Key Points

• Many asset managers are migrating their assets to be tracked by blockchains.

• Both Solana and XRP stand to capture inflows related to this migration.

• But, at least so far, they're excelling in very different classes of tokenized assets.

• 10 stocks we like better than XRP ›

Smart investors know that you don't need to swing at every pitch. Sometimes, simply parking a modest sum in the right play before the crowd arrives can reap outsize rewards. A fast-maturing corner of crypto -- real-world asset (RWA) tokenization -- offers that setup today as it moves stocks, bonds, and other traditional instruments onto blockchains for cheaper, faster settlement compared to existing financial technologies.

Two coins already capturing some of the capital flows related to tokenization are Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) and XRP (CRYPTO: XRP). They approach the megatrend of asset tokenization slightly differently, giving investors a paired bet on whatever flavors of tokenized finance proliferate next. Even a relatively modest investment of $1,500 could be intelligently allocated into either of these two coins, so let's investigate both. And I suggest holding for at least three years.

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This chain is a speed specialist

Solana's chief selling points are its throughput and its cheapness.

The network routinely clears more than 1,000 transactions per second (TPS) at sub-penny fees, letting developers iterate without worrying that usage spikes will crush users' wallets. That has proved invaluable for tokenized stocks. After a platform called xStocks launched on the chain in late May, the value of stock tokens on Solana tripled to about $48 million within three weeks; as of late July, the chain's tokenized stocks are worth more than $102 million.

Zoom out, and the corpus of tokenized assets on Solana now stands near $553 million, up by more than 218% this year alone, which is more than double the sector's overall growth.

Image source: Getty Images.

The chain is thus emerging as a natural magnet for asset issuers experimenting with tech that's beyond their traditional venues.

If Boston Consulting Group's projection that the sum of tokenized real-world assets will reach $16 trillion by 2030 is even half-right, a rising tide of assets would keep nudging validators to lock up Solana for staking, tightening supply. Furthermore, asset issuers will need to buy and hold the coin to manage their tokens, not to mention parking at least some of their fiat currency on the chain as stablecoins.

Regulatory surprises remain the main risk here, as tokenized stocks and funds live in (partially) uncharted territory. But, that risk seems likely going to get resolved within the next few years thanks to new leadership at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and when it does, the chain would pick up a new tailwind in the form of regulatory clarity.

Buying $1,500 worth of Solana and holding it through then is thus a favorable course of action.

This institutional plumber is carving a compliance moat

Where Solana thrives on raw speed, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) is a money transfer and asset-tracking system that embeds the (boring but essential) features banks actually ask for, like account freezing tools, native blacklisting, and built-in identity layers that satisfy know-your-customer (KYC) rules without the need to bolt on third-party widgets. Those controls are attracting issuers of regulated debt and payment instruments, which are the (once again, boring but essential) enormous backbone of finance.

XRP now has roughly $133 million in tokenized assets on its chain, up from under $50 million a year ago. That footprint is small compared to other chains like Ethereum, but its composition skews toward institutional debt rather than stocks. Every new bond or payment token minted consumes XRP for fees, subtly trimming float and sharpening its scarcity narrative.

Whereas one of Solana's strong points so far has been with tokenized stocks, XRP's advantage at the moment is in its deeply liquid tokenized U.S. Treasury bill platform, worth $75.2 million, which is something that banks and other financial institutions need. When those players use XRP as part of their financial back end, they gain a significant advantage from being able to tap into borrowing those Treasuries natively on-chain. Furthermore, the ledger's tight compliance posture also reduces headline risk, as institutions can adopt the coin without cobbling together legal patchwork like they'd need to do with Ethereum-based solutions.

Of course, the chain relies entirely on the business development muscle of Ripple, the business which issues XRP. Should legal or strategic missteps slow institutional partner onboarding, the coin's growth would stall. Still, the chain's design speaks the language of regulators, which is a competitive advantage that compounds as rules tighten worldwide and as larger players (with heftier compliance requirements) enter the crypto space.

Over the coming years, as institutions pile into crypto to take advantage of its technology, few chains are better positioned than XRP. And that's why it's worth buying with $1,500 today, and holding for at least three years.

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 $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

Alex Carchidi has positions in Ethereum and Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. 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 »

Image source: Getty Images.

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

• It's now possible to trade certain stocks on Solana's blockchain.

• That capability is attracting a lot of capital, and very quickly.

• You don't necessarily want to be investing in these tokenized assets just yet.

• 10 stocks we like better than Solana ›

Wall Street's market closes at 4 p.m. eastern time, but blockchains are open all night long. Thanks in part due to that after‑hours void, a tiny slice of the stock market has quietly migrated onto Solana (CRYPTO: SOL), turning a small but growing selection of stocks into tokens that trade 24/7.

Between mid‑June and July 4, Solana's on‑chain value of those tokenized stocks more than tripled, from about $13 million to $48 million, a jump powered almost entirely by a new platform called xStocks. By July 16, the chain featured more than $100 million worth of stocks, indicating that the pace of growth is still incredible.

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 »

The quantity of dollars involved here might look trivial, but the growth rate is anything but. Let's dig into why this is happening, and what it could mean for long‑term investors in Solana and other cryptocurrencies.

Stock tokenization just went white-hot

The xStocks platform went live on June 30 with more than 60 U.S. tickers set up. This included companies you might own, like Microsoft, Tesla, Nvidia, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and more, all minted as a Solana token and tradable on major crypto exchanges like Kraken, Bybit, and several decentralized exchanges (DEXes) too.

Those tokens are said to be backed 1‑for‑1 by shares of the underlying stocks. Transactions settle in seconds, and they can move peer‑to‑peer at sub‑penny network fees. They can also be traded at any hour of the day or night, which is an experience most brokerage apps simply cannot match.

Speed and novelty explain part of the surge, but the quality of the technology enabling the move matters too.

Image source: Getty Images.

Solana's cheap and fast transactions make sending fractional shares around the network highly economical, which in turn invites small investors, and also the development of relatively small-time decentralized finance (DeFi) applications that cater to that same group. The launch also coincided with the launch of so‑called "tax coins," an emerging segment of tokens that skim a trading levy and automatically funnel the proceeds into xStocks to distribute to holders as on‑chain dividends. Further DeFi innovation involving tokenized assets like stocks is all but guaranteed, and at the moment, Solana is where it all happens.

