prominent crypto figures like Vitalik Buterin and the Ethereum Foundation, paired with an innovative and widespread community. Additionally there are a lot of so-called Layer-2 blockchains, who expand the Ethereum ecosystem. These chains leverage the security of the Ethereum blockchain, while offering faster and cheaper transactions. Notable mentions include Polygon, Optimism, Arbitrum, ImmutableX and Metis. It has also become a trend for major crypto exchanges to launch their own EVM-based blockchains, for example Base (Coinbase) and Ink (Kraken).
Next to Bitcoin, Ethereum is currently the only cryptocurrency covered by widely accessible ETFs, which are available since July 2024. Ether exchange-traded funds have experienced 17 consecutive trading days of inflows, with holdings reaching a record high of 3.5 million units. This trend indicates growing institutional interest and investment in Ethereum.
Overall, we believe that Ethereum still holds #2 on our list, despite activity flowing to other, cheaper chains. It’ll be interesting to see if it can hold its position as new challengers gain in popularity.
3. Solana (SOL)
Solana has already seen massive growth in 2024 but did not manage to surpass its previous all-time-high at 260$, although almost touching it in November. Nevertheless, its large market cap and high liquidity already demonstrate serious investor confidence to us.
Solana is designed for high-speed and high-volume transactions at lower costs, supporting tens of thousands of transactions per second and making it a serious contender to Ethereum for dApps, decentralized finance (DeFi), and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
We’re seeing a strong adoption driven by a rapidly growing demand for quicker and cheaper transactions that will continue to grow exponentially as more use cases are added.
Solana’s development team is led by Anatoly Yakovenko, who brings significant experience from previous roles at major companies like Qualcomm. The development team and large community are known for their strong technical qualifications with a focus on rapidly building applications and tools for the network.
The network sees a constant growth in participants and transactions, mainly led by the memecoin mania mostly happening on the Solana chain and its major DEX Jupiter. Several prominent asset management firms have applied to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch spot Solana exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Notable applicants include VanEck, Grayscale and 21Shares. As of January 2025 the SEC has not approved any spot Solana ETFs.
We see Solana as one of the most attractive assets for new investors joining the crypto economy. Its great UX, cheap fees and rapidly growing community offer a perfect playing ground for newcomers.
4. Sui Network (SUI)
The Sui Network is a next-generation, high-performance layer-1 blockchain designed to improve scalability, speed, and user experience. Built by Mysten Labs, it focuses on supporting decentralized applications (dApps) and digital assets, using the Move programming language. This language, originally developed for Facebook's Diem (former Libra) project, enhances security and enables faster transaction processing.
Unlike traditional blockchains, which process transactions sequentially, Sui uses parallel transaction processing, allowing it to scale horizontally and handle a high number of transactions simultaneously. This leads to lower latency and faster finality.
The Move Programming Language offers enhanced security for smart contracts and reduces the risk of vulnerabilities, making it particularly appealing for developers seeking a more secure environment. Also, the Sui blockchain offers predictable and low gas fees by decoupling consensus from simple transactions, which allows for faster and cheaper operations.
The Sui Network is designed to support various decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Its efficient architecture makes it attractive for gaming, digital assets, and complex decentralized applications.
Sui has been gaining traction since its launch in early 2023, attracting developers and projects due to its robust infrastructure. The recent announcement of Phantom Wallet to include Sui as their fourth layer 1 integration (next to Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana) is expected to further push adoption, as Phantom currently boasts over 7 million monthly active users.
The SUI token has been one of the best performing assets in 2024, surging by over 500% to a new all time high of almost 5$. If compared with Ethereum and Solana, the fully diluted market cap is sitting at around 10-30% of the leading layer 1s, still leaving room for high upside potential.
In our eyes, Sui is a serious competitor amongst the battle of Layer 1 networks like Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche or Cardano. The network is positioned as a high-performance blockchain aimed at improving scalability and user experience, with a strong focus on DeFi, NFTs, and decentralized applications and well positioned to be one of the main winners in 2025.
