Connect with us
  • tg

Cryptocurrency

Grayscale Updates Top 20 Altcoin List for Q1 2025 with These 6 New Additions

letizo News

Published

on

Grayscale Research has updated its top 20 altcoin list for the first quarter of 2025, adding six new digital assets.

The list highlights cryptocurrencies the company believes demonstrate strong potential for the upcoming quarter.

The Six Tokens

According to the December 30 report, this update emphasizes tokens linked to three primary market themes: the U.S. election and its potential regulatory implications for decentralized finance (DeFi) and staking, breakthroughs in decentralized AI technologies and blockchain adoption by AI agents, and the growth of the Solana ecosystem.

Based on these factors, Grayscale has added Hyperliquid (HYPE), Ethena (ENA), Virtual Protocol (VIRTUAL), Jupiter (JUP), Jito (JTO), and Grass (GRASS) to its Top 20 list.

Hyperliquid, a Layer 1 blockchain, powers financial applications and operates a decentralized exchange for perpetual futures with a fully on-chain order book. On the other hand, Ethena introduced USDe, a stablecoin backed by hedged positions in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), offering staking opportunities tied to price differences between spot and futures markets.

Virtual Protocol enables the creation of tokenized AI agents on Base, an Ethereum Layer 2 network. This functionality allows agents to interact autonomously with their surroundings and users.

Jupiter, the leading decentralized exchange aggregator on Solana, has the highest total value locked (TVL) of any application on the network. Another Solana project, Jito, is a liquid staking protocol that generated over $550 million in fee revenue in 2024.

The last of the six, Grass, operates as a decentralized data-sharing platform. It compensates users for sharing unused internet bandwidth via a Chrome extension. This bandwidth is then sold to AI developers for training machine learning models, offering a unique approach to monetizing data.

In addition to these new entries, Grayscale rotated out some tokens, including Celo (CELO), from the Top 20. While these removed tokens remain relevant to the broader crypto ecosystem, the company explained that the updated selection better reflects the risk-adjusted returns expected for the upcoming quarter.

Smart Contract Platforms

Grayscale’s latest report also highlighted the intensifying competition among smart contract platforms. Despite major wins in the final quarter of 2024, Ethereum faces growing pressure from competitors like Solana and The Open Network.

The research explains that these platforms are gaining traction by addressing the ‘blockchain trilemma,’ balancing scalability, security, and decentralization with innovative solutions.

Fee revenue also continues to play a critical role in driving the value of smart contract platform tokens. For that reason, Grayscale included Ethereum, Solana, Sui, and Optimism in its top 20 list for Q1 2025 as standout smart contract platforms.

According to the asset manager, these projects can generate sustainable fee revenues while delivering long-term value to their ecosystems.

SPECIAL OFFER (Sponsored)
Binance Free $600 (CryptoPotato Exclusive): Use this link to register a new account and receive $600 exclusive welcome offer on Binance (full details).

LIMITED OFFER for CryptoPotato readers at Bybit: Use this link to register and open a $500 FREE position on any coin!

Cryptocurrency

Analysts Post Thrilling Bitcoin Price Predictions for 2025: Where’s the Top?

letizo News

Published

on

The little orange cryptocurrency was one of several digital assets in this segment that walloped 2024 gains from investing in US stocks like those in the S&P 500 Index or Nasdaq Composite.

Others, like Ripple’s XRP tokens for international settlements between large institutions, performed even better than Bitcoin. XRP was up 247% by Christmas Day in December. It notched 271% for the entire year on Wednesday.

But here’s how some leading crypto market analysts expect Bitcoin’s price to carry through some point over the 2025 calendar year.

For a basis of reference, Bitcoin traded at an average crypto exchange rate of $94,700 Wednesday evening US Eastern Time, according to data from CoinGecko.

Bitcoin Price Predictions: $80,000 – $160,000

Peter Brandt: $78,000

Brandt made a prediction on Sunday, Dec. 29, targeting a big drop in Bitcoin’s price to the $78,000 level, based on a 45-day head and shoulders top pattern.

If he’s right, BTC will have to take one step back before it advances toward the more bullish price targets for 2025. But Brandt also cautioned in the comment thread on his post, “Charts do NOT predict anything. Charts merely suggest possibilities.”

The famous stock chart technical analyst is bullish for XRP in 2025, but his outlook for Bitcoin’s price is bearish.

CoinShares: $80,000

European crypto hedge fund CoinShares’ head of research, James Butterfill, recently told CNBC that $150,000 BTC is possible in 2025. But he said a bearish correction to $80,000 is also on the cards.

“Disappointment surrounding Trump’s proposed crypto policies and doubts about their enactment could prompt a significant market correction,” Butterfill warned.

Bullish 2025 BTC Targets: $160,000 – $250,000

Standard Chartered: $200,000

British multinational bank Standard Chartered’s research head Geoff Kendrick says his office is targeting $200,000 BTC in 2025. He added that the entry of the United States government into the Bitcoin race is likely to fuel that rally.