But before you rush in and buy tokenized stocks on Solana, be aware that there is a substantial amount of fine print here.

Liquidity is razor‑thin on tokenized stocks in a way that most investors never need to think about normally. Many xStocks trade only a few thousand dollars a day, so the risk of your purchases or sales failing due to insufficient liquidity is significant in some cases.

Furthermore, most tokenized stocks still fall under securities laws, no matter what wrapper they wear. If there are issues with regulators, platforms could be forced to delist assets or exclude U.S. users overnight, and that might make the tokenized stocks worthless or untradeable.

What this means for holders

Tokenized stocks are only one strand of Solana's real‑world asset (RWA) push, but they arrive as the chain is already outpacing rivals.

Total RWA value on Solana, which includes everything from U.S. Treasuries to funds, has surged 140% this year to reach roughly $564 million as of mid-July. If that trend holds, Solana could capture a meaningful share of the trillions in assets that consultants expect to go on‑chain by 2030. For reference, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) pegs the total addressable market for tokenized illiquid assets at about $16 trillion within five years.

For holders, the mechanics of how to benefit from this trend are very straightforward. Every stock transfer or dividend a smart contract triggers in turn burns a smidge of the coin in fees, tightening supply. It also implies that users and investors had to hold some of the coin to pay the fees. In theory, a booming stock token venue could replicate what meme coins did for Solana's fee revenue last winter, but with Wall Street credibility attached.

Investors intrigued by this development should consider two things.

First, as far as the tokenized stocks themselves go, you don't need to rush to buy them. If you're the average investor, you probably shouldn't be buying them at all for at least a few more quarters to let the open issues get settled. Just buy the stocks on the traditional equity market as you usually do, assuming you want to hold them at all.

Second, if you believe public stocks will migrate on‑chain in size and that Solana's speed will keep it competitive, buying and holding the coin for the long haul will give you exposure to the upside from that trend.

In short, the explosion of stock tokenization on the chain is quite bullish, and it's ensuring that Solana's long-term picture keeps looking better and better.

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

Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, 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. Alex Carchidi has positions in Amazon, Meta Platforms, Nvidia, Solana, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, Solana, and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. 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 »

Image source: Getty Images.

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.

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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.

Image source: Getty Images.

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

• Solana is seeing a lot of users actually using its chain for what it was intended to do.

• That's driving money to the chain itself, as well as into its app ecosystem.

• Its competitors aren't anywhere near it in terms of how much cash their apps bring in.

• 10 stocks we like better than Solana ›

Would you want to invest in a store that gets a lot of paying customers, or one that doesn't? The same principle applies to blockchains, as the chains that collect the most fees are the ones people actually use.

Right now the busiest store is Solana, (CRYPTO: SOL) which has raked in more protocol revenue than any other network for three straight quarters and counting. Furthermore, at roughly $150 per coin, its market still prices it like an also-ran rather than a star player. That mismatch between cash coming in and price going out is why I think the token can top $500 within five 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. Learn More »

Network revenue and app revenue are winning the day

Let's clarify two very important concepts for evaluating cryptocurrencies like Solana: Network revenue, and application revenue.

Network revenue is simply the sum of fees users pay to get their transactions registered into a block on the chain. Application revenue, on the other hand, is the sum total of revenue generated by the applications running on a chain.

High network and app revenue means heavy activity, in the form of decentralized finance (DeFi) swaps, non-fungible token (NFT) mints, payments for services, and borrowing or lending flows. In the 24 hours leading up to July 8, Solana brought in $1.3 million in network revenue, and its app ecosystem brought in $8.6 million, vastly outclassing all of its competitors by a large margin.

This streak has been accelerating in the most recent quarter. Solana booked more than $571 million in app revenue in second-quarter 2025, leaving Ethereum's $200 million in the dust. Daily snapshots tell the same story. On July 6, Solana captured almost half of all layer 1 (L1) and layer 2 (L2) network earnings worldwide.

Image source: Getty Images.

Why do users keep piling in? Start with transaction costs and speed.

A typical Solana transaction costs about $0.00025 and settles in a couple of seconds, compared with Ethereum's multi-dollar gas bills that arrive fashionably late. Those economics make Solana the chain of choice for high-frequency decentralized exchange (DEX) trading, driving 46% of all decentralized-app revenue across crypto last quarter.

App developers follow the money, as they won't get paid otherwise. On that front, more than 7,600 new builders joined the ecosystem in 2024, the fastest growth in the sector by far. A bigger dev base seeds more apps, which beget more users, which inflate revenue, making the Solana flywheel exactly what Ethereum pioneered but is now struggling to maintain.

Taken together, nine months of revenue leadership signal that Solana owns the most vibrant storefront in crypto. Next comes turning that cash register ring into price appreciation, which will take time.

The path to $500 is very plausible from here

Given the above, the odds of Solana growing significantly over the coming years are fairly favorable.

Hitting a target of $500 from $152 requires a 229% climb, or roughly a 3.3x return from where the coin is today.

That sounds heroic until you remember that Solana traded near $260 in late 2021, with far less adoption than today, and with practically zero in terms of its DeFi application revenue. Assuming network revenue keeps compounding while fee-burn mechanics retire a slice of every transaction cost, the float of available tokens will tighten over time, pushing the price lever upward.

Speed and cost aren't the only draws. Solana's single-shard architecture lets every smart contract and program see the same state at once, cutting the complexity of cross-chain bridges that have plagued rivals with hacks and downtime. If big-ticket real world asset (RWA) platforms or AI inference markets pick a chain for throughput reasons, Solana's capacity to process 65,000 transactions per second (TPS) makes it a frontrunner.

Still, five years is plenty of time for potholes along the way. A hard regulatory crackdown on low-fee chains, a catastrophic validator outage, or Ethereum's long-awaited darksharding upgrade could all erode Solana's edge.

Macro shocks matter, too. If liquidity vanishes from the market, fee revenue will follow it down for both its apps and the network itself.

Even so, the core thesis is simple. Money talks.

