Key Points

• The iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) has attracted more assets than any other Ethereum ETF, with 42% of asset inflows in just the past month.

• BlackRock's backing provides institutional credibility and virtually unlimited financial resources behind the fund.

• Buying Ethereum through an ETF eliminates the need for crypto wallets, special exchanges, and fractional coin calculations.

• 10 stocks we like better than iShares Ethereum Trust - iShares Ethereum Trust ETF ›

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on the real-time price of Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) have been around for a year now. Since the funds were approved and launched in July 2024, Ethereum has gained 7% while the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) rose 18%. The leading ETFs have done a great job of tracking this performance precisely, even if the cryptocurrency has been lagging behind stocks recently.

But one ETF stands apart from the rest in many ways. If you're planning to enter the Ethereum market via an ETF, the iShares Ethereum Trust (NASDAQ: ETHA) should be at the top of your list. Apart from having the most assets under management (AUM) in its category, the iShares ETF also comes with low fees and a proven fund family.

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So if you have $500 to spend on a crypto investment today, here's why you should consider the iShares Ethereum Trust.

Is Ethereum a good investment?

Ethereum is often more volatile than the larger Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) cryptocurrency. For instance, the two crypto giants have both posted approximately 1,200% gains in the last five years, but Ethereum's path to this peak had many more peaks and valleys along the way. The S&P 500 is basically flatlining next to both, even in the midst of the generative artificial intelligence boom:

Ethereum Price data by YCharts

Now, Ethereum serves a very different purpose than Bitcoin. Instead of a fundamental wealth-holding tool, Ethereum's smart contracts help app developers manage financial tools and trends in a global blockchain ledger. So Ethereum's value doesn't spring from a scarce supply, but from real-world usage of the resulting programs.

That makes Ethereum a promising investment if you feel like the financial world could use a whole new set of basic tools. Ethereum-based apps can track ownership of physical assets, execute financial transactions automatically, or manage your digital wallet securely. The Ethereum ledger is readable anytime, from anywhere.

At the same time, its encryption effectively makes all of this transaction data immune to hacking and fraud attacks. On this platform, developers can build a wide variety of financial apps, mobile games, and so on.

So if you see a market for this sort of thing in the long run, Ethereum has led the blockchain-based app development space for years. It's the industry standard -- for good reason. And that should make Ethereum a solid investment over the years, as decentralized app development continues to gain traction.

Why buy via an Ethereum ETF?

Buying Ethereum directly often means setting up a new account with a different type of brokerage -- one that can handle cryptocurrency trades rather than stock transactions. You also need to get comfortable with a different type of transaction, where you're usually trading fractions of a digital coin rather than batches of full shares of a stock. Prices are always changing, and you have to figure out where to store your new Ethereum coins.

ETFs make the whole process much easier, assuming you already have a stock-trading brokerage account. These funds act just like stocks, with shares usually priced in a comfortable range. A few iShares Ethereum Trust shares at $27 apiece can be more comfortable than a single Ethereum coin at $3,640.

What makes the iShares ETF special?

As mentioned, the iShares fund is more popular and therefore more liquid than other Ethereum-based ETFs. This makes trading safer and easier, with more stable share prices and quicker transactions.

It's part of the world-famous iShares fund family, next to the even more popular iShares Bitcoin ETF (NASDAQ: IBIT) and the massive iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: IVV). Financial services giant BlackRock runs the show, giving investors the peace of mind that comes with essentially bottomless financial backing.

And like most of its iShares cousins, this one comes with a low fee ratio. At 0.25% per year, it's not exactly the cheapest Ethereum ETF to own, but it comes close to the lowest-cost Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust (NYSEMKT: ETH) at 0.15%. The BlackRock backing and world-class liquidity can make up for this small gap, and some Ethereum ETFs come with fee ratios as high as 2.5%.

The iShares Ethereum Trust is only pulling away from the competition, too. With 42% of AUM inflows over the last month, this fund added more AUM than any other Ethereum ETF has done year to date.

You should consider the iShares Ethereum Trust before any other fund in this category. It's a great place to put your next $500 (about 18 shares) of investable cash to work. Market makers broadly agree, judging by the dominant inflows of more funding.

Should you invest $1,000 in iShares Ethereum Trust - iShares Ethereum Trust ETF right now?

Before you buy stock in iShares Ethereum Trust - iShares Ethereum Trust ETF, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and iShares Ethereum Trust - iShares Ethereum Trust ETF wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $636,628!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,063,471!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,041% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of July 21, 2025

Anders Bylund has positions in Bitcoin, Ethereum, iShares Bitcoin Trust, and iShares Ethereum Trust - iShares Ethereum Trust ETF. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• Solana could draw in more developers with the speed of its transactions.

• Cardano's recent ecosystem upgrades could make it a lot more useful.

• XRP could gain momentum as a bridge currency for cross-border transfers.

• 10 stocks we like better than Solana ›

Many investors flocked back to cryptocurrencies during the past year as lower interest rates made speculative investments more attractive again. Earlier this month, I said the two big blue-chip cryptocurrencies -- Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) -- were still great places to park $1,000 for a few decades.

But today, I'll take a look at three riskier cryptocurrencies -- Solana (CRYPTO: SOL), Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA), and XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) -- that could also have a bright future. While they might be a bit riskier than Bitcoin or Etherereum, they might be worth a more modest $500 investment.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

Solana

Solana's blockchain blends together the energy-efficient proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism used by Ethereum with its own proof-of-history (PoH) mechanism. That combination gives it a theoretical top speed of 65,000 transactions per second (TPS), compared to Ethereum's theoretical maximum speed of just 30 TPS. In real world transactions, which are limited by network congestion and other factors, Solana has a daily average speed of over 1,400 TPS -- compared to Ethereum's average speed of 19 TPS.

As a PoS blockchain, Solana supports the development of decentralized apps (dApps) and other crypto assets through its smart contracts. Since it's faster than Ethereum and other PoS blockchains, it's becoming a popular platform for building decentralized finance (DeFi) apps and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Visa, Shopify, and other companies have also integrated Solana Pay (its peer-to-peer payment protocol for accepting stablecoins, Solana, and other Solana-based tokens) into their own digital ecosystems.

Solana is an inflationary token with no maximum supply, so it can't be valued by its scarcity like Bitcoin. But the growth of its ecosystem could gradually boost its value. Artemis Analytics estimates that Solana only serves about 1.5 million daily active users (DAUs) today, but VanEck thinks it could eventually rise to more than 100 million DAUs in the next five years in a bull case scenario. We should take that rosy outlook with a grain of salt, but Solana could still have plenty of room to grow.

Cardano

Cardano, which was created by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson, is another PoS blockchain that supports the development of decentralized apps. Like Solana, Cardano is faster than Ethereum with a daily average speed of about 250 TPS. By deploying its new "hydra heads," which process some of its transactions off-chain to alleviate the congestion on its main blockchain, it aims to achieve average speeds more than 1,000 TPS.

The deployment of those heads could make Cardano a more popular platform for the development of DeFi, gaming, and enterprise apps. Its new Mithril protocol, which aggregates all of the data across its blockchain into a single compressed index -- should further improve its accessibility for users and developers. It also recently enabled the transfer of Bitcoin assets on its own blockchain, and that upgrade could draw more Bitcoin-backed stablecoins to its ecosystem and support the growth of its DeFi apps.

Cardano is an inflationary token, but its speed and recent upgrades could make it a more attractive platform for developers. Assuming that happens, its price might stabilize and rise over the next few decades as it catches up to blue-chip cryptos like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

XRP

XRP is a cryptocurrency created by the founders of the fintech company Ripple Labs. Its entire supply of 100 billion tokens was mined before its launch in 2012, and Ripple sold those tokens to fund its own expansion. Those sales caught the attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which sued Ripple for allegedly selling unregistered securities. Those lawsuits dragged on until last year, when a court slapped Ripple with a lighter-than-expected fine and ruled that XRP wasn't an unlicensed security when sold to individual investors.

That mostly favorable ruling drew back a stampede of bulls. XRP was relisted on the major crypto exchanges, Grayscale relaunched its XRP Trust as a closed-end fund (CEF), and several crypto firms submitted their applications for XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs). But looking beyond that near-term boost, XRP still has other irons in the fire.

Ripple is promoting the usage of XRP as a bridge currency to speed up foreign currency transactions (by temporarily converting both currencies into XRP) at lower fees. It also launched pilot programs with several central banks to use XRP to bridge the liquidity between their national central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and it recently applied for a U.S. banking license, which would enable it to integrate XRP into more cross-border transfers. To make it more relevant with developers, it's been adding support for lightweight smart contracts (mainly used for payments instead of apps) to its blockchain. The rapid expansion of that ecosystem could drive XRP's price higher during the next few decades.

Should you invest $1,000 in Solana right now?

Before you buy stock in Solana, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Solana wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $652,133!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,056,790!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,048% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of July 15, 2025

Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Ethereum, Shopify, Solana, Visa, and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• XRP is seeing good uptake among banks and large investing groups.

• Strategy's unique approach to buying Bitcoin is delivering leveraged returns.

