Grayscale Investments has announced its quarterly review, revealing the top 20 cryptocurrencies for Q1 2025. Each quarter, the Grayscale research team evaluates "hundreds of digital assets" to guide the rebalancing of the FTSE/Grayscale Crypto Sectors index.

According to the research note, "Our approach combines multiple factors, including network growth/adoption, upcoming catalysts, sustainability of fundamentals, token valuation, token supply inflation, and potential risks." The latest additions to the top 20 list are guided by three main market themes that Grayscale believes will shape the coming months: the US election and its potential regulatory impacts, the rapid development of decentralized AI, and the expanding Solana ecosystem.

While Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Chainlink, Uniswap, SushiSwap, Aave, Bittensor, Optimism, Lido DAO, Helium, Arweave, Aerodrome, and Akash Network remain on the list, six new altcoins have been added compared to the previous quarter. "We are adding the following six assets to our Top 20 list for Q1 2025," the report states, highlighting the notable alignment of each project with one or more of the aforementioned themes.

The best new cryptocurrency assets for Q1 2025

Hyperliquid (HYPE): A Layer 1 blockchain focused on on-chain financial applications, Hyperliquid's flagship product is a decentralized exchange (DEX) for perpetual futures. Built around a fully on-chain order book, HYPE aims to capture the growing demand for advanced derivatives trading in a decentralized environment. Notably, HYPE has seen a meteoric rise in recent weeks, now asserting its position as number 19 in the list of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

Ethena (ENA): The Ethena protocol has introduced a new stablecoin, USDe, backed by insured positions in Bitcoin and Ether. As Grayscale explains, "Specifically, the protocol holds long positions in Bitcoin and Ether and short positions in perpetual futures on the same assets." A staked version of the token exploits the price differences between spot and futures markets, potentially offering a unique profit profile for participants.

Virtual Protocol (VIRTUAL): Operating on Base, an Ethereum Layer 2 network, the Virtual Protocol allows for the creation of AI agents designed to operate autonomously. Grayscale notes that "These AI agents are designed to perform tasks autonomously, simulating human decision-making processes." The platform also allows for co-ownership of these agents through tokens, connecting AI capabilities with blockchain infrastructure.

Jupiter (JUP): Jupiter has emerged as a leading DEX aggregator on Solana, recording the highest total value locked (TVL) among all Solana applications. With the Solana user base expanding and increasing speculation around memecoins and AI agent tokens, "we believe that Jupiter is well-positioned to capitalize on this growing market activity," the report states.

Jito (JTO): Jito is a liquidity staking protocol on Solana that has demonstrated strong acceptance over the past year. Notably, Grayscale highlights the project's significant earnings: "Jito has experienced considerable growth in adoption over the past year and provides one of the best financial profiles among all cryptocurrencies, generating over $550 million in fee revenue in 2024."

Grass (GRASS): Grass rewards users for sharing unused internet bandwidth through a Chrome extension. "This bandwidth is used to collect online data, which is then sold to AI companies and developers to train machine learning models," according to Grayscale. The project monetizes web data collection by redistributing rewards to users who contribute their idle bandwidth.

Furthermore, Grayscale notes that they continue to be "enthusiastic about themes from previous quarters such as Ethereum scaling solutions, tokenization, and decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN)." Examples of these established themes include Optimism, Chainlink, and Helium, which remain in the Top 20 due to their alignment with scaling use cases, tokenization, and DePIN.

Notably, six assets—NEAR, Stacks, Maker CELO, UMA, and TON—have been removed from the Top 20 list this quarter. "Grayscale Research continues to see value in each of these projects and they remain important components of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. However, we believe that the revised Top 20 list may offer more attractive risk-adjusted returns for the next quarter," Grayscale notes.

At the time of the press release, HYPE was trading at $29.45.