When a chain out-earns everyone else for nine straight months, the market usually notices eventually. If Solana's revenue keeps sprinting while its tokenomics quietly throttle supply, a triple-digit price tag starting with "5" is no stretch whatsoever over the next few years.

In fact, I predict that it'll happen before 2030, because right now, its competitors simply can't keep up with its main draws.

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 $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.

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Alex Carchidi has positions in Ethereum and Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Ethereum and Solana. 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.

Image source: Getty Images.

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.

Nowhere is the Trump administration's pro-crypto stance more apparent than at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The organization shook off its crypto caution and appears fully on board. It's dropped cases against crypto exchanges and looks set to approve a slew of crypto ETFs.

But before the SEC can go to the crypto moon, it still has some issues to resolve. One of those issues centers around staking. The SEC recently announced that paying staking rewards doesn't make a crypto into a security. However, it's been more circumspect on approving staking ETFs -- though that may change very soon.

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Image source: Getty Images.

The sticky question of staking

Staking is a way that proof-of-stake cryptos like Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) and Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) reward network participants for contributing to network security. To qualify, holders need to tie up their tokens, through solo staking, delegated staking, or on a centralized exchange. At time of writing (June 16), Coinbase pays around 2% annual percentage yield (APY) on Ethereum staking, and Solana pays 5% APY. That makes it an attractive -- and relatively low-risk -- proposition for investors.

Staking is different from crypto lend-earn schemes, such as those offered by the now-defunct Celsius and Voyager Digital. These generate yield by lending out your assets, and carry a lot more risk. In contrast, staking is baked into the individual blockchains.

It was still a bone of contention for the old SEC, which brought charges against crypto exchanges like Kraken for offering staking services in 2023. The new SEC is taking a different approach. At the end of May, it announced that most staked cryptos and staking services are not securities. For U.S. investors, this paves the way for crypto holdings to generate returns.

Staking ETFs are more complicated

The SEC is still hesitating on approving staking ETFs. There's concern over potential financial and security risks. Plus, ETFs need to qualify as investment companies, which means being in the business of securities -- and the SEC has just said that staked cryptos are not securities. It is a difficult circle to square. That's why the existing Ethereum ETFs do not give staking benefits.

At the end of May, the SEC wrote to ETF Opportunities Trust, the company behind the Ethereum and Solana ETFs that would have been the first to offer staking rewards. It raised several unresolved issues, one of which was whether the funds would meet the definition of an investment company.

Even so, change is in the air. Last week, the SEC asked seven funds to update their Solana ETF filings with clarified language about staking. The SEC has not yet approved any spot Solana ETFs. Experts think approval is a stone's throw away. Indeed, Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst James Seyffart says staking ETFs are a "matter of when, not if."

What staking ETFs mean for investors

Crypto ETFs make cryptocurrency more accessible to retail and institutional investors alike. If you want to add a small amount of crypto to your portfolio, spot ETFs mean you can do it from most brokerage accounts. You don't need to create an account with an exchange or worry about how to store digital assets. We're likely to see SEC approval for spot altcoin ETFs in the coming months, so more digital assets will be available in ETF form.

However, if those ETFs don't pay staking rewards, investors are missing out. As such, a shift in regulatory tides could be great for U.S. crypto investors.

In the meantime, if you stake crypto, it is not the same as earning interest on a savings account or dividend-paying stocks. And there are some risks to consider.

• Slashing penalties can cost you your stake. Networks occasionally punish malicious players through something called "slashing." It is extremely rare, and centralized exchanges may reimburse slashed crypto. Even so, some (or all) of the staked crypto could be at risk.
• Centralized exchanges often use third parties for their staking. It is important to understand how your platform stakes, specifically what staking provider it will use, and how you'll be compensated if anything goes wrong.
• It can take time to unstake your crypto. Since staking is a security mechanism, blockchains enforce a buffer period on unstaking. The time varies depending on the crypto.

If you are new to crypto or don't plan to actively manage your staking, it is better to use a centralized exchange. Decentralized platforms take work and knowledge and are not set-it-and-forget-it yield generators.

Bottom line

If the SEC approves staking ETFs for Ethereum and Solana, the most obvious benefit would be that all investors could earn yield on proof-of-stake assets. Wider approval of altcoin ETFs could encourage more institutional crypto investment, as we have already seen with Bitcoin. An uptick in staking could bring a third benefit: Reduced volatility. The lockup periods and staking incentives encourage long-term holding, which can stabilize prices.

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 $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 »

*Stock Advisor returns as of June 9, 2025

Emma Newbery has positions in Ethereum and Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

It's been a strange year for the crypto market. After a hot start to 2025, every major cryptocurrency continues to be whipsawed by the constant ups and downs of tariffs and global trade.

What can investors expect in the second half of the year? According to the new Motley Fool Money 2025 Cryptocurrency Investor Trends Survey, investors remain bullish on the future prospects of crypto, especially Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC). Let's take a closer look.

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Bitcoin could double in value in 2025

Bitcoin has been front and center throughout the year. Even with the volatility of the current tariff situation, investors remain very bullish about the cryptocurrency's prospects.

Image source: Getty Images.

According to the Motley Fool Money 2025 Cryptocurrency Investor Trends survey, 68% of U.S. adults who currently hold crypto in their portfolio think that Bitcoin could hit $200,000 by the end of 2025. Based on its current price of $105,000, that suggests that Bitcoin could double in value over the next six months.

Even U.S. adults who don't own crypto in their portfolios are surprisingly bullish about Bitcoin. For example, 25% of them also think that Bitcoin could hit $200,000 by the end of 2025. Another 49% are undecided. Only 26% think it's unlikely.

As a result, investors are likely to continue to buy the dip for the rest of the year. Anytime Bitcoin loses 10% or more of its value, they'll view it as a buying opportunity. And, indeed, this is what we've already seen in the first half of the year, with money continuing to flow into the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from retail investors.

Solana and XRP could rally if new ETFs are approved

Currently, only Bitcoin and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) have spot ETFs. However, one big story of the year has been the potential for other major cryptocurrencies to get spot ETFs of their own. Two that are often mentioned are Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) and XRP (CRYPTO: XRP).