• One of these assets is more likely to keep you up at night than the other.

• 10 stocks we like better than XRP ›

XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) and MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) both soared during crypto's 2025 revival, with the fintech coin rising by 46% and the crypto treasury company climbing by 49% this year so far (as of July 18).

Yet one earns its keep by processing real transactions for banks and institutions, while the other is a listed company whose sole trick is piling more Bitcoin onto an already mountainous stack.

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But which route is going to lead to higher returns for investors with a moderately sized amount of starting capital to invest -- say, $5,000?

XRP is building utility today, and it's working

The XRP Ledger (XRPL) is gradually turning into an institutional finance support layer as a result of the consistent development work performed by its issuing company, Ripple.

Last month, Ripple and Circle ported Circle's stablecoin onto the XRPL to grease the wheels of on‑chain payments for users in the traditional financial sector, as well as for the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. The overarching strategy here is to beef up the chain's platforms for stablecoins, tokenized U.S. Treasuries, and other real-world assets (RWAs), and then build out the compliance and identity-tracking features that banks and asset managers crave. The idea is that once the financial and regulatory infrastructure is in good condition, the target users will be heavily incentivized to show up because there aren't other blockchains that are as carefully tailored to their particular needs.

Why does that matter for those considering an investment in XRP?

Each ledger transfer requires a sliver of XRP crypto that is permanently burned upon the transaction's completion. The busier the network, the scarcer the coin becomes. If stablecoin liquidity and real-world asset settlement grow in volume, demand for fees and for escrow collateral should keep pace, creating a modest-to-moderate upward pressure on the coin's price.

Legal overhang is fading too, which lowers the risk of making an investment now.

In March, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) signaled that it would abandon its appeal in its long-running lawsuit against Ripple, effectively ending a four‑year skirmish that once scared away institutions and a number of rightly cautious investors. Regulatory clarity doesn't directly feed through into short-term price appreciation, but it takes away the largest known tripwire for adoption, so it removes a significant drag on the asset's long-term potential.

Strategy is a levered bet on Bitcoin

Strategy is the corporate embodiment of the stereotypical diehard Bitcoin evangelical (some would say cultist) crowd. This means that it's all about buying as much Bitcoin as it can possibly afford, including by issuing new stock and taking out fresh debt, regardless of the coin's price.

As of July 14, it held about 601,550 bitcoins, purchased for $42.9 billion at an average cost of $71,268 each. At today's Bitcoin price of about $119,000, that holding is worth roughly $72 billion.

To expand the stack, management keeps issuing zero‑coupon convertible notes, including another $2  billion in February alone. It's going to continue in this same pattern until the cows come home.

For shareholders, that has paid off fairly well during the past five years.

MSTR data by YCharts.

Investors must understand that leverage supercharges Strategy's stock returns if Bitcoin rises, but it also magnifies pain. A 25% slide in the big orange coin would erase a vast amount of the company's value.

There's also a subtle timing mismatch. Strategy's convertible bonds mature years from now, starting in 2030, but historically, Bitcoin has shown that it can drop significantly in days and weeks. Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor's conviction in the asset is legendary, but conviction doesn't repay debtors.

Finally, remember that Strategy is not Bitcoin -- there are actually a few ancillary activities the company still does related to its former identity as a software business. In other words, you're paying for its overhead in the name of getting exposure to Bitcoin, which you could replicate more cleanly with holding the coin itself.

Where $5,000 probably works harder

If your goal is to capture some upside in the crypto sector while taking on a moderate amount of risk, XRP looks like the preferable bet here.

The ledger is luring real revenue sources, like stablecoin float, cross‑border payment settlement, and tokenized treasuries, all while its biggest legal cloud just cleared. Assuming Ripple hits its roadmap milestones, institutional demand could continue to increase sharply during the next few years, sending XRP's price higher. It might not be a wealth-maker investment overnight, but the risk of a big implosion feels lower than during the lawsuit era, and it's undeniably finding traction right where it wants to.

Strategy is more of a racehorse for adrenaline seekers, which is to say that it's not a great play for the average investor. Should Bitcoin sprint to $200,000 by 2026, the stock's leverage could make XRP's gains look small. Yet that same leverage could become very cruel for shareholders if Bitcoin revisits $60,000, a level that would wipe out a huge chunk of the company's balance sheet and trigger harsh volatility. Most mainstream investors do not need that kind of insomnia-provoking asset in a retirement portfolio.

Therefore, for a $5,000 allocation today, XRP is the better option. Leave Strategy for those comfortable underwriting both Bitcoin's swings and a heavily indebted software company that moonlights as a crypto hedge fund.

Should you invest $1,000 in XRP right now?

Before you buy stock in XRP, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and XRP wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $652,133!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,056,790!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,048% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of July 15, 2025

Alex Carchidi has positions in Bitcoin and Circle Internet Group. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• Shiba Inu has not enjoyed the same success as many other cryptos this year.

• Shiba Inu is largely viewed as a meme token that lacks real-world utility.

• But there is one catalyst that could help the token take off, although it is far from a certainty.

• 10 stocks we like better than Shiba Inu ›

Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB) has been a top cryptocurrency since it sprung to life in 2020, but that's largely because of its cult-like following on social media as one of the major meme tokens. Many investors still don't take the token seriously because it lacks a real use case or technical advantage over any of its peers. Still, there is one catalyst that could help Shiba Inu catch fire.

Could a negative eventually become a positive?

Shiba Inu has never had a lot to offer from a use-case perspective, aside from its fervent community on social media that has made it a top 20 cryptocurrency by market cap. Shiba Inu started as an ERC-20 token, meaning it was developed on the Ethereum network and abided by a set of principles that any token wishing to operate on the network must follow.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

In 2023, Shiba Inu launched Shibarium, a Layer-2 solution on Ethereum to help ease congestion issues on the network. Shibarium essentially lets Shiba Inu settle transactions off of Ethereum's network, which is intended to scale the Shiba Inu ecosystem and make transactions cheaper. The Layer-2 solution has also led developers to start building decentralized applications on Shibarium, offering more utility than it once had.

Like many cryptocurrencies, one issue with Shiba Inu is its large supply of tokens, which makes it difficult to benefit from any kind of supply-and-demand dynamic.

After all, one of the reasons investors love Bitcoin is because there will only be 21 million tokens ever mined. Shiba Inu launched with nearly 1 quadrillion tokens. However, the supply has been greatly reduced. Shiba Inu founder Ryoshi, who remains anonymous, gave 505 trillion SHIB tokens to Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, who put most of these tokens in a dead wallet and then donated the rest.

Today, there are 589.5 trillion tokens in circulation, according to CoinMarketCap. Now, that's still a huge amount, but if Shiba Inu can keep reducing total supply over time, perhaps demand will pick up and drive the price higher. Shibarium actually created a burning mechanism, which moves 70% of base transaction fees into SHIB tokens that then get burned and deleted from the total supply. The purpose is to bring down total supply over time.

Still, since the launch of Shibarium, only about 5.5 trillion tokens, or less than 1% of the total supply, have been burned, if you back out the 505 trillion that were given to Buterin.

Can the supply actually decline meaningfully?

Shibarium has certainly made progress in reducing supply and billions of SHIB tokens are being burned each month. But billions doesn't mean much when you are talking in trillions. Many estimates indicate that it will still take many, many years at the current pace to reduce the supply of Shiba Inu to the point where the supply-and-demand balance would become an attractive selling point to investors.

Perhaps Ryoshi can give away more tokens or the burn rate will continue to pick up at an exponential rate that would start to make a meaningful impact, but it's unclear whether this will ever happen.

I will say, I do think the addition of Shibarium gives Shiba Inu more legitimacy than it had as just a meme token. Unfortunately, I don't think it's enough yet to make the token a buy. Shiba Inu is still highly speculative and very risky for investors. However, investors should continue to monitor the situation for improvements to the burn rate and lower supply.

Should you invest $1,000 in Shiba Inu right now?

Before you buy stock in Shiba Inu, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Shiba Inu wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $652,133!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,056,790!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,048% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of July 15, 2025

Bram Berkowitz has positions in Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• Keep your crypto allocation small to reduce risk.

• Invest in large cryptocurrencies that have survived bear markets.

• Take a long-term outlook and don't spend too much time monitoring crypto prices.

• 10 stocks we like better than Bitcoin ›

Cryptocurrency investing is a wild ride. If you had bought one Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) on Nov. 10, 2021, it would've cost you about $67,000. As of July 8, 2025, your investment would be worth $109,000 for an impressive 62% return -- if you held on while the price dropped as low as $16,000 in 2022.

It's hard to stay calm with that kind of volatility. No one likes to see their investments plummet in value, but that's par for the course with crypto. If you've decided to invest in digital assets, there are a few ways to make the experience less stressful.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

1. Limit crypto to a small part of your portfolio

The best way to invest in crypto worry-free is to limit how much money you put into it. You may want to start by setting aside 1% or 2% of your investment portfolio for cryptocurrency. If you feel comfortable going higher later, you could bump that up to 3%, 5%, or as high as 10%. Personally, I wouldn't allocate more than 10% of my portfolio to crypto because of the risk involved.