5. Hyperliquid (HYPE)
Hyperliquid is probably THE most interesting newcomer and their token one of the best performing assets of 2024.
Hyperliquid is a high-performance Layer 1 blockchain designed to support a fully on-chain, open financial system. It enables the development and integration of user-built applications that interact seamlessly with its native components, aiming to provide a decentralized exchange (DEX) experience comparable to centralized platforms.
Unlike many decentralized exchanges (DEXs) that rely on off-chain order books, Hyperliquid maintains an entirely on-chain order book. This ensures complete transparency, verifiability, and enhanced security for all transactions, setting a new standard for DEX design. The platform's TVL has experienced a dramatic increase, surpassing 3.2$ billion within a month following the HYPE token launch. Hyperliquid consistently achieves daily trading volumes exceeding 1$ billion, with peak volumes reaching up to 4.2$ billion. This positions it among the most actively traded decentralized exchanges in the sector.
Through the HyperEVM component, Hyperliquid is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). This enables developers to seamlessly deploy Ethereum-based smart contracts and dApps, leveraging existing tools and ecosystems.
Additionally, Hyperliquid offers gas-free trading for perpetual futures. By eliminating gas fees, the platform reduces costs for users and enhances trading efficiency, making it highly attractive for high-frequency and retail traders alike.
In November 2024, Hyperliquid conducted a substantial airdrop, distributing 310 million HYPE tokens to approximately 94,000 eligible users. At the time, the average allocation was valued at 45,000$ with a token listing price of 3.90$.
Despite the massive airdrop allocation and potential selloffs, the price of the HYPE token continued to move up by almost 10x to an all-time high of close to 35$. While the recent price action is very strong, it is notable that the current market capitalization only reflects one third of the fully diluted valuation and further dilution is outstanding.
6. Avalanche (AVAX)
Avalanche stands as a highly liquid player with a substantial market capitalization, offering a scalable, interoperable, and decentralized infrastructure for decentralized applications (dApps) and smart contracts. Unlike many 'layer two' solutions, Avalanche’s unique approach uses subnets—customizable child chains of the Avalanche C-Chain—which allow projects to launch dedicated blockchains tailored to specific use cases. Notable implementations include DeFi Kingdoms and Shrapnel, two large-scale gaming projects in the Web3 space.
Avalanche’s high throughput and low fees make it a compelling choice for developers and projects needing robust decentralized platforms. The project’s capped supply of 720 million AVAX tokens, combined with a burn mechanism that reduces circulating supply by burning transaction fees, positions it as a potentially deflationary asset, potentially increasing the token's value over time.
Led by computer scientist Emin Gün Sirer, Avalanche’s team brings strong academic and industry expertise to the project. Community engagement is also high, with active participation in governance proposals and community-led projects.
Avalanche is currently on the verge of a major upgrade called Avalanche9000, which will lower the economic barriers for launching Layer 1 chains, fostering faster innovation and a quicker go-to-market process. This upgrade package includes community proposals, a live testnet environment, and builder reward opportunities, all aimed at strengthening Avalanche’s ecosystem. The official launch event, held at the Avalanche Summit LATAM in Buenos Aires from October 16-18, 2024, underscored the network’s growth potential.
Adding to its appeal, institutional interest is gaining momentum. VanEck recently filed for a spot Avalanche ETF, signaling increasing institutional confidence in the blockchain. Although regulatory approval is pending, this development could make Avalanche more accessible to a broad range of investors.
With its technological advancements, deflationary tokenomics, and growing ecosystem, Avalanche remains a top contender for investors seeking exposure to innovative blockchain solutions.
7. Binance Coin (BNB)
As the largest so-called “exchange coin,” BNB continues to develop in different directions, offering more and more use cases for the token (e.g. Cosmos chain, EVM chain and bonuses for Binance CEX users) and keeping its spot on our top 10 crypto list in 2025
Its market cap has more than doubled in 2024, reaching a new all-time high of 789$. BNB is extremely liquid, given its primary listing on Binance, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges. It also trades on other exchanges, ensuring substantial trading volume and easy accessibility for traders.