These new spot ETFs could be a game changer. They make buying crypto as easy as buying your favorite tech stock. You can open up an app on your phone, hit a button, and get exposure to Bitcoin instantly. According to the Motley Fool Money crypto survey, "I don't understand how to buy it" remains one of the major barriers to investing in crypto, and spot ETFs help solve this problem.

That leads me to think there will be a rally in Solana and XRP later in the year. That's when the SEC is scheduled to sign off on new spot ETF applications for both cryptos. As soon as these start trading, it could lead to a wave of new investor money flowing into them.

Ethereum may continue to underperform

Ethereum is still the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, and continues to be an important part of the White House's crypto strategy. So why does Ethereum continue to lag the market? Even after a mini-rally in May, Ethereum is still down 20% for the year.

By parsing the data and responses in Motley Fool Money's crypto survey, I might have uncovered the answer: Investors just don't like Ethereum. They can't figure out what to do with it, and it doesn't generate the sort of big, splashy news headlines that can grab their attention.

According to the survey, 36% of respondents who don't own crypto said they "don't know what to do with it." Overall, only 11% of respondents said they understood how crypto works. Bitcoin is easy to explain -- it's "digital gold." But what, exactly, is Ethereum?

Moreover, survey respondents appeared to show a clear preference for big, splashy news headlines. For example, as soon as Bitcoin hit the $100,000 price level, it immediately helped to pull in investors who might have otherwise ignored crypto. Bitcoin hitting $100,000 is the type of headline that's tailor-made to float across the chyron of a TV.

Or, take the example of Elon Musk joining the Trump administration earlier this year. Even though Musk had no direct role in the White House's crypto policies, the overwhelming sentiment of survey respondents was that just having him aboard would somehow be good for crypto.

Ethereum hasn't been able to deliver anything close to a splashy $100,000 news headline or a high-profile public figure like Elon Musk. The biggest news this year has been a new blockchain upgrade in May. As a result, investors just aren't interested. Ethereum may continue to underperform the market until a new narrative emerges.

What happens next for crypto?

In the crypto market, sentiment can change on a dime. Now that Musk has left the White House, for example, will investors become more or less bullish on crypto? And how long are investors willing to wait for Bitcoin to double in value, if it shows signs of stumbling over the summer?

That being said, the new Motley Fool Money crypto survey is a great temperature check on what crypto investors are thinking right now. Using the survey response data, it's possible to put together some compelling narratives about where Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP might be headed in the second half of 2025.

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 $669,517!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $868,615!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 792% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 173% 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 2, 2025

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

Few investments age gracefully when the world around them speeds up. The same pressure applies in crypto. Builders, investors, and users do not wait politely for laggards to catch up; they migrate to speed, liquidity, and, most of all, excitement.

That reality now confronts Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA), which was once celebrated for its emphasis on peer-reviewed research to advance its underlying technology, as well as for its deliberate pace of technical progress. Three red flags, in particular, suggest that the project risks permanent middle-of-the-pack status unless something changes quickly. Let's check out each of these warning signs in detail.

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1. Rivals are racing ahead in every dimension

In the crypto world, developers are the lifeblood of a blockchain.

They build decentralized apps (dApps), protocols, and tools that generate utility, liquidity, and real-world adoption. A thriving developer ecosystem attracts users, capital, and other partners, creating a virtuous cycle that drives a chain's value and growth. Without them, even the most technically sound chain can remain a ghost town.

In terms of developer activity in Cardano's ecosystem, it doesn't hold up very well against its chief competitors, Ethereum and Solana. Per Cryptometheus, a cryptocurrency data provider, Solana had 499 active developers, and Cardano had just 175 developers pushing updates for the week, down 33% from three months ago.

Image source: Getty Images.

Furthermore, developers flow toward concentrations of capital, and that capital is pooling elsewhere. Fidelity, a major asset manager, filed in March to list a Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF). Bloomberg now pegs the approval odds of that ETF at 90% for 2025, which would be an institutional seal of approval that no Cardano product enjoys.

Meanwhile, Solana's total value locked (TVL) on its chain was nearly $12 billion in January and currently rests at around $8.6 billion. Cardano's TVL is just $331.6 million, down from $680.8 million in early December 2024. That means there's less real money parked on its chain.

And when builders, money, and regulators all prefer the other options, it's a big problem.

2. New upgrades aren't getting used

Blockchains tend to have technical constraints. Sometimes, those constraints are troublesome enough for users that the main engineers of the chain create big new modules or other solutions in an attempt to prevent the flight of disaffected investors, users, or ecosystem developers. The success or failure of those solutions is, thus, often a major factor in determining whether to invest in the chain's native token.

And in Cardano's case, the record with successfully developing workarounds to the chain's issues isn't great, at least not in recent times.

Cardano's Layer-2 (L2) system, Hydra, dazzled testers with a 1 million transactions-per-second (TPS) demo last December, implicitly promising to solve the issue of lethargic transaction times during periods of peak load. L2s like Hydra are designed to handle transactions off the main blockchain, reducing congestion and perhaps also fees while maintaining security and interoperability. But they only matter if users adopt them and volume grows. Otherwise, they're tech demos, not adoption drivers.

Five months after launch, no major exchange, payment processor, or other project has committed to using Hydra beyond a pilot.

Another solution, called Midnight, is a side chain, which means it's a parallel network intended for specialized features such as privacy, among others. Side chains can extend a blockchain's functionality by providing specialized services that don't burden the main chain. Midnight aims to attract institutional users who want confidential holding of assets on the chain, but so far, no major financial players have signed on, and no real user base exists.

These technical marvels might eventually matter. But until developers, institutions, or users adopt them, they remain tantalizing but empty promises. And that's a big warning sign that Cardano is failing to match its development of capabilities to the features that are actually in demand.

3. Cardano's mindshare is eroding, not expanding

Crypto is a popularity contest masquerading as a set of technologies.

On June 4, Cardano counted around 23,273 daily active addresses, whereas Solana cleared nearly 5 million in the same day. That gap widens whenever meme coin mania or non-fungible token (NFT) drops spark traffic spikes. Those are segments where Cardano barely registers, as its ecosystem is very sparse in both areas.