A reasonable asset allocation makes those inevitable price swings much easier to manage. If you have a $100,000 portfolio, and $3,000 of it is in crypto, a 50% plunge in your crypto holdings isn't a huge issue. If you have $50,000 in crypto, it's a different story.

Since cryptocurrencies have the potential to rapidly increase in value, you can still get excellent returns this way. Just remember that if your crypto investments take off, you may need to rebalance your portfolio so it doesn't become too crypto-heavy.

2. Invest in the biggest coins

I've invested in quite a few cryptocurrencies, both large and small, over the years. If I could go back and change one thing, I would've avoided the smaller altcoins and invested more of my money in Bitcoin (ideally in 2010 or 2011, given the option).

It's tempting to skip the big names and invest in coins that haven't caught on yet. Everyone wants to find a cryptocurrency that's going to explode, deliver 1,000 times growth, and turn early investors into multimillionaires.

The problem is that the crypto market has a massive number of scams, meme coins, and low-quality projects. You're far more likely to lose most or all of your money when you invest in smaller, unproven coins. Out of nearly 7 million cryptocurrencies listed on the GeckoTerminal tracking tool since 2021, 3.7 million have stopped trading. That's a 52.7% failure rate, and it doesn't include cryptocurrencies that are still trading but have lost most of their value.

To improve your odds of success, stick with large cryptocurrencies that have been around for several years or longer. Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana all fit this description. They're still volatile, but they've proven to be serious projects and have survived bear markets.

3. Don't micromanage your crypto holdings

Spending too much time monitoring your investments can be stressful. This is true with any type of asset, stocks included, but it's worse with cryptocurrency due to how much prices can fluctuate.

There's nothing wrong with staying up to date with the cryptocurrencies you own and the market as a whole. But try not to pay too much attention to the everyday price movements. Hopefully, you've chosen cryptocurrencies you believe have long-term value. If so, you could end up holding them for five to 10 years or longer -- more than enough time to ride out the occasional dip.

If you implement these three strategies, you can invest in crypto without any trouble sleeping at night. Limiting how much money you put into crypto is a simple and effective way to cap your downside. When you invest in proven coins, your portfolio is unlikely to be wiped out in a bear market. And if you avoid checking price charts every day, you'll save yourself a lot of unnecessary stress.

Should you invest $1,000 in Bitcoin right now?

Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $671,477!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,010,880!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,047% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of July 7, 2025

Lyle Daly has positions in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• Market bubbles can form when macroeconomic and industry trends combine.

• Cryptocurrency's last big bubble was in 2021.

• It is reasonable to wonder whether crypto is in a bubble right now.

• 10 stocks we like better than Bitcoin ›

Markets love a juicy narrative, and "crypto bubble 2.0" is certainly juicy. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) sits near $117,000, only a whisker from its all-time high set July 10, while big altcoins, such as Solana (CRYPTO: SOL), Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), and XRP (CRYPTO: XRP), have doubled or better since mid-2023. Yet bubble talk is cheap. History punishes investors who sell first and ask questions later, so it pays to look under the hood before slapping the B-word on today's rally.

Let's unpack why prices are higher, why the mood is nothing like the euphoria of 2021, and what that means for long-term investors. If you pay careful attention here, it just might save you from timing mistakes that haunt your portfolio for years.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

Fundamentals are in line with pricing

A bubble, by definition, is a price divorced from fundamentals. That diagnosis is tricky in crypto because fundamentals evolve fast, but a few data points stand out.

First, demand in the sector is now predominantly institutional, not retail. U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have sucked in roughly $50 billion since launching 18 months ago. Those coins are locked away in cold storage for a steady trickle of staking fee income, which is hardly the stuff of manic speculation.

Second, the macro backdrop is set to improve rather than worsen. The Federal Reserve held its benchmark interest rate steady in June but penciled in two cuts before the end of the year, with potentially more to follow in 2026. Looser monetary policy historically expands the money supply and the risk appetite, which is exactly what happened during the last big crypto bubble in 2021. If cuts arrive on schedule, crypto could enjoy a liquidity tailwind that was absent during 2022's wipeout.

Third, utility on leading chains is finally visible, which is to say there's a concrete reason to buy the native tokens of those chains. Solana's weekly network fees and its application revenue are surging to new highs -- people are using its decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, and platform operators are generating money as a result.

XRP's ledger, meanwhile, is onboarding tokenized U.S. Treasuries and bank-friendly compliance tools, making it a more attractive home for institutional capital. That fee and transaction revenue is small in absolute terms, but it proves that these coins are being bought to pave the way for real workloads, not just speculation.

Separately from the above, one thing that people tend to be curious about is how meme coins fit into the picture. Yes, meme coins exist, and they still spike to silly valuations of $1 billion or more. However, the entire meme coin cohort is currently valued at only $64.1 billion, just a smidgen of crypto's $3.7 trillion total market capitalization.

And it isn't as though new meme stars are emerging every day in a way that captures attention outside of the limited circles of crypto insiders.

Classic bubble signals aren't even present

When the market is at its euphoric peaks, there are many tell-tale signs, ranging from soaring retail inflows to sky-high use of leverage and nearly incessant dinner table chatter from people who don't usually invest. None of those are flashing red today.

Start with sentiment. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, offered by CoinMarketCap, reads 67 ("greed"), well below the 90-plus extremes logged in early 2021 and late 2024. Greed is in control at this moment, yes, but it's hardly mania by historical standards.

Web search interest tells a similar story. Searches for "Bitcoin" remain near six-month lows even as its price grinds higher, indicating that newcomers are not piling in en masse. Other signals, like the app store ranking of crypto wallet and trading apps, also look ice cold.

On-chain data is equally sober. Glassnode, a crypto data provider, calculates that a "super majority" of holders sit on unrealized profits after Bitcoin's rebound past $107,000. This implies that there could be some profit-taking in store, but also that almost nobody is under pressure to sell.

Furthermore, leverage in derivatives markets sits well below 2021 peaks. The odds of a liquidation spiral sending the price downward are low.

Could sentiment overheat relatively soon? Absolutely.

The macroeconomic tailwinds look quite favorable for the entire crypto sector right now, as does government policy, and as does monetary policy in the near term. And with institutional capital piling in, a lot could happen to ignite super-positive sentiment as soon as this fall.

But for now, no crypto traders are flashing their newly purchased Lamborghinis on social media. Nor are the valuations of most of the crypto majors overextended compared to 2021. So, don't get scared out of the market by talk of a bubble.

In sum, the data indicates that we are in a warm but far from overheated market. Keep an eye on the key indicators so that you will be ahead of the game if they start to signal too much froth.

Should you invest $1,000 in Bitcoin right now?

Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $671,477!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,010,880!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,047% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of July 7, 2025

Alex Carchidi has positions in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• Both Bitcoin and Solana recently hit all-time highs, and both have sky-high valuations.

• Many investors now consider Bitcoin to be digital gold as a potential hedge against economic uncertainty.

• New spot ETFs could reassure investors that Solana is more than just a blockchain for meme coin speculation.

• 10 stocks we like better than Bitcoin ›

In the second half of the year, two major cryptocurrencies could see a significant breakout: Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Solana (CRYPTO: SOL). While both have sky-high valuations right now, both are worth the risk. Here's why.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin remains the top-performing cryptocurrency of the year. It's up nearly 25% in 2025 and just hit another all-time high of $118,856.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

This is the most expensive Bitcoin has ever been, but analysts continue to suggest that it could almost double in value by the end of the year. The U.K. bank Standard Chartered, for example, just put a $200,000 price target on Bitcoin.

Many investors have embraced the idea of Bitcoin being digital gold, viewing it as a potential hedge against inflation and economic uncertainty. Its price plunged immediately after the announcement of President Donald Trump's tariffs on April 2 but has roared back to life. A big reason is the growing perception that the crypto might be able to weather the tariff storm better than traditional financial assets, thanks to its lack of correlation with any major asset class.

At the same time, the Bitcoin treasury company model has captured the imagination of investors. First popularized by Strategy, which now holds $65 billion worth of Bitcoin on its balance sheet, this treasury model is being emulated by a host of smaller companies, including Trump Media & Technology Group, where Trump is the largest shareholder.

The concept behind a Bitcoin treasury company is simple: Buy as much of the token as possible, as fast as possible, as cheaply as possible. So, for example, Trump Media & Technology Group recently raised $2.3 billion from investors with the full intention of putting that money to work purchasing Bitcoin.

Things get even more exciting when you consider that the U.S. government might start to purchase it as well. In March, the White House announced the creation of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve under the auspices of the Treasury Department.

While the executive order did not authorize the government to buy any new Bitcoin, it did reserve room for new purchases, as long as they could be done in a "budget neutral" way. Now that the "big, beautiful bill" is set to be enacted, I'm fully expecting some budgetary sleight-of-hand later this year, as the government explores ways to purchase the crypto.

Solana

Another cryptocurrency with a sky-high valuation is Solana, which hit a new all-time high of $294 the day Trump was inaugurated as president. But it has declined markedly in value since then and currently trades for just $163.

