The debate between Ethereum and Solana continues—focusing on scalability, speed, and decentralization. Fidelity Investments' cryptocurrency division, Fidelity Digital Assets, stated that Ethereum has the edge but also acknowledged Solana's growth.

In its 2025 outlook report, Fidelity highlighted Ethereum's strong fundamentals, including robust developer activity, total locked value, and stablecoin supply. While Solana's revenue and TVL are growing faster, its revenue is largely derived from memecoin trading, which Fidelity views as a cyclical trend that thrives in bull markets but gradually fades in bear markets.

Fidelity also noted that Solana's reliance on memecoins is somewhat similar to Ethereum's heavy use of Uniswap. However, it believes that Ethereum's fundamentals are less tied to speculation, making it more stable in the long run. Fidelity stated that these fundamentals guide long-term investors but may not predict short-term performance.

Fidelity stated: “Short-term price trends often revolve around narratives, and given the planned upgrades for both networks, Solana may be a more compelling competitor in this regard by 2025.”

Solana's Firedancer upgrade aims to significantly increase transaction speeds, while Ethereum's Prague/Electra (Pectra) upgrade focuses on enhancing functionality, scalability, and user security. However, Fidelity noted that the Pectra upgrade may not excite the community, as it does not directly impact Ethereum's value proposition from an investment perspective.

Fidelity stated that Ethereum currently has a clear advantage over Solana because it is accessible through exchange-traded products, although this may change based on regulatory decisions. It added that such decisions could strengthen Ethereum's position or create a level playing field, making it a key factor to watch in 2025.

Fidelity indicated that while Solana has short-term momentum, its long-term performance may favor Ethereum, similar to how Solana underperformed prior to 2024. As the bull market continues, investors are expected to focus more on fundamentals, which may redirect attention back to Ethereum.

Fidelity's view on Bitcoin

In its 2025 outlook report, Fidelity Digital Assets also shared its outlook on Bitcoin, stating that Bitcoin may still be a valuable asset across various economic scenarios in 2025.

Fidelity also expects more governments, central banks, and sovereign wealth funds to incorporate Bitcoin into their treasuries in 2025, following the examples of Bhutan and El Salvador. It stated: “In the face of challenges such as inflation, currency devaluation, and worsening fiscal deficits, the risk of not having any Bitcoin allocation could be greater for nations than having one.”

On stablecoins, tokenization, and DeFi

Fidelity acknowledged the rapid growth of stablecoins but pointed out that they are not yet perfect products. It looks forward to taking further steps to address compliance risks, enhance cross-chain interoperability, and integrate with the traditional financial system. The report stated that stablecoins could coexist with tokenized bank deposits, improving the efficiency of tokenized securities trading while maintaining the dollar's status as the global reserve currency.

Fidelity also stated that tokenization is the “killer application” for 2025. The firm noted that the nominal value of on-chain tokenized real-world assets has grown from $8 billion in 2023 to $14 billion, and is expected to reach $30 billion by 2025. Fidelity added: “As institutions increasingly recognize the benefits of leveraging blockchain— including faster, cheaper, and relatively frictionless operability—we expect the growth of the tokenized asset class to continue to expand.”

Fidelity stated that DeFi is also expected to continue innovating in 2025, with growth in dedicated blockchains, decentralized social media, decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN), and crypto AI.

It is “not too late” to enter the cryptocurrency space.

Fidelity believes that mainstream cryptocurrency adoption will grow this year and stated that it is “not too late” for investors to enter the space, even as Bitcoin recently broke through $100,000.

“In fact, we believe we may be entering the dawn of a new era for digital assets that could last for years—even decades,” Fidelity stated. “This era may see digital assets penetrate various sectors—industries, technologies, domains, balance sheets, and even nation-states.”