Social chatter mirrors the numbers. Per data from Santiment, a crypto data aggregator, Cardano ranks far below Ethereum and Solana in terms of social media post volume, hinting that investor excitement has simply remained elsewhere. If users, developers, and institutions are not talking about Cardano now, why would they flock to it later?

In other words, Cardano's investment thesis -- that academic rigor in the tech development process will eventually lead to late-bloomer dominance -- faces mounting counter-evidence. Unless Hydra suddenly wins real traffic or Midnight lands marquee clients, the token's upside may remain capped while the opportunity cost mounts. And there's just not much evidence to suggest that's happening, nor is there any reason to believe it will soon.

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

Before you buy stock in Cardano, 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 Cardano 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 $669,517!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $868,615!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 792% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% 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 2, 2025

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

It's starting to feel a lot like 2021 again, at least for cryptocurrency investors. The broad-based market rally in digital assets is continuing, with Solana (CRYPTO: SOL), Avalanche (CRYPTO: AVAX), and Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) among today's biggest winners. As of 2:45 p.m. ET, these three tokens have surged 5%, 11.3%, and 5.7% respectively since 4 p.m. ET yesterday.

These moves come as the world's largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, continues to march higher, recently breaking through the $110,000 level. Thus, this market rally can certainly be perceived as one that's not only top-down (Solana, Avalanche, and Cardano are all top-15 tokens by market capitalization), but it's pervasive as well, with tokens of varying sizes also outperforming equities and other risk assets right now.

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With that said, let's dive into some of the token-specific catalysts taking these three cryptos higher today.

Key partnerships and network development

For investors in these top-tier crypto networks, fundamentals matter. Not in the conventional sense, as is the case with stocks -- crypto networks like Solana, Avalanche, and Cardano don't necessarily have revenue, earnings, and cash flow for valuation purposes. But there are key growth metrics for investors looking to place a value on the ecosystems they're interested in, from daily active users, to wallets holding these tokens, to overall transaction activity.

Image source: Getty Images.

Solana, Avalanche, and Cardano have seen strong growth over the years on these key metrics, driven in part by the willingness of the developer teams behind the scenes to work with outside companies and industries to grow their reach. Solana's recent partnership with R3, a U.K. developer of blockchain technology for a range of traditional financial institutions, is a great example of such a growth strategy. This partnership, announced today, could provide a meaningful growth engine for Solana investors over the long term.

Avalance and Cardano have seen their own similar catalysts form in recent days as well. For Avalanche, a move from FIFA to team up with the leading decentralized blockchain ecosystem does appear to have spurred additional investor interest in the highly scalable network. The overarching goal with this partnership appears to be to build on top of FIFA's previous moves into the non-fungible token (NFT) market, targeting Avalanche as a key partner in this endeavor.

And for Cardano, investors appear to be bracing for some news around partnerships and network development from the team's upcoming representation at the GITEX Europe 2025 conference in Berlin this week. We'll have to see what sort of major announcements come out of this event, but I wouldn't be surprised to see some material updates over the next day or two on partnerships/development work that's ongoing.

Can this rally continue?

It's been quite a few weeks for crypto investors, with many seeing their portfolios push back into the green. This rally is certainly enticing for investors who believe that risk-on sentiment will continue, though we are seeing some macro deterioration in the bond and equity markets investors will certainly be watching closely.

That said, these three projects are among the best large-scale options for investors looking for blockchain exposure. For those bullish on this sector, these are three tokens I'd think about holding, particularly if new highs are in order across the board.

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 $644,254!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $807,814!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 962% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 169% 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 May 19, 2025

Chris MacDonald has positions in Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Avalanche, Bitcoin, Cardano, and Solana. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Let's be perfectly clear: Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) is having a very bad year. It's now down 47% in 2025, making it the worst-performing top cryptocurrency. At a time when rival cryptocurrencies are finally starting to regain momentum, Ethereum is down another 10% over the past 30 days.

So is it time to give up on Ethereum? Or is there still hope that it can somehow turn things around? Let's take a closer look.

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Ethereum's competitors

Of foremost concern, Ethereum no longer looks as formidable as it did even 12 months ago. Upstart rivals continue to proliferate, and there are now four direct competitors -- Solana (CRYPTO: SOL), Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA), Avalanche (CRYPTO: AVAX), and Sui (CRYPTO: SUI) -- that are taking market share away from Ethereum.

All five of these competitors boast market caps of $9 billion or higher, all of them now rank among the top 20 cryptocurrencies in the world, and all of them are performing better than Ethereum this year. Moreover, if you look outside the Top 20, there are plenty more smaller competitors, many of them focusing on a specialized niche of the blockchain world that Ethereum once had the potential to dominate.

Ethereum's existential crisis

So this rapidly changing competitive landscape is one obvious reason why Ethereum's crypto price continues to tank. It's no longer enough for Ethereum to roll out a new blockchain upgrade every year and expect investors to be impressed.

Moreover, Ethereum appears to be experiencing an existential crisis right now. At the beginning of the year, there were even signs that Vitalik Buterin, the legendary co-founder of Ethereum, might actually quit and hand over the reins to someone new.

Image source: Getty Images.

At the same time, developers within the Ethereum blockchain ecosystem are squabbling over its future direction. And there has already been a big leadership shakeup this year at the Ethereum Foundation, the nonprofit organization responsible for guiding the future direction of Ethereum.

Adding insult to injury, some blockchain competitors are now raising the question of whether Ethereum will even exist a decade from now. Charles Hoskinson, one of the co-founders of Ethereum who went on to launch rival Cardano, recently suggested that Ethereum is running out of time and is in imminent danger of becoming the next MySpace or BlackBerry.

There's too much competition, Hoskinson says, and Ethereum is at real risk of losing its foothold in decentralized finance (DeFi), the one area where it has been historically dominant. Moreover, economic value is rapidly flowing away from Ethereum (the Layer 1 blockchain) to new blockchain scaling solutions (the Layer 2 blockchains) that are designed to help Ethereum run faster and more efficiently. Investors are waking up to this reality and significantly marking down their price forecasts for Ethereum.

The Trump factor

All of this, of course, is the reason for doom and gloom about Ethereum. However, there is one silver lining: the Trump White House still thinks Ethereum is core to the growth of the blockchain and crypto sector and is devoting considerable resources to propping it up. For example, it made Ethereum a centerpiece of the new U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile, and World Liberty Financial, the crypto company affiliated with the Trump family, has been buying Ethereum for its own portfolio.