While the decline is worrisome, online prediction markets still give it a 22% chance of hitting a new all-time high before 2026. In other words, some investor give Solana a 1-in-5 chance of roughly doubling in value within the next five months.

A big potential catalyst is the imminent launch of spot Solana exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Right now, Bloomberg thinks that there is a 95% chance that they will be approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2025. And it now looks like the timetable for their approval has been moved up, with a decision potentially coming as early as August or September.

The problem with Solana is that it became synonymous with meme coin culture in 2024. It became the go-to platform to create, launch, and trade meme coins, and that led to a frenzy of meme coin speculation. When Trump launched his meme coin in January, for example, he did so on Solana.

Since then, however, the meme coin market has collapsed, and that has had a dramatic effect on Solana. When the entire global financial system seemed to be faltering a few months ago, the last place you wanted to put your money was a risky blockchain linked to meme coins.

However, we've seen this story before with Solana. In 2022, the price collapsed to just $10. But the following year, the crypto soared more than 900% as investors realized that concerns over its relationship with failed crypto exchange FTX, created by convicted fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried, were overblown.

I'm not saying the same thing is going to happen again, but I do think Solana is a $300 cryptocurrency.

High reward, but also high risk

Both Bitcoin and Solana are risky. Anytime you invest in a cryptocurrency, there's potential for enormous volatility. Making matters even riskier, both cryptocurrencies are coming off recent all-time highs. So, as they say, they're priced for perfection.

However, the reward outweighs the risk in both cases. I'm bullish on them over the short and long term, and confident that they have the potential to double in value before the end of the year.

Should you invest $1,000 in Bitcoin right now?

Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $671,477!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,010,880!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,047% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of July 7, 2025

Dominic Basulto has positions in Bitcoin and Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and Solana. The Motley Fool recommends Standard Chartered Plc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• Cryptocurrency prices boil down to the basics: supply and demand.

• Bitcoin continues to hold advantages in adoption and tokenomics over other cryptocurrencies, also known as altcoins.

• The government's spending habits bode well for Bitcoin's long-term price action.

• 10 stocks we like better than Bitcoin ›

The cryptocurrency market has been heating up since the Trump administration assumed office in January.

President Donald Trump campaigned on supporting cryptocurrencies, and his actions have followed through on this promise. He signed an executive order to establish a strategic federal reserve for digital assets and has broadly loosened the regulatory grip on the industry.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

But when it comes to deciding the smartest cryptocurrency to buy right now, it may still pay to stick with the basics. Most cryptocurrencies are highly speculative investments. That said, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) appears poised to build on its years of impressive returns.

I'll explain below why Bitcoin remains the smartest cryptocurrency to invest $1,000 into today.

Understanding how market forces affect Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency prices

The price of any traded asset at any given moment boils down to market forces -- what someone is willing to sell something for, versus what someone is willing to pay for it. It's the fundamental basics of supply and demand.

Some assets represent tangible things. For instance, real estate is physical property that you can appraise. Stocks represent ownership in companies, with revenue and profits. Having something tangible helps someone determine how much to pay for it.

However, cryptocurrencies are digital assets, often with little or no tangible value to support their market prices. As a result, cryptocurrencies can be highly volatile. Their long-term price direction depends on factors that ultimately influence that delicate balance between supply and demand.

It's that simple. Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, has been such a lucrative investment over the years because it continues to get this right.

Bitcoin's advantages over most altcoins

For starters, Bitcoin has a capped maximum supply, and new coins enter circulation at a slower rate following each halving, when mining rewards decline. Meanwhile, interest (demand) in Bitcoin has risen over time as it gains support from individuals, institutional investors, and even corporations and governments. For example, some companies have begun carrying Bitcoin on their balance sheets instead of cash and equivalents, and the U.S. government will start stockpiling Bitcoin thanks to Trump's executive order earlier this year.

Investors looking to invest in altcoins, or any cryptocurrency aside from Bitcoin, must consider their purpose and tokenomics. Many altcoins are meme coins, designed with little intention of real-world utility. Their market prices depend on sustained popularity.

Ethereum and XRP are popular altcoins, but both come with some issues. The Ethereum network's token, Ether, has an unlimited supply, which applies downward pressure on the token's market price. Meanwhile, XRP's creator, Ripple Labs, remains entangled in a civil lawsuit with U.S. regulators after a judge recently rejected their efforts to settle the case. It could weigh on XRP's real-world adoption and its market price until the litigation is resolved.

Cryptocurrencies as a whole have become increasingly popular across the investing community, but Bitcoin remains, at least for now, the most widely adopted and valued cryptocurrency by a wide margin.

Why Bitcoin's price can continue to rise

Bitcoin may not represent property or a business, but society has given it value as an anti-inflationary asset. This purpose drives higher interest in Bitcoin, and it's an important distinction that separates it from other cryptocurrencies at the moment.

One might think of Bitcoin as a digital version of gold. It doesn't have as much practical use as fiat currency, but it is valued, and there is only a limited amount of it. Just like gold, Bitcoin's price, denominated in U.S. dollars, continues to increase as more dollars flood the economy.

US M2 Money Supply data by YCharts

Bitcoin has risen much faster than gold, but it also started at a much smaller value. Even today, Bitcoin's fully diluted market value of $2.3 trillion is a fraction of the world's gold supply, which is about $22.3 trillion. I'm not sure that Bitcoin will ultimately match gold's value, but it's reasonable to think that there's more upside ahead, given the huge disparity.

The U.S. government's consistent fiscal deficit helps contribute to an expanding money supply. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the newly passed "big, beautiful bill" will likely increase the U.S.'s national debt during the next decade, which bodes well for Bitcoin and other assets priced in U.S. dollars.

These tailwinds, combined with a growing interest in Bitcoin from various parties worldwide, make it the clear choice for investors looking to invest $1,000 in cryptocurrencies today.

Should you invest $1,000 in Bitcoin right now?

Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $671,477!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,010,880!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,047% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of July 7, 2025

Justin Pope has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• Americans aren't saving enough for retirement.

• Here are three exchange-traded funds to build your nest egg around.

• Complement them with top-notch individual stocks, such as this AI leader, plus a cryptocurrency to protect against inflation.

• 10 stocks we like better than Vanguard S&P 500 ETF ›

Despite the remarkable U.S. economy, Americans are falling dramatically short of their retirement goals. According to research by The Motley Fool, most Americans are saving and investing in a retirement account, but just 34% believe that they're on track to hit their goals.

The study found that the median U.S. household has just $87,000 saved, with the typical household reaching a peak of around $200,000 between the ages of 65 and 74.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

If you're still working, a diversified investment portfolio can help you change your financial trajectory, even if you're starting later than you had hoped to.

Here are five incredible investments to consider for your long-term portfolio that could help move the needle for your retirement over the coming decades. Consider buying and holding them today.

1. An ETF you can build your retirement around

For quick and straightforward portfolio diversification, consider exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These are collections of individual stocks that trade under a single ticker symbol. Among them, it's hard to beat the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO). This ETF tracks the S&P 500, an index of 500 prominent U.S. companies.

Investing in this ETF provides exposure to various market sectors and industries. The S&P 500 adheres to strict selection criteria that help maintain its quality. Its system works. The S&P 500 is arguably the most proven wealth-building machine of all time, making it a no-brainer to include in your retirement portfolio.

2. Casting a wider net, this ETF offers instant diversification

Diversifying your portfolio goes beyond the companies and industries you invest in. It also includes geographic markets. Therefore, you should consider an ETF such as the Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (NYSEMKT: VT), a global stock market ETF with over 9,700 individual stocks from almost every industry across various countries.

It represents an investment in the broader global economy, which is crucial because there may be times when the U.S. stock market stumbles or lags behind other countries. This ETF pairs nicely with the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF as a foundation for your nest egg that should last as long as you need it to.

3. This innovation ETF should also help grow your nest egg

Now, it's time to look to growth to help your money compound over the coming decades. Consider the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) a fantastic starting point.

This ETF tracks the Nasdaq-100, an index with a heavy focus on technology stocks. It provides abundant exposure to the "Magnificent Seven" stocks, which lead the way in artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, e-commerce, digital advertising, and other high-growth industries.

This fund can be more volatile, but it has outperformed the S&P 500 over its lifetime. That may not always be the case, but the world is becoming increasingly tech driven, making the Invesco QQQ an excellent way to bet on innovation as a whole.

4. A leading AI stock that could boost your portfolio's results

It's fine to sprinkle in some individual stocks after you have built a foundation for your portfolio. AI could create trillions of dollars in economic value down the road, making it perhaps the most important growth story you can invest in right now.

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has already established itself as an AI powerhouse. It's the dominant leader in supplying chips used to train and run AI models in data centers.

Nvidia continues to grow as companies invest billions to build data centers, and experts predict that these expenditures could amount to trillions of dollars over the coming years. Beyond that, Nvidia could also play a part in emerging AI-driven technologies, such as autonomous vehicles and humanoid robotics. Nvidia is a total package that should continue to thrive, considering the AI era is only just beginning.