BNB's primary use cases include paying for trading fees on the Binance exchange at a discounted rate, participating in token sales hosted on Binance Launchpad, and making in-store payments. Its adoption is heavily tied to the Binance ecosystem, expanding as the exchange grows and introduces new services.
Binance conducts periodic "burns" of BNB, reducing the total supply to increase scarcity and potentially add value, with a final goal of burning half of the total supply (100 million BNB).
BNB is supported by the Binance team, previously led by Changpeng Zhao, who has stepped down as Binance CEO after his criminal conviction in late 2023. The Binance community is vast and active, benefiting from the strong brand loyalty towards Binance.
We think it is crucial to recognize that all of BNB’s features are built on a very centralized foundation and could crumble due to regulatory influence or fraudulent behavior of bad actors. Ultimately an investment decision here needs to be somewhat based on trust.
While the market shows bullish potential, regulatory pressures and the launch of rival platforms could introduce volatility. Watch for potential rebounds or declines depending on how these factors play out.
8. Chainlink (LINK)
LINK is a highly liquid cryptocurrency with a strong market cap and availability on all major cryptocurrency exchanges. While it has shown strong growth in 2024, it is still only at about 40% of its all-time-high in 2021. However, as a backbone infrastructure for all of web3 we believe it is likely that an overall growth of the market will impact Chainlink immensely, as the demand for their services should increase.
The Chainlink protocol is designed to enhance the security and decentralization of smart contracts on various blockchain platforms. Its primary use case is as a decentralized oracle network that enables blockchains to securely interact with external data feeds, events, and payment methods. It functions as the foundation for many dApps, especially in the DeFi sector.
The demand for LINK is intrinsically tied to the usage of Chainlink’s services. There is no hard cap on the total supply of LINK, which is a point of discussion in the community concerning its long-term value.
Chainlink’s development is led by Sergey Nazarov, who is highly respected in the blockchain community, as well as a team of experienced individuals with backgrounds in computer science and software engineering. The community is very active and instrumental in driving the platform’s adoption, participating in various network activities like hackathons and educational events.
In December 2024, Chainlink introduced Smart Value Recapture (SVR), a novel solution allowing DeFi applications that use Chainlink Price Feeds to recapture non-toxic oracle-related Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) from liquidations. This development is expected to enhance the efficiency and profitability of DeFi protocols utilizing Chainlink's services.
Security and transparency are central to Chainlink, given its role as a bridge between blockchains and external data sources. The network uses multiple oracles to mitigate the risk of any single point of failure and has become one of the cornerstones in all of DeFi.
9. Bittensor (TAO)
Bittensor is a decentralized, blockchain-based machine learning network designed to enable the creation and sharing of artificial intelligence models. It operates by incentivizing participants to contribute their computing resources and AI models in exchange for TAO tokens, the native cryptocurrency of the Bittensor ecosystem.
In the age of AI, everything comes down to data and processing power. Bittensor is designed to scale with the growing demand for the latter. It provides a marketplace where models can be continuously trained and improved by leveraging the collective intelligence of the network's participants.
Bittensor allows developers and data scientists to train, share, and evaluate machine learning models on a decentralized network. This enables collaboration across a distributed network rather than relying on centralized platforms.
The unique consensus mechanism of Bittensor ensures that participants in the network are rewarded based on the quality of their AI contributions, rather than traditional proof-of-work or proof-of-stake models seen in other blockchains.
10. TreasureDAO (MAGIC)
Treasure DAO is a decentralized gaming and metaverse ecosystem which launched its own L2 chain in December 2024, joining the Elastic Chain of ZKSync. So far the ecosystem has been built on Arbitrum, a Layer 2 solution for Ethereum and offers its own marketplace, profile- and achievement system linked to a variety of web3 games. The Treasure game console can be compared to a decentralized version of Steam or Epic Games.