It's up to you to decide, of course, whether these efforts are going to help. For example, take the U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile. Yes, it commits the U.S. Treasury to consolidate the government's holdings of Ethereum. But it does not commit the U.S. Treasury to buy new Ethereum, which is what investors were hoping for. Any large-scale buying of Ethereum by the U.S. government, of course, could send its price soaring.

Only buy Ethereum if this one thing happens

At the end of the day, it's almost impossible to recommend Ethereum these days. And that's really a shame because Ethereum has been a star performer for nearly a decade. It remains the second-largest cryptocurrency in the world and is one of the few cryptocurrencies widely held by both large institutional investors and small retail investors.

But here's the thing: Digital assets need to be valued based on their future growth projections and not on past accolades or past performance. There are simply too many competitors these days, and Ethereum is starting to lag its biggest rivals. Unless the Trump White House commits to a full-scale buying of Ethereum as a national strategic asset, there are better investment targets elsewhere.

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

Before you buy stock in Ethereum, 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 Ethereum 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 $594,046!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $680,390!*

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*Stock Advisor returns as of April 28, 2025

Dominic Basulto has positions in Cardano, Ethereum, Solana, and Sui. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Avalanche, Cardano, Ethereum, Solana, and Sui. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Only a handful of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and XRP (CRYPTO: XRP), have been able to avoid the worst of the declines in response to President Donald Trump's new tariffs.

Most top cryptocurrencies are down at least 20% for the year, with two major categories of cryptocurrencies -- Layer 1 blockchain networks and meme coins -- getting slammed especially hard. Let's take a closer look to see whether any of these beaten-down cryptos might be worth buying right now.

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 »

Layer 1 blockchain networks

Layer 1 blockchain networks, such as Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), Solana (CRYPTO: SOL), Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA), Sui (CRYPTO: SUI), and Avalanche (CRYPTO: AVAX), have declined significantly. All of them still boast market caps of $9 billion or higher and still rank among the top 15 cryptocurrencies in the world. However, it has become obvious that many investors won't touch them.

The worst performer by a wide margin has been Ethereum. While Solana and Cardano are down a disappointing 20% on the year, Ethereum is down an eye-popping 46%. The investor sentiment around Ethereum is deeply negative, and the gap between Ethereum and its closest rivals appears to be narrowing.

Quite frankly, this shouldn't be happening. After all, Ethereum is the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, with a market value of almost $220 billion. It is one of only two cryptos (Bitcoin being the other) with a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF). During the past decade, it has had an impeccable track record of delivering outsized returns to investors.

Despite its current slide, Ethereum still appears to have the support of the Trump administration, which made it a cornerstone of its new U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile back in March. Members of the Trump family, including President Trump himself, have publicly vouched for Ethereum on social media. And World Liberty Financial, the crypto company affiliated with the Trump family, has made Ethereum a high-profile holding.

Meme coins

If there's any category of crypto that's performing worse than Layer 1 blockchains right now, it's meme coins. The current tariff environment has led to a stark risk-off mentality among investors, and there hasn't been a good reason to invest in meme coins for months now.

Image source: Getty Images.

Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE), the top meme coin by market cap, is down 45% this year. Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB), the second-largest meme coin, is down 37%. Pepe (CRYPTO: PEPE), the third-largest meme coin, is down 53%. And the Official Trump meme coin (which trades under the ticker TRUMP), the fourth-largest meme coin, is down a face-melting 84% since its debut back in January.

The message from investors could not be clearer: Stay away from meme coins. Even before tariffs, meme coins were risky, speculative investments. Now, they are complete dumpster fires, with Cathie Wood of Ark Invest recently suggesting that nearly all of them will soon be worthless.

That's not to say that some meme coins won't pop every now and then, but that's likely to be a dead cat bounce. (Or in the case of Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, a dead dog bounce.) Sorry, pet lovers, but I can't think of a worse place to invest your money right now. If you're buying animal-themed meme coins now, you're providing the exit liquidity for investors sitting on big losses right now.

Are any of these beaten-down cryptos worth buying now?

It might be tempting to sift through the crypto discount bin to see whether there are any bargains to be found. After all, we're talking about multibillion-dollar digital assets that have seen their value slashed anywhere from 20% to 50% in a matter of months. Surely, there's a good deal somewhere?

With that in mind, one crypto that might be worth exploring right now is Solana. Even amid tariff uncertainty, activity appears to be picking up on the Solana blockchain. And Solana has clearly emerged as the top challenger to Ethereum, which appears to be mired in an existential crisis these days. Best of all, we've seen how much Solana can pop. Back in 2023, Solana soared by more than 900%.

Just keep this in mind: Concerns about recession, inflation, and a potential trade war mean there is absolutely no appetite right now for many cryptocurrency investments. For now, Bitcoin remains the top crypto to target amid tariff uncertainty. Historically, Bitcoin has been more resilient than other cryptos in the face of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, and it could be your best option as a potential hedge against a global economic slowdown.

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

Before you buy stock in Ethereum, 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 Ethereum 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 $594,046!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $680,390!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 872% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 160% 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 April 21, 2025

Dominic Basulto has positions in Bitcoin, Cardano, Ethereum, Solana, Sui, and XRP. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Avalanche, Bitcoin, Cardano, Ethereum, Solana, Sui, and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

There's one new paradigm in play that might make Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) a better cryptocurrency to buy than Solana (CRYPTO: SOL). It doesn't have much to do with the technology underpinning either chain, but it is something that investors should probably know about today rather than when it might start making a price impact, which could take a few years.

Let's analyze what's going on and determine whether it makes Cardano worth considering, or whether it will continue lagging behind.

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The pace of ecosystem development matters

One of the most important factors supporting an investment thesis for buying a coin is whether there is a lot of activity on its chain. When projects on a chain are appealing to users because they offer an important decentralized finance (DeFi) service or other valuable capability, it attracts capital, boosting the price of the native token in the process. At the same time, if there's no compelling reason to park capital on a chain, money tends to flow elsewhere to find a return via investment, or to be used to pay for utility of some kind.