5. Hedge for inflation with the flagship cryptocurrency

President Donald Trump recently signed his "One Big Beautiful Bill" into law, officially raising America's debt ceiling. It's another sign that the U.S. government figures to continue spending to support its interests, a long-standing pattern that has steadily increased the country's debt. As a result, it may be worthwhile to include some anti-inflationary investments in your portfolio.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is the largest and most prominent cryptocurrency. Its status and capped maximum supply have resulted in staggering price appreciation that has easily outpaced the stock market for years.

Alternatively, if you're skeptical of cryptocurrencies, consider investing in gold, which remains a popular hedge against inflation to this day. Either way, having some anti-inflationary investments is yet another way to cover all your bases and mitigate risk.

Should you invest $1,000 in Vanguard S&P 500 ETF right now?

Before you buy stock in Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $671,477!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,010,880!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,047% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of July 7, 2025

Justin Pope has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Nvidia, and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• Bitcoin historically experiences four-year boom-and-bust cycles marked by tremendous volatility.

• According to some investors, Bitcoin has outgrown these boom-and-bust cycles.

• While some elements of the current cycle are different this time around, Bitcoin is not immune from experiencing a significant market correction.

• 10 stocks we like better than Bitcoin ›

Famed investor John Templeton once remarked, "The four most dangerous words in investing are: This time it's different." It's an acknowledgment that investing tends to follow certain timeless rules, and that investors often become too bullish about the prospects of any high-flying asset.

That's what has me so concerned about Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) right now. There's a growing sense that Bitcoin has somehow outgrown its historical boom-and-bust cycle, and that severe market corrections are now a relic of the past. But is that really the case?

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

The four-year Bitcoin cycle

Long-time Bitcoin investors recognize that the world's most popular cryptocurrency tends to follow four-year cycles. Each cycle is further subdivided into four distinct phases. There's a period of accumulation, followed by a period of rapid growth, a bubble, and then a crash.

The timing of this cycle might seem arbitrary, except for the fact that Bitcoin has a halving event every four years. This halving, which cuts in half the rate of new Bitcoin creation, is what leads to the period of rapid growth. If you know the date of the halving, you can basically add 12 to 18 months, and that's when the "bubble" phase should be coming to an end.

The last Bitcoin halving took place on April 19, 2024. If history is any guide, the current period of Bitcoin growth should be coming to an end sometime around October of this year. If we're lucky, the price of Bitcoin could hold its ground until January 2026.

You can see where I'm going with this -- we're "due" for a market correction. If Bitcoin follows its historical pattern, then the four-year cycle should be wrapping up relatively soon. And that means a significant market correction (or something worse) could be incoming.

"This time it's different"

The typical response to this, of course, is: "This time it's different." This is the first cycle, for example, when the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have existed. This is the first cycle when a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve has existed. This is the first cycle when the Bitcoin treasury company model has been in vogue. This is the first cycle when the U.S. government is supporting pro-Bitcoin policies. This is the first cycle when risk-averse institutional investors such as pension funds are buying Bitcoin.

You could probably list several more factors that are "different" this time around. But think back to what Templeton said decades ago. There are certain timeless truths about the financial markets that you simply can't ignore. And one of those is that financial assets can't defy gravity for long. What goes up must come down.

The Bitcoin bulls will reject this line of thinking, of course. Michael Saylor, the founder and executive chairman of MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), recently told Bloomberg TV in an interview: "Crypto winter is not coming back. We're past that phase." Saylor discounts the chances of any significant pullback, and is confident that Bitcoin will continue to soar in value. Saylor's new price target for Bitcoin is a head-spinning $21 million per coin.

Ignore the history of Bitcoin at your own peril

For any investors new to Bitcoin, I would highly recommend familiarizing yourself with the four-year Bitcoin cycle. Take a good, hard look at the long-term chart of Bitcoin. You'll see that Bitcoin has had several drawdowns of 77% or higher throughout its history. Moreover, even bullish periods of the cycle have experienced significant market corrections.

In short, the price of Bitcoin has never gone straight up. During the previous crypto bull market cycle, the price of Bitcoin hit a (then) all-time high of $69,000 in November 2021. Twelve months later, the price of Bitcoin was $16,000, a decline of 77%. The price of Bitcoin later recovered, but some crypto investors were wiped out.

Admittedly, the volatility of Bitcoin is lower these days, and the pullbacks appear to be less extreme. Even when Bitcoin fell to $75,000 earlier this year, it quickly recovered. Over the long haul, I have no doubt that Bitcoin will continue to march higher. Maybe it will one day hit the mythical $1 million mark.

However, I'm still not convinced that Wall Street has figured out Bitcoin, and that it's up only from here on out. If you buy into the logic of "this time it's different," you may be setting yourself up for disappointment later.

Should you invest $1,000 in Bitcoin right now?

Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $687,764!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $980,723!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,048% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 179% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of July 7, 2025

Dominic Basulto has positions in Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• Bitcoin's price has skyrocketed, as it becomes a legitimate financial asset viewed favorably by large institutions and governments.

• Bitcoin's fixed supply cap of 21 million units is what makes it special.

• If Bitcoin simply gets to gold's market cap in a decade, it will reach $1 million.

• 10 stocks we like better than Bitcoin ›

When viewed as a separate asset, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is hands down the best-performing one in the past decade. As of July 7, its price had skyrocketed 40,550% since the same date in 2015. That gain is significantly higher than what the stock market, U.S. Treasuries, or gold did during the same time.

Although the returns of the past surely won't repeat, I believe the good times will continue. I predict that this leading cryptocurrency will be worth $1 million per coin in 10 years.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

See the present clearly

Bitcoin has come a long way. What was once a funny internet money that sparked interest among cypherpunks has now become a global financial asset. Bitcoin can now be taken seriously, with its market cap of almost $2.2 trillion.

One key risk, which is that governments would get involved and ban Bitcoin, is now fading into irrelevance. The U.S. government plans to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, while the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) last year. These are signs pointing to Bitcoin not going away anytime soon.

Companies are starting to invest in and hold Bitcoin directly on their own balance sheets. Financial institutions can hold Bitcoin in custody on behalf of clients without the requirement to hold extra risk capital against it. And it was also just announced that Bitcoin would be recognized as collateral for mortgages.

It's impressive seeing Bitcoin's rise from a grassroots movement driven by individuals to a global asset that's embraced by big and powerful institutions. It's best not overthink this. The historical trend points to Bitcoin's rise continuing for the foreseeable future.

Scarcity drives demand

Bitcoin's price has soared during the past decade because the world is starting to understand how valuable it is to own a scarce asset. Bitcoin has a fixed supply cap of 21 million coins, enforced by a halving cycle that occurs roughly every four years. The last one happened in April 2024, with the next halving expected in April 2028.

Governments, especially the U.S., continue to run huge fiscal deficits. At the same time, the money supply keeps expanding at a rapid pace. This backdrop of growing liquidity in the financial system results in constantly debased fiat currency. However, it also leads to a risk asset like Bitcoin benefiting as more money seeks higher returns.

The Trump administration just passed the "big, beautiful bill," which will extend tax cuts, reduce Medicare and food benefits, and increase defense spending. According to the Congressional Budget Office, this will increase the fiscal deficit by $3.3 trillion during the next decade. It doesn't matter what politicians say about balancing the budget. Debt and spending will continue to be the main macro theme, which plays to Bitcoin's benefit as a fixed-supply asset.

Getting to $1 million

Bitcoin's present situation shows that it has cemented itself as a legitimate financial asset. Its scarcity, with a hard supply cap of 21 million units, stands impressively against fiat currency debasement.

This favorable setup gives me confidence that Bitcoin's price will rise roughly 900% to reach $1 million in 10 years. Gold is often compared to Bitcoin because they are both neutral, global, and scarce assets. The precious metal has a market value of $22.2 trillion, about 10 times higher than Bitcoin. It's not a stretch to expect the crypto to match gold's value in 2035.

It's worth highlighting that Bitcoin has much better qualities than gold. Bitcoin is portable, divisible, and verifiable. And it can be used in transactions. Plus, Bitcoin looks likely to be a key financial instrument in a world that is only becoming increasingly digital.

Therefore, maybe a $1 million price target will prove to be conservative in the grand scheme of things, as Bitcoin should eventually be worth much more than gold.

Should you invest $1,000 in Bitcoin right now?

Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $687,764!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $980,723!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,048% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 179% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of July 7, 2025

Neil Patel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• The crypto market is heating up again.

• Bitcoin remains the best "blue chip" token to buy.

• Ethereum should continue to lead the developer-oriented market.

Many cryptocurrencies skyrocketed during the buying frenzy for speculative investments in 2020 and 2021. That rally was fueled by near-zero interest rates, stimulus checks, social media buzz, and commission-free trading platforms. But in 2022 and 2023, many of those tokens crashed as interest rates rose and a new crypto winter began.