Its main utility token, MAGIC, acts as the currency that powers the entire Treasure ecosystem. MAGIC is designed as a cross-game token, connecting various games, players, and communities, effectively creating an interconnected gaming network
The Treasure ecosystem revolves around several gaming titles, including TheBeacon, Synergyland, and Bridgeworld, its central metaverse.
MAGIC also serves a governance role within the DAO, allowing holders to vote on proposals and influence the development and management of the ecosystem. Its deflationary nature means it becomes increasingly scarce as more players join and engage with the platform, enhancing its value over time.
Treasure DAO’s broader vision includes developing the Treasure Infinity Chains, an infrastructure project aiming to create an interconnected network of games and metaverses, all utilizing MAGIC as the primary currency. This initiative further solidifies MAGIC's role as a central asset in the Web3 gaming and NFT space.
Many people expect gaming to really open the doors for mass adoption of blockchain powered applications. As core infrastructure around the topic, Treasure is well positioned to leverage such hype, independent of the success of single titles.
Coin of the Month: Ink
Ink is a Layer 2 (L2) blockchain developed by Kraken, one of the major crypto exchanges in the world. It is designed to simplify access to decentralized finance (DeFi) by providing a seamless bridge between centralized and decentralized ecosystems. Built on Optimism's open-source OP Stack, Ink is part of the Optimism Superchain, benefiting from Ethereum's security while enhancing scalability and interoperability within the Ethereum ecosystem.
Initially scheduled for a 2025 release, Ink launched its mainnet ahead of schedule in December 2024, driven by strong community support and developer enthusiasm. This early launch followed a successful testnet phase that saw millions of transactions and hundreds of thousands of connected wallets.
Unlike some other blockchains, Ink does not have a native token (yet). While people are speculating on a later token airdrop to foster decentralization, nothing has been hinted at by Kraken. The only lead is a task dashboard for the Ink mainnet, which might serve as the basis for future potential airdrops.
Ink focuses on integrating various DeFi tools, including decentralized exchanges and yield-generating platforms, directly within the Kraken Wallet app. At launch, Ink featured over a dozen decentralized applications (dApps) and plans to expand into real-world assets and advanced lending platforms in the future.
Kraken serves as Ink's initial sequencer, managing and organizing network transactions, with plans to decentralize this role over time. This approach aims to create a capital-efficient ecosystem where innovation thrives, and users can move between centralized and decentralized services with ease.
What’s The Next Big Cryptocurrency in 2025?
We think it is very likely that blockchains with a solid foundation and significant traction prior to this year are going to maintain their dominance in 2025. This is largely attributed to the surge in attention and the proliferation of applications being developed on these platforms.
For the first time in history, crypto assets have been a hot topic in the US presidential debates, ultimately contributing to the win of Donald Trump, who adopted a very positive stance regarding crypto. The recent announcement from Trump to include Bitcoin in the US treasury reserves and provide a clear regulatory framework for crypto within 100 days of his inauguration has given a bullish signal for investors.
Besides Bitcoin, narratives like DeFi, AI, NFTs and Gaming seem to lead the current market upswing, hot candidates for 2025 include Solana, Sui, Avalanche and Ethereum Layer 2 Solutions.
However, there are some newer cryptocurrencies that have the potential to turn into the next big thing, such as SEI, Render, Berachain and Ronin.
These projects show great promise, but will still have to prove that they can attract enough developers to build on top of their technology.
How We Evaluate Cryptocurrencies
Market Capitalization
Market capitalization is the price per coin or token multiplied by the total amount of coins or tokens in circulation.
In crypto, we often need to differentiate between “Current Market Cap” and “Fully Diluted Market Cap”. The first includes all coins or tokens, which are available to date, while the second also includes all coins or tokens which are still locked, but will get released in the future through processes like crypto mining or crypto staking.