For investors, understanding the level of activity on a chain is not enough to make a sound decision. Instead, getting a sense of how much activity might increase in the future is key, as it's future usage that would drive prices up for those who invest today. There's no surefire way of determining whether a chain will be more in use in the future than it is today, but if there are a lot of interesting or valuable projects in development in the chain's ecosystem, it's a vote in favor of there being future demand.

Cardano is significantly smaller than Solana, with a market cap of $23.6 billion compared to the other coin's market cap of $74.3 billion. Therefore, with all else being equal, one would expect that the volume of ongoing software development for the projects hosted on each coin's ecosystem would be proportional to the chain's size, suggesting that Solana would have roughly 3 times as much development activity as Cardano.

It's difficult to measure how much software development activity is going on, but there are a few composite metrics that can approximately track how many times developers make substantive additions or changes to a chain's projects. One such composite metric, created by the crypto data provider Santiment, shows that Solana experienced around 464,000 ecosystem development events in the last 12 months, whereas Cardano experienced 389,900 events. So Cardano is seeing a huge amount of developer activity in its ecosystem for its size, and it isn't just a blip.

There's more than one factor that's relevant here

Experiencing more developer activity on its chain relative to Solana is not a slam dunk as far as making Cardano worth buying.

Cardano has a couple of substantial disadvantages that still make it a less appealing investment than Solana. First, it's more expensive and slower to transact on. Making a swap on Solana takes about a second and costs a fraction of a penny, whereas the same action on Cardano takes a few seconds at best and costs roughly $0.20 on average. That incentivizes more developers to develop applications on Solana over the long term.

Second, Cardano's ecosystem is nowhere near as diverse as Solana's, nor is it as vibrant today. It's nearly completely missing out on critical growth segments like artificial intelligence, as well as less-serious but still capital-attractive segments like meme coins. Other important categories, like stablecoins on the chain, are incredibly small for Cardano's size compared to the equivalent assets on Solana. So it has fewer opportunities for capital to flow in, and a weaker set of tools to accommodate users or investors interested in large transaction sizes.

Thus, while it's undeniably bullish for the chain to have a lot of development activity relative to a much larger chain, constituting a moderate-strength reason to consider making an investment, it's more than offset by the mediocre health of its ecosystem today. There isn't a strong reason to buy it over Solana.

It's possible that might change over the coming years, especially if its activity ramps up even more. But investors should be aware that such activity is only an investable factor if it's being directed toward producing real projects of value. And so far, Cardano simply isn't the home for the projects cryptocurrency investors are finding to be valuable today.

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

Before you buy stock in Cardano, 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 Cardano 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 $591,533!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $652,319!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 859% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 158% 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 April 21, 2025

Alex Carchidi has positions in Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Cardano and Solana. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

It might sound strange at first, but stablecoins are soaring these days.

I don't mean that the price of Tether (CRYPTO: USDT) or USD Coin (CRYPTO: USDC) is skyrocketing, of course. They are going nowhere from that perspective, essentially pinned to the $1.000 price point as expected. But the entire category of stablecoins is gaining momentum, with lots of new names on the market and a rising tide of trading volumes.

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So let's look at the surging stablecoin category. The calmest corner of the cryptocurrency market can be surprisingly exciting.

What makes stablecoins so... stable?

First, let's think about what stablecoins are good for.

These digital coins have several functions in the crypto world.

With a price permanently pegged to a traditional fiat currency such as the US dollar, the euro, or the Japanese yen, they are a helpful tool for crypto-trading exchanges and banks. Exchanging dollars for Tether or USD Coins is very straightforward, and then you have a crypto-based representation of simple dollars in your digital assets account. From there, you can use the stablecoins to buy other cryptocurrencies, without raising currency exchange questions by involving actual dollars again.

The leading names have become extremely stable over time. Tether prices fluctuated wildly in 2016, ranging from $0.10 to $2.01 when the very concept of stablecoins was new and unproven. The newer USD Coin had a lighter bout of volatility just after its launch in 2018, rising as high as $1.04. But Tether quickly stabilized and hasn't moved more than 1.1% away from a perfect $1.00 in the past five years. USD Coin took a quick 3.4% dip amid the collapse of the experimental Terra stablecoin in 2023.

Any respectable stablecoin looks like a straight horizontal line next to the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) stock market index, other cryptocurrency prices, or any other fluctuating economic data point. Here's a five-year stablecoin vs. S&P 500 chart for your amusement. The big blip of USD Coin uncertainty in 2023 is barely visible:

Tether Price data by YCharts

Beyond Tether: The expanding stable of stablecoins

Tether was the first name in the stablecoin game, and it's still the largest and most widely used option. It's essentially your only choice if you want to use a stablecoin that is independent from specific crypto exchanges.

USD Coin was launched by a group including Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN). It's no surprise to learn that Coinbase defaults to using USD Coin across its trading platforms. That's not the only place you can buy, sell, and hold USD Coin, though. Every major crypto exchange supports it, and there are far more USD Coin transactions on Binance than on Coinbase.

The Sky.money crypto-trading platform is an interesting case. Coinbase launched the USD Coin, but Sky.money worked the other way around. This system started with the USDS (CRYPTO: USDS) stablecoin, formerly known as Dai and Maker. The rest of the trading platform was built around the quirks and requirements of USDS. Sky.money may not ring a bell, but USDS is the third-largest stablecoin by market cap.

And there are many more. For example:

• The Ripple Foundation launched a Ripple USD (CRYPTO: RLUSD) stablecoin in December, basing the coin on US dollars and the XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) cryptocurrency. This coin is helping Ripple's payment services execute international money transfers, serving as a super-liquid pool of cash-backed assets.
• The Tether Holdings group could soon introduce a second version of the Tether coin, specifically aimed at large institutional investors in the United States.
• And this could be the start of a large trend. Asset manager giant Fidelity Investments is planning a stablecoin. Even larger firm Blackrock (NYSE: BLK) introduced one in March 2024. Even Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) is open to the idea of an in-house stablecoin, depending on how American regulations will shape up around this opportunity.

So the stablecoin legion is growing larger and more diverse.