Over the past year and a half, investors have gradually pivoted back toward cryptocurrencies as interest rates declined and President Donald Trump's crypto-friendly administration took the helm. So if you're still bullish on cryptocurrencies, it might be a great time to go shopping again.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

You shouldn't stake your life savings in cryptocurrencies, but it might be smart to set aside a modest $1,000 in a few tokens that could soar over the next few decades. I'd personally stick with the two largest cryptocurrencies -- Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) -- instead of the smaller and more speculative meme coins.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin, the world's most valuable cryptocurrency, still has plenty of upside potential for a few simple reasons. First, it's still mined with an energy-intensive proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism, which becomes more costly every four years with each "halving" that cuts its mining rewards in half. Its maximum supply is also capped at 21 million tokens. Nearly 19.9 million of those Bitcoins have already been mined, and the final token is expected to be mined in 2140. There isn't much room for long-term inflation in this model.

Bitcoin's increasingly difficult mining process, scarcity, and deflationary nature make it more comparable to gold, silver, and other physical assets than many other cryptocurrencies. That makes it a potential hedge against inflation and the devaluation of fiat currencies.

Bitcoin's first spot price exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which were approved in January 2024, made it easier for retail and institutional investors to invest in the coin without a crypto wallet. Big companies like MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) continued to accumulate Bitcoin, the Trump administration recently established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, and inflation-wracked countries like El Salvador and Central African Republic even adopted Bitcoin as a national currency for a while. All of those developments supported the notion that Bitcoin was becoming "digital gold."

So even though Bitcoin might seem pricey right now at roughly $110,000, it could have even more upside potential. Standard Chartered's analysts expect its price to climb to $500,000 by 2028, while Ark Invest's Cathie Wood sees it flying as high as $1.5 million by 2030. You should take those bullish estimates with a grain of salt, but Bitcoin could remain the best "blue chip" cryptocurrency to buy and hold for the next few decades.

Ethereum

Ether, the native token of the Ethereum blockchain, is the world's second most valuable cryptocurrency. It was originally a PoW token that was mined like Bitcoin, but it transitioned to the more energy-efficient proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism in "The Merge" in 2022.

As a PoS token, Ether can no longer be mined. Instead, its investors "stake" their tokens on the blockchain to earn interest-like rewards. Ethereum's PoS blockchain also supports smart contracts, which can be used to develop decentralized apps (dApps) and other crypto assets. Its declining or rising network activity can either make it inflationary or deflationary, respectively, and it currently has a circulating supply of roughly 120.7 million tokens.

Ether is usually valued by the growth of its developer ecosystem and its transaction speeds instead of the scarcity of its tokens. Its core Level-1 blockchain is slower than PoS blockchains like Cardano, but it's assisted by faster Level-2 protocols that process the transactions off-chain before returning them to the Level-1 layer.

Ether's first spot price ETFs were also approved last year, but they only held the tokens in cold storage without passing on the staking rewards (about 3% to 5% annually) to their investors. That made the ETFs less appealing than Ether itself, but the next batch of ETFs might add those rewards.

Ethereum's next upgrade, "The Verge," will further improve its security features and lower its hardware requirements so it can run on smaller devices like smartphones. It's also expected to reduce its Layer-2 fees with "danksharding" upgrades to clear more space for fresh data.

At about $2,600, Ethereum still trades well below its all-time highs. But Cathie Wood predicts it could climb as high as $166,000 by 2032, and big institutional investors like BlackRock are still accumulating the token. Therefore, this developer-oriented token could still be a great investment for the next few decades.

Should you invest $1,000 in Bitcoin right now?

Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $699,558!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $976,677!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,060% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 180% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of June 30, 2025

Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool recommends Standard Chartered Plc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key Points

• MARA Holdings stock soared 17.3% this week after a strong June mining report.

• The mining volume was down 23% from May, but management still set bullish production targets for the full year.

Shares of MARA Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA) soared 17.3% this week. The crypto-mining expert's stock rose 17.3% from last Friday's closing bell to the early market exit on Thursday, July 3, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Most of the price gain sprung from MARA's Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) mining report, covering results in the month of June.

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Why block rewards matter to MARA Holdings' bottom line

The company formerly known as Marathon Holdings won 211 blocks in last month's Bitcoin mining sweepstakes.

For those unfamiliar with the process, the Bitcoin mining system awards a certain number of Bitcoins to the computer that completed the validation of each transaction data block.

The reward currently stands at 3.125 Bitcoins, handed out approximately every 10 minutes to the next lucky winner. It was halved in April 2024, and the next halving of rewards is scheduled for the spring of 2028. These inflation-shrinking events occur approximately every four years, on a schedule that is hardcoded in Bitcoin's operating software.

Since MARA runs the largest Bitcoin mining infrastructure in the world, the company handles the final data validation on a significant number of blocks. In June, MARA won 5.4% of all available Bitcoin mining rewards.

This tally was 23% below May's haul of 282 Bitcoin block awards. June is a 3% shorter month, and some of MARA's mining rigs were temporarily turned off due to weather-related events. Nevertheless, management set a year-end production target of 75 exahashes per second (a standard performance metric for Bitcoin mining operations). That's 40% above the 53 EH/s MARA generated at the end of 2024, and 31% more than the current rate of 57.4 EH/s.

Why investors are cheering MARA's growing Bitcoin stash

MARA held 47,940 Bitcoin by the end of June, second only to Michael Saylor's Strategy (formerly known as MicroStrategy) among public companies with reported Bitcoin holdings.

Investors are excited about MARA's rapid Bitcoin mining growth, which demonstrates an effective mining infrastructure as well as a deep commitment to the mining operations. If Bitcoin prices continue to grow over time, MARA should end up with a massive balance of Bitcoin-based assets. Today, MARA's Bitcoin holdings are worth roughly $5.47 billion -- more than 88% of MARA's total market capitalization.

Should you invest $1,000 in Mara right now?

Before you buy stock in Mara, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Mara wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $692,914!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $963,866!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,049% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 179% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

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*Stock Advisor returns as of June 30, 2025

Anders Bylund has positions in Bitcoin and Mara. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The price of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is back over $100,000. But many experts believe there's a lot more room to run. One major investor, Arthur Hayes, even thinks that Bitcoin's price will rise above the $1 million mark sometime over the next 3.5 years.

If you've been waiting to invest more money into Bitcoin, there are two reasons why you should make a move before 2026 arrives.

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This is the golden rule of investing in Bitcoin

At their core, currencies are not income-producing assets and they contribute nothing beyond their existence as a transaction-settling financial tool. Everyone believes that a U.S. dollar retains value. In return, a dollar bill has value and can be traded in exchange for something else. Of course, the U.S. government does have taxation and military powers with which it can back up the dollar's value. But in reality, the only foundational value a single dollar bill has is the idea that it has value.

The same can be said of Bitcoin. Yes, there is a decentralized consensus mechanism that is novel, plus a growing ecosystem of applications and services that use Bitcoin as a means of exchange. But most of Bitcoin's value comes from the idea that it has value. It's a financial tool that can settle transactions, not really different from the U.S. dollar. This reality has caused many investors to call Bitcoin a bubble. And in many ways, it is. It is an asset whose valuation is determined by social whims. But again, this isn't much different than any other currency. The main difference here is that traditionally, currencies are backed and controlled by nation-states. Bitcoin, meanwhile, is essentially controlled by a predetermined algorithm that dictates its long-term inflation rate, a rate that will ultimately drop to zero.

While there are many rules to currency investing, there is one old adage applicable to Bitcoin at this stage: The longer a currency has been around, the more legitimacy it has. This makes sense on a fundamental level. If a dollar bill has been used as a means of exchange for centuries, it's probably a good bet that its value will be maintained tomorrow, or even 20 years from now. The longer a currency is recognized by the masses, the more it is accepted by the same crowd. It's a very general rule with plenty of exceptions. But in general, it's a helpful framework for thinking about new currencies like Bitcoin.

The first Bitcoin was minted in 2009. That means Bitcoin has existed for only 14 years. Every year that passes, its legitimacy rises, adding more and more adoption avenues, and thus increasing its value. Following this logic, the earlier you buy Bitcoin for the long term the better. But if you need Bitcoin to have a more tangible use case than that of a speculative currency, the thesis below has you covered.

Don't buy gold, buy BTC

Don't believe that Bitcoin has the ability to replace other currencies like the U.S. dollar? No worries. Its place as a store of value asset also provides reason to buy more Bitcoin today rather than wait for next year.

Right now, gold's total market cap is around $23 trillion. Bitcoin's market cap, meanwhile, stops at $2.1 trillion. If Bitcoin closes the gap with gold, there could be roughly 1,000% in potential upside to go.

Every year, more and more major investors allocate capital to Bitcoin. Scores of crypto-related ETFs have launched, many of which invest heavily into Bitcoin. Meanwhile, there's a growing list of billionaires who have put more of their portfolio into Bitcoin. All of these moves add even more credibility to Bitcoin's story. So even if it never takes off as a means of exchange, institutional buy-in legitimizes Bitcoin as a valuable asset simply to hold on to, no different than how we treat gold today.

So whether you like Bitcoin's long-term potential as a currency or simply view it as a digital version of gold, 2025 remains a wonderful time to take a long-term position.

Should you invest $1,000 in Bitcoin right now?

Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $659,171!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $891,722!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 995% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025

Ryan Vanzo has positions in Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) is a leading crypto exchange, but the business is so much more than that. It's a stablecoin giant, infrastructure company, and blockchain operator with tremendous growth opportunities in the future.

