1. Bitcoin
Bitcoin is the world's oldest cryptocurrency and the largest by market capitalization. It is the only cryptocurrency officially recognized by many major governments, including the United States, and is used as legal tender in countries such as El Salvador. Recently, the first spot Bitcoin ETFs began trading on U.S. stock exchanges.
Bitcoin has been driving the cryptocurrency bull run for much of the past year. It has more than doubled in value over the past 12 months, far outperforming major altcoins like Ethereum.
2. Ethereum
Ethereum is the world's second largest cryptocurrency by cap and the most widely used blockchain network for dApp development. The project was launched in 2015 and was the first to introduce smart contracts. Ethereum successfully transitioned from a proof-of-work validation mechanism to a proof-of-stake mechanism in 2022.
Ethereum remains the most popular blockchain network for developers. Most of the activity in the crypto world happens here, including newly launched games, new crypto games to play and earn, and progress in DeFi.
There’s a flywheel effect here. As Ethereum gets bigger, more developers build on it, encouraging more users to join. At the same time, demand for ETH grows, and its value rises, highlighting it as one of the best altcoins.
Ethereum successfully fended off challenger blockchains like Cardano and Solana during the last crypto bull run. Now, the focus is on second-layer solutions that increase the speed of the Ethereum network and improve the value of Ethereum, rather than building new blockchains to try to dethrone the king of smart contracts.
3、XRP
XRP is the official crypto token of the Ripple payment network, which aims to make international payments faster and cheaper. The project is coming off a victory against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which claimed that XRP is an unregistered security. XRP is now the seventh-largest crypto by market cap.
XRP has been on hold for years due to uncertainty over whether it would be classified as a security in the U.S. Now, thanks to a court victory against the SEC, that uncertainty is gone.
This clears the way for major banks to try out Ripple's payment network using XRP. The project has attracted major partners such as Bank of America, PNC Bank, and Santander.
XRP has risen only slightly since its court victory last summer, leading many analysts to believe it is undervalued. In the current crypto bull run, more interest in using XRP for international payments could send its price skyrocketing — even the most conservative XRP price predictions have it soaring 240% by 2025.
4、Solana
Solana is a fast and cheap blockchain that is a challenger to Ethereum. It is one of the most successful crypto tokens in the resurgent cryptocurrency bull run, gaining more than 620% in value over the past 12 months. Solana is now the fifth largest cryptocurrency in the world by market capitalization.
There is no cryptocurrency with more momentum right now than Solana. It has been on a nonstop rise over the past few months, increasing in value by nearly 5x and seeing a surge in developer interest.
Solana’s performance is even more impressive considering where the project was a year ago. Once the favored project of disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, many analysts believed Solana would simply disappear after the FTX folded. However, the chain has proven itself to be resilient.
While we don’t think Solana will challenge Ethereum for dApp dominance, it remains one of the best cryptocurrencies to buy right now, with potential gains of over 120% by 2025 according to our Solana price prediction.
5. Avalanche AVAX
Avalanche is a superfast blockchain and Ethereum competitor launched in 2020. It uses smart contracts and a proof-of-stake validation mechanism, similar to Ethereum, but offers more scalability for dApp developers. Avalanche’s $AVAX token is currently the 11th largest cryptocurrency by cap.
Avalanche is a project that has been gaining momentum, having nearly doubled in value over the past five months. This momentum shows no signs of slowing down, which means $AVAX could see even bigger gains.
Avalanche’s gains are driven by strong fundamentals, including more developers flocking to the blockchain. It remains one of Ethereum’s strongest competitors, expanding slowly and methodically rather than going through boom-and-bust cycles like Solana and Cardano.
Avalanche’s focus on tokenization of real-world assets and GameFi is expected to be a leading development area in the crypto space. As such, $AVAX is expected to be a standout token over the next 12 months.