Stablecoin trading volumes speak volumes

Whether you're looking at Tether, USD Coin, or USDS, their average daily trading volume has been bubbling up over the last two years.

Tether's average transaction volume stood at $19 billion in early April 2023. Now it's up to $182 billion per 24 hours. USD Coin's volume rose from $6 billion to $28 billion over the same period. The Dai/USDS ecosystem surged from $130 million per day to $2.7 billion.

This is more than empty talk. People (and automated trading algorithms) are putting these stablecoins to work. In all fairness, the rising interest applies to non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies, too. Bitcoin's daily trading volume is up from $9.4 billion to $101 billion, for instance. But the stablecoin community is taking advantage of broader public crypto interests.

More than just trading tools

Stablecoins can do more than just facilitate trades between fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies. Their powers are growing over time, since every new stablecoin option wants to win customers and usage with their unique features.

Some of them offer generous interest rates, putting most savings and money market accounts to shame. The spare cash in my Coinbase account is earning an annual percentage yield (APY) of 4.1% right now. That's comparable to the best money market yields on the market today.

A few stablecoins rely on a specific blockchain system, like the XRP-based Ripple USD coin. Others pick a proven coin-launching foundation such as Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) or Solana (CRYPTO: SOL), depending on their technology to provide data security and smart contract functions. And then there's Tether, which provides transparent support for more than a dozen blockchain networks. That's a diverse approach, protecting Tether holders against platform-specific risks. Tether can always untether itself (har-de-har-har) from any risky or flawed solution, relying on a dozen alternatives instead.

So you see, there's plenty of buzz in the stablecoin sphere right now. There are plenty of alternatives for good reason. These mega-stable coins (often with lucrative yield rates) may look especially attractive when the broader crypto market is experiencing wild volatility, like this week.

Don’t miss this second chance at a potentially lucrative opportunity

Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you’ll want to hear this.

On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a “Double Down” stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you’re worried you’ve already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it’s too late. And the numbers speak for themselves:

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Continue »

*Stock Advisor returns as of April 5, 2025

Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Anders Bylund has positions in Coinbase Global, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bank of America, Coinbase Global, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

With the market teetering on the edge of disaster due to concerns about tariffs and an economy that might be trending toward recession or potentially even already in a state of recession, now is a frightening time to be thinking about buying anything, especially a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC).

There's a significant chance that every dollar invested into the market right now might be worth a bit less for quite some time. And, especially if there's an economic downturn that's sharper than anticipated, investors might find themselves short on cash to cover expenses if they over-commit to any single 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. Learn More »

Nonetheless, I'm still willing to buy Bitcoin hand over fist right now. I don't expect that to change, even if there's a bear market or if the economic headwinds grow fiercer than they already are. I feel good about my strategy here, so let me explain why it will probably work.

Loading up right now is a smart move for the long term

As you've probably heard, the whole point of Bitcoin is that it's an asset that nobody can issue more of, in contrast to a fiat currency. You've probably also heard that Bitcoin gets more difficult to mine over time, meaning that its supply will grow very slowly in the future. That implies a pair of things which make it an easy asset to keep buying no matter the economic conditions.

First, the scarcity mechanism of Bitcoin means there's a big incentive to buy it today rather than next year. In the future, it will be harder to produce, so when you go to buy it, you will be competing over a smaller quantity of new coins coming on the market. If there's a major recession today, it won't change anything about these basic factors, although it may push the price lower for the near future. But if you're investing with a long time horizon, the price on any specific day or even in any given quarter does not matter so much as the probability that the price will be considerably higher when you plan on selling years in the future.

And there's nothing about a recession that is going to make Bitcoin easier to produce, regardless of whether it's caused by tariffs or war or mismanagement or anything else. Remember, Bitcoin mining operations are spread around the world, so even if one country is experiencing dysfunction, miners elsewhere will still be able to keep the chain alive -- and if there's a disruption to miners, it will only slow the supply growth even more.

Second, much of the concern surrounding risk assets right now is linked to the onset of new tariffs in the U.S. Bitcoin isn't a good that's imported, and it can't be created via fiat. It isn't a medium of exchange for trade payments to any significant degree. Tariffs on mining hardware will simply cause mining to be done elsewhere, so there is no threat to the network itself.

So there are no direct risks to its value either in the near term or the long term. Therefore, as long as the coin has a handful of evangelists who are willing to buy it at any price, as I am, there will continue to be a persistent level of demand, which, when considering its supply dynamics, probably will slowly drive up prices over the long run.

Knowing the points above, and knowing that my time horizon for Bitcoin is to hold it for 20 or 30 years, there simply is not much of a reason to stop my regularly scheduled purchases. Bitcoin isn't going to get any easier to make, and in the big scheme of things, major holders are going to keep accumulating it to take supply off the market. The price today is a distraction.

Altcoin investments are on pause, not cancelled

As bullish as I may be on Bitcoin, the same is not true of altcoins at the moment, including those that I've held dear like Solana. There's no need to rush to sell, and there's no need to stop investing in them altogether, but more caution is now warranted compared to just a few weeks ago.

In short, the largest altcoins in the cryptocurrency sector are not necessarily very insulated from economic downturns at all. It's a no-brainer that they're riskier than Bitcoin because they're smaller and less established overall. But it's in times of turbulence that additional risk exposure can cause real problems for investors, and potentially problems that won't blow over once economic conditions improve.

It isn't that the core investment theses of the top altcoins are suddenly invalid, or that I'm selling them as a result of economic instability or tariffs. It's that their recovery is not at all guaranteed because many of them rely on the quality of the (typically highly risky) projects their blockchain ecosystems to continue to attract new capital to invest.

When investment dollars allocated to high-risk plays start to run short due to investors losing their nerve in perilous times, those ecosystems start to shrink. For them to recover, new projects, most likely in newly emerging growth segments, need to launch and find traction -- and that's something that is a lot harder to do in a shaky economic environment.

I'm still a buyer of certain altcoins these days, and you could be too. But when it comes to picking between altcoins and Bitcoin, for now, it makes more sense to lean toward the somewhat safer and longer-term play, as a lot needs to go right for the riskier options to deliver, and the environment might not be right for that to happen for a while.

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 Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $578,035!*

Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*. 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 April 5, 2025

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