*Stock prices used were end-of-day prices of June 13, 2025. The video was published on June 13, 2025.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

Should you invest $1,000 in Coinbase Global right now?

Before you buy stock in Coinbase Global, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Coinbase Global wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $659,171!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $891,722!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 995% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. JPMorgan Chase is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Travis Hoium has positions in Alphabet, Circle Internet Group, Coinbase Global, and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and JPMorgan Chase. The Motley Fool recommends Coinbase Global. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Investors in XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) are in a good position today. The coin has broken above $2 and sports a market cap north of $127 billion, making it the world's fourth-largest cryptocurrency. It's seeing widespread adoption by institutional investors, and there are a plethora of other reasons to be bullish about XRP's future.

Yet three headwinds are blowing straight in its face, and they explain why the gains have cooled since March. None of them are fatal, but ignoring them is like pretending a stiff breeze won't slow a kayak. So let's look at each challenge and see what it might mean for long-term holders.

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1. Competitors want to eat its lunch

The first challenge is the chain's competition from other cryptocurrencies and fintechs.

Ethereum now anchors roughly $126 billion of the $240 billion stablecoin market, cementing its role as the default solution for dollar-denominated transfers in the crypto sector despite its frequent clunkiness and mediocre user experience on average. Every stablecoin dollar routed through Ethereum is one less unit that might have been transferred via the XRP Ledger (XRPL).

Meanwhile, traditional payment processors are rolling out the same kinds of cross-border tools that once made XRP look revolutionary.

Visa just backed a fintech moving $12 billion a year in stablecoin settlements for businesses. Stripe, another payment processing company, is striking bank partnerships to do the same.

These companies own distribution channels, meaning that merchants already clear trillions of dollars through their pipes every year. If they add stablecoin rails, corporate treasurers have fewer reasons to bother with a crypto they have never held.

In theory, XRPL's speed and tiny fees still shine. In practice, network effects reward the chain where counterparties already keep accounts.

Unless Ripple, the business that issues XRP, can persuade the next wave of stablecoin issuers to launch natively on XRPL or deliver a blockbuster central-bank deal, the payments pie could keep enlarging without XRP securing a bigger slice.

2. Supply unlocks are problematic for some investors

For a value-oriented cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, the scarcity of coins is a major driver of higher prices, as new coins can only be produced at a very slow rate. So there's no untapped major reservoir of supply that buyers can reliably count on.

With XRP, supply trickles in like clockwork. Ripple's programmatic schedule releases 1 billion XRP from escrow on the first of every month. Roughly 80% of that sum is relocked and thus retained, but 100 million to 200 million coins still hit the float (get sold) in each cycle. At $2.15 per coin, that is $215 million of potential sell pressure every 30 days.

Annualized, the unlocked supply could reach 1.2 billion coins, equal to about 2% of XRP's circulating base of 58.9 billion. That dilution is mild compared with new token issuance elsewhere, yet it matters in a market where marginal buyers care about float, not total cap.

Every fresh tranche forces investors to absorb inventory before the price can advance. And aside from preventing prices from surging upward due to a supply shock, the mere existence of the tokens leaving escrow is enough to spook some investors and discourage them from buying anything at all.

3. Retail investor skepticism of crypto remains stubbornly high

Finally, market sentiment about the crypto sector as a whole is stuck in a rut that's likely dragging on XRP to some degree.

A Pew Research Center study from 2024 found 63% of U.S. adults have little to no confidence that today's crypto platforms are safe or reliable. Given XRP's commitment to offering compliance tools to help institutional investors and banks obey regulations, those fears are overblown, but people still have them. Another Pew survey, from 2022, found that 46% of people who actually bought crypto say performance has fallen short of expectations.

Skepticism translates into smaller purchases and slower conversion of the curious into the committed. That matters because retail investors still drive a big slice of crypto's price elasticity. Crypto fatigue is psychological, and bear market scars heal on their own timetable.

Assuming continued macro calm, a few years of visible real-world usage could flip the narrative. Until then, doubt will act like gravity on XRP's rallies -- but be aware that doesn't mean it can't grow significantly anyway.

Should you invest $1,000 in XRP right now?

Before you buy stock in XRP, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and XRP wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $659,171!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $891,722!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 995% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025

Alex Carchidi has positions in Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Ethereum, Visa, and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Good old Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is doing alright this year, trading 13% higher year-to-date on June 18. On the other hand, many altcoins are struggling. For example, the market-defining oracle coin Chainlink (CRYPTO: LINK) is down by 37% in 2025. Is Chainlink fading out for good, or could this be a great time to buy the falling coin?

Let's take a look.

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Bitcoin is running away from Chainlink

Rising Bitcoin prices don't always translate into strong returns from other cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin's dominance of the total crypto market has been surging since November 2022, rising from 38% to 64% in that 30-month period.

Chainlink had a total market value of $3.8 billion on November 30, 2022. That was about 0.44% of the crypto market as a whole. The coin price is up by 78% since then, far behind Bitcoin's 537% price jump. Chainlink's footprint on the crypto market has shrunk to 0.26%.

Why Chainlink isn't just a weaker Bitcoin

So Chainlink has underperformed Bitcoin in recent years -- but why?

First and foremost, Bitcoin is becoming a fairly standard asset nowadays. It's a limited-inflation value carrier, comparable to gold in many ways. Its value is based on computing time and electric bills rather than physical gold bars, but the idea of a limited-supply accounting asset is easily understood. People are doing some very traditional things with Bitcoin now, like building corporate cash reserves and launching exchange-traded funds based on Bitcoin prices.

Chainlink is a different beast. It's harder to grasp how this coin creates value -- and value storage isn't its main purpose.

As an oracle coin, Chainlink's job is to collect and distribute data throughout the cryptocurrency ecosystem. You can use it to read the current market prices of various cryptocurrencies, stocks, and other assets. Chainlink can also track weather data, real estate prices, flight times, and more.

This data comes in handy for smart contracts, automating things in the blockchain-based cryptocurrency world. With Chainlink's real-world data feeds, you can set up Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) smart contracts to take action. Like, sell this non-fungible token when its price reaches $100, or transfer some Bitcoin to an emergency fund when the wind speed in Tampa hits 80 mph.

These are simple examples, and developers can take more sophisticated actions. The smart contracts can be written for Ethereum or Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) or Avalanche (CRYPTO: AVAX), just to name a few popular platforms. And the common denominator is Chainlink. Other oracles exist, but none come close to Chainlink's market reach.

So if you want to make a Web3 app, or a decentralized finance tool, or some other program that depends on smart contracts, you pretty much have to rely on Chainlink's data. And every data request generates a tiny fee, which is distributed to coin holders who support data security by staking their Chainlink coins.

Chainlink's value creation makes sense when you think about it, but it's not as simple or obvious as the Bitcoin model. That's why Chainlink's price chart has lagged behind Bitcoin's recently -- setting patient investors up for greater long-term gains. This oracle coin won't be misunderstood and underestimated forever.

Where Chainlink goes from here

Long story short, a Chainlink investment is a bet on smart contracts and the apps you can build around them. From tokenized real-world assets to blockchain-based digital wallets, Chainlink will build plenty of usage-based value as these next-generation financial management ideas go mainstream.

As such, I see a bright long-term future for Chainlink and its early investors. None of the catalysts I listed above have gained much traction yet, and Chainlink is waiting for the first killer app. It will probably never be a trillion-dollar asset, like Bitcoin is today, but there's plenty of room for wealth-building growth with much lower market caps.

Should you invest $1,000 in Chainlink right now?

Before you buy stock in Chainlink, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Chainlink wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $659,171!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $891,722!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 995% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025

Anders Bylund has positions in Bitcoin, Chainlink, Ethereum, and Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Avalanche, Bitcoin, Chainlink, Ethereum, and Solana. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The entire cryptocurrency market climbed 66% from just before Donald Trump's election win in November to mid-December. Since then, however, many of the most popular cryptocurrencies have failed to continue moving higher.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) has been one of the stronger performers. It set an all-time high in January, and it recently climbed slightly above that level in May. As of June 18, Bitcoin trades for about $105,000.

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But multiple analysts see the value of Bitcoin nearly doubling by the end of the year, reaching $200,000. Here's why analysts are bullish on the leading cryptocurrency.

Doubling in just over six months

Over the last couple of months, several analysts have reaffirmed expectations for Bitcoin to climb to $200,000 by the end of the year.

• Bernstein called its $200,000 year-end estimate for Bitcoin "high-conviction and conservative."
• Standard Chartered analysts called for a series of sharp increases during the next few months that could push the price to $200,000 by year-end.
• Bitwise analysts think the fair value of Bitcoin right now is $230,000 but only expect it to reach $200,000 by the end of the year.
• 21Shares strategists also see the cryptocurrency hitting the magic $200,000 mark by year-end as well.

There are several factors supporting the continued increase in Bitcoin's value, according to the analysts.

Bitwise points to the rising U.S. fiscal debt, exacerbated by the new tax bill that passed through the House recently. Analysts argue that Bitcoin presents a type of insurance against sovereign debt defaults since it's a scarce and decentralized asset.