If there is a huge difference between those two values, it is very likely that the price will fall in the future, as more tokens (supply) meet the market (demand).
These numbers are probably THE most important factor in determining a viable crypto investment, and is often overlooked when comparing the price of a single unit of a token.
Just because the price of some tokens is 0.00001€, it could still have a very high market capitalization if there are 100,000,000,000,000 of tokens in existence.
Trading Volume
A high and consistent trading volume on an asset is generally a very good sign. It means more and/or larger parties are interested, suggesting that the asset is likely listed across multiple cryptocurrency exchanges.
High trading volume means higher accessibility, making it easier for investors to buy or sell without significantly affecting its price.
Liquidity
Liquidity shows how easy you can exit your position, which is often a problem with newer coins or tokens.
If the liquidity is very low, let’s say less than 10x your investment, it will be impossible to sell that asset at current market price. So you should only invest in low-liquidity assets if you plan to hold that asset for a longer period of time and expect liquidity increase in the future.
Use cases and real-world adoption
When looking at a coin or token, it is important to ask yourself what that use case could be and if it is realistic that, at some point in time, the product will get there.
You can go even deeper into the analysis; consider estimating the scale of adoption needed—how many users need to engage with and pay for this product—to cover the operational costs.
Comparing this and the current market capitalization of a project might often lead to an interesting revelation.
Tokenomics
One of the most crucial questions to ask is: How does the token actually work?
Tokenomics describe the economics of a token and can quickly reveal a bad investment even if the product and team are exceptional.
Supply and demand dedicate the token price, so the balance between the two and how it could develop show the potential of an investment. Ask yourself:
- What do I need the token for? Is there demand for the token if the product is successful?
- Are new tokens generated in the future and if, how and when does that happen?
- Are tokens locked for the team and early investors, and when will they unlock? (They probably bought at a lower price and might want to take profits once they can.)
- Can tokens be burned (destroyed) and if so, what triggers this reduction of supply?
Development team
The technological backbone is of high importance in the age of digitalization. Ask yourself:
- What do I know about the team behind a token-based project?
- What is their background? Their skillset?
- Do you think they can deliver on the promise?
- Are they working as hard on the project as they should?
Many crypto development teams share insights into their GitHub profile, which shows the actual work they are doing.
If you don’t have the know-how to evaluate this yourself, it might make sense to talk to someone who can, before investing in a project.
Community support
Today’s community might turn into tomorrow’s users and clients of a product. It is important to factor this in and take a closer look at the community. Ask yourself these questions:
- Is the community real? Or are the followers on Twitter/Discord etc. just empty accounts?
- Are the people actually interested in the product or just speculators?
If the community consists of mostly speculators and people farming for quick rewards, free crypto, airdrops, whitelists etc. it is very likely that there is huge sell pressure, once the asset will be tradable.
Security and transparency
As we have seen repeatedly in the past, security and transparency can break a project and its value within seconds, if not executed well.
Interestingly, security breaches often stem from human errors—such as poorly written code or inadequate governance—rather than inherent flaws in the blockchain technology itself.
While security issues are not intentional in most cases, actual crypto scams are. Having enough transparency gives a better opportunity to detect fraudulent behavior early on. Ask yourself:
- Who has critical access to the code? What is a worst case scenario?
- Is there a single point of failure (e.g. one person holding the private keys to alter a smart contract)?
- Is any information obscured, which should be transparent?
<div fs-richtext-component="info-box" class="info-box"><div class="flex-info-card"><img src="https://assets-global.website-files.com/65098a145ece52db42b9c274/650c6f4cef4c34160eab4440_Info.svg" loading="eager" width="64" height="64" alt="" class="icon-info-box"><div fs-richtext-component="info-box-text" class="info-box-content"><p class="color-neutral-800">Nothing in this article constitutes professional and/or financial advice, nor does any information in the article constitute a comprehensive or complete statement of the matters discussed or the law relating thereto.</p></div></div></div>