Standard Chartered is seeing data that shows the market agrees with that sentiment. It said exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows are shifting from gold into Bitcoin, suggesting it's more of a safe asset. It also says Bitcoin wallets with more than 1,000 Bitcoins resumed accumulating the asset during recent dips.

21Shares saw the recent Consumer Price Index numbers as a bullish sign for Bitcoin because cooler inflation could give the Federal Reserve the green light to reduce interest rates. That could push wider adoption of riskier assets.

But there's one trend that could drive Bitcoin's price higher well beyond 2025, and it appears to be accelerating.

What can drive Bitcoin long term?

Bitcoin's price is based almost entirely on supply and demand. There's a fixed supply of Bitcoin -- only 21 million will ever exist, of which about 19.9 million are already in circulation. So, strong growth in demand will send its value up over time.

To that end, we're seeing signs of more growth in demand. ETF inflows have reaccelerated after a pullback in March and April. On top of that, there's growing interest in Bitcoin treasury companies that aim to follow in the footsteps of Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy, whose main business is buying and holding Bitcoin.

We saw a new pure play on the Strategy Bitcoin treasury idea, Twenty One, agreeing to go public in late April. Trump Media raised $2.5 billion to establish a Bitcoin treasury at the end of May. Several other businesses have taken to the idea of selling shares in their company to buy Bitcoin, injecting billions of dollars of demand and a continuous flow of more demand in the future.

So, not only is there more institutional interest in buying Bitcoin, but there's growing corporate interest as well. The current political environment is making it easier for both to confidently hold Bitcoin on their books, so the trend should continue for a long time.

Most investors can easily invest in Bitcoin through their regular brokerage account by purchasing a Bitcoin ETF. The expense ratios on the best Bitcoin ETFs are relatively low and worth paying for the simplicity and security they provide.

If you'd rather buy Bitcoin directly, opening an account on a crypto exchange isn't difficult, but beware of the hidden costs of crypto transactions, including slippage and take rates from exchanges. You'll also need to remain mindful of security concerns regarding custody of your Bitcoin.

Should you invest $1,000 in Bitcoin right now?

Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $659,171!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $891,722!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 995% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025

Adam Levy has positions in Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The price of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is back over $100,000. But according to many experts, the run is far from over. Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood recently reaffirmed her 2030 price target of $700,000. Long term, she believes a single Bitcoin could eventually be worth several million dollars.

Every investor should have at least a small exposure to Bitcoin, even if it's just $100. That gives you enough cash to easily buy into the two Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) below. Just be careful: The two ETFs below provide very different exposures to Bitcoin and crypto in general.

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This is the largest Bitcoin ETF in the world

The largest Bitcoin ETF right now -- at least measured by the amount of money that has been invested into it -- is the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (NASDAQ: IBIT). As of last quarter, the ETF's holdings were worth roughly $70 billion -- more than triple the asset value of the next-largest Bitcoin ETF. Scale allows this ETF to charge lower expense ratios than the competition. The total management fee right now is a reasonable 0.25%. Many competing ETFs charge significantly higher fees.

The best thing about this Bitcoin ETF is that it invests solely in Bitcoin. When you buy Bitcoin directly, you need to deal with a long list of complexities. Taxes can be difficult to track manually, and security issues are commonplace, with many investors falling victim to scams or phishing attempts that drain their accounts with little to no recourse available. By investing in the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, all of these complexities become streamlined, just as they would by purchasing any other ETF. As the ETF's prospectus describes, packaging a Bitcoin investment vehicle as a simple ETF helps "remove the operational, tax, and custody complexities of holding bitcoin directly."

Perhaps the best news is that buying a Bitcoin ETF lets you automate your investments. So you can buy $100 today, but you can also tell your brokerage to withdraw another $100 each month, with the proceeds automatically invested in more Bitcoin. This helps you dollar-cost average your Bitcoin investment -- a huge advantage for such a volatile asset.

As you'd expect, more than 99.9% of the trust's holdings are invested directly into Bitcoin, with a tiny amount allocated to cash, mostly to meet daily liquidity needs. With such a low expense ratio, this is one of the fastest and most efficient ways to get Bitcoin exposure. But if you want to invest in more than just Bitcoin, check out the new ETF below.

This crypto ETF invests in more than just Bitcoin

Launched in 2023, the Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (NYSEMKT: BETH) invests primarily in Bitcoin. But as the ETF's name suggests, it also allocates some of your funds into Ethereum.

Ethereum is the second-largest crypto asset in the world today. And while it does have distinct differences when compared to Bitcoin, a very simplistic explanation is that it is essentially "programmable" Bitcoin. That is, it is a decentralized asset that allows for other things to be built on top of it, with the Ethereum virtual machine executing commands in a way that can't be controlled by any one individual. By investing in Ethereum, you're essentially betting that the wide crypto universe will also prevail, not just Bitcoin.

As of last quarter, this ETF's portfolio had 88% exposure to Bitcoin, with the remainder invested in Ethereum. Importantly, exposure is gained through futures contracts, not directly through Bitcoin holdings. This approach adds some correlation risk.

As you can imagine, this increased diversification comes with added costs. The expense ratio for this ETF is around 0.95%. For most investors, the cheaper iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF is a suitable option. But if you'd like to make sure you bet both on Bitcoin and crypto in general, this is a great all-in-one ETF to accomplish that. And as with any other ETF, you can set up automated investments to make sure you're putting more money to work on a regular basis. This way, you don't need much to get started.

Whether you go with the cheaper and arguably more effective IBIT ETF, or get fancier with the BETH ETF, both give your portfolio instant exposure to crypto markets with as little as $100.

Should you invest $1,000 in Bitcoin right now?

Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $658,297!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $883,386!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 992% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 172% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

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Ryan Vanzo has positions in Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The IPO market is alive and well, and the best example of that is Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL). It's one of the hottest new crypto stocks on the market. It began trading on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this month, and from an initial public offering price of $31, it soared to a value of $133.56 as of June 13.

It doesn't hold Bitcoins or other risky digital assets, and it instead gives you a supposedly more stable way to invest in the crypto world. Here's what you need to know about the latest new crypto stock, and whether it's worth adding it to your portfolio today.

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Circle Internet Group's business centers around its stablecoin

Unlike meme coins and risky, volatile assets, Circle Internet Group is an issuer of a stablecoin, USDC, which is pegged to the U.S. dollar. That means that by definition, it shouldn't experience a lot of volatility. Finding a stable investment while also investing in crypto is no easy task as often the big allure is to generate a huge profit from a fast-moving asset like Bitcoin. Circle Internet Group, however, could be a more enticing option for risk-averse investors.

The company recently launched the Circle Payments Network, which connects the USDC to eligible banks. By providing "near-instant settlement," it can help facilitate transactions all over the world. The company says that interest is growing. "We are seeing growth in start-up banks and neo-banks in many emerging markets focused on providing digital dollar payment and settlement services using USDC and the Circle stablecoin network," the company said in its IPO filing. By having more people use the network and its stablecoin, that can help Circle drive more growth for its business in the long run.

The company's financials look impressive

Circle generates revenue primarily from the interest it earns on cash it receives in exchange for USDC. Through the first three months of 2025, the company's revenue totaled $578.6 million, which was an increase of 58% from the same period last year. This was largely due to an increase in USDC in circulation, with daily averages rising by 93%.

What was most impressive was Circle's bottom line, however. It totaled $64.8 million and was up 33%. With a profit margin north of 11%, this is an investment that looks a lot safer than many other crypto stocks; Circle's financials didn't feature any wild swings in value due to gains or losses on digital assets.

Where Circle may struggle

The big risk with Circle is that inevitably, everything hinges on the success and popularity of its stablecoin, USDC. At its core, this can still be a volatile business. The most popular stablecoin right now is Tether, which has a market cap of $156 billion, versus $62 billion for USDC. If USDC's popularity suffers, that could pose a big risk to Circle's future growth and profitability.

Another risk is that its revenue is vulnerable to changing interest rates. If rates decline, that will negatively impact Circle's financials, as interest rates along with USDC adoption drive its top line.

While investors may like the idea of investing into a crypto stock with steady financials and sound operations, generating interest income on USDC funds doesn't exactly scream growth, and it may not be the type of investment that excites crypto investors in the long run. Circle's success depends on the overall popularity of USDC. Without significant and continued increases in adoption, this can quickly become a slow-growing business.

Should you buy Circle Internet Group stock?

Although it's been a hot buy since going public, Circle Internet Group stock may already be a bit of a pricey investment to be hanging on to today as its market cap is at around $37 billion, putting it at a price-to-revenue multiple of more than 19. It has a lot of potential growth ahead, especially as the crypto world grows in size, but there's a lot of competition in this space and although USDC is one of the top stablecoins today, that may not be the case in a few years. Paying such a high premium for the business may not make a lot of sense right now.

Circle Internet Group's fundamentals look good, but with many question marks around its long-term future, I wouldn't rush to buy it, especially given how fast it has already rallied. It may be better to take a wait-and-see approach with this investment.

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David Jagielski has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.