“Even a small allocation of the USD 40tn in US retirement funds would significantly boost BTC prices,” Kendrick noted.

“We would turn even more bullish if BTC saw more rapid uptake by US retirement funds, global sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), or a potential US strategic reserve fund.”

Nexo: $250,000

Swiss-based crypto fund manager Nexo’s chief product officer, Elitsa Taskova, told CNBC, “We see Bitcoin more than doubling to $250,000 within a year.”

She points to ongoing trends in adoption by institutional finance and social indicators for the bullish outlook in 2025.

“These projections align with ongoing trends and social markers: increasing recognition of Bitcoin as a reserve asset, more Bitcoin and crypto-related exchange-traded products (ETPs), and stronger adoption,” Taskova said.

Bottom Line for Investors

Like stocks, cryptocurrency assets are held at risk. But for more than a decade, Bitcoin has delivered world-class returns during bull markets. That means it’s possible for a small allocation to BTC can substantially speed individual investment portfolios toward reaching personal finance goals.

Nevertheless, investors should do their own research before allocating funds into any asset, no matter its returns over the past year or two.

SPECIAL OFFER (Sponsored)
Binance Free $600 (CryptoPotato Exclusive): Use this link to register a new account and receive $600 exclusive welcome offer on Binance (full details).

LIMITED OFFER for CryptoPotato readers at Bybit: Use this link to register and open a $500 FREE position on any coin!

Continue Reading

Cryptocurrency

From $2 to $11: Popular Analyst Maps Out Ripple’s (XRP) Next Big Move

letizo News

Published

on

TL:DR;

  • XRP rebounded from its most recent price slip below $2, but the asset might not be out of the woods yet.
  • However, a popular crypto analyst suggested that a potential decline toward that level again could be beneficial for XRP’s long-term price movements.
XRPUSD. Source: TradingView
XRPUSD. Source: TradingView

Ripple’s cross-border token went on a massive run after the US elections, skyrocketing by triple digits at one point and peaking close to $3. All of these gains came in the span of a few weeks, but the asset lost momentum at the start of December.

It tumbled hard on several occasions in the following weeks, with the latest decline to under $2 transpiring last Monday – December 30. This came during the most recent market-wide correction.

However, the popular crypto asset reacted well to this decline and shot up by over 20% since then, currently sitting at around $2.45. Consequently, XRP has regained its spot as the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap by surpassing Tether’s USDT.

According to analyst Ali Martinez, XRP still stands below a steep resistance level of $2.73, which has stopped its price ascent on a couple of occasions during this rally. If the asset fails to overcome it soon, it could slump back to $2.05.

However, Martinez actually believes that such a scenario could be a blessing in disguise for XRP, which could catapult it toward a fresh all-time high above $3.4 (CoinGecko data) and all the way up to $11.

It’s safe to say that $11 sounds quite extraordinary for XRP. Such a price tag would put the asset’s market cap at well over $600 billion, which would help it top Ethereum in that regard. Although this might sound plausible under a friendlier Trump administration, it’s still a long way away and falls under the category of exaggerated price predictions.

SPECIAL OFFER (Sponsored)
Binance Free $600 (CryptoPotato Exclusive): Use this link to register a new account and receive $600 exclusive welcome offer on Binance (full details).

LIMITED OFFER for CryptoPotato readers at Bybit: Use this link to register and open a $500 FREE position on any coin!

Continue Reading

Cryptocurrency

2 Strong Indicators US Investors Are Flocking Back to Bitcoin

letizo News

Published

on

The landscape around bitcoin after the last FOMC meeting for 2024 in the US turned upside down, with local investors pulling funds out of the ETFs and the Coinbase Premium Index declining to yearly lows.

However, on-chain data shows that US investors are back on the BTC front, with massive accumulations.

ETFs Demand Returns

During the aforementioned meeting at the highest levels in the US central bank, Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned that there might be fewer or even no rate cuts in 2025 due to rising inflation. US investors reacted immediately and started pulling funds out of riskier assets like BTC and crypto.

Within the next four trading days, they withdrew more than $1.5 billion out of the US-based Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. December 26 was the only day well in the green, as December 27, 30, and January 2 saw more net outflows. Even BlackRock’s IBIT, the world’s largest Bitcoin ETF, was posting negative records.

However, this changed on Friday, January 3. The total net inflows for the day shot up to $908.1 million, according to FarSide data. IBIT was actually second with $253.1 million, trailing behind Fidelity’s FBTC with $357 million. Ark Invest’s ARKB also had a strong presence, attracting $222.6 million. This became the best day in terms of net inflows since November 21.

Coinbase Premium Index

The other metric that showcases US investors’ overall behavior toward bitcoin and crypto is the Coinbase Premium Index, which measures the BTC price difference between Coinbase and Binance. When it shoots up into positive territory, this means that US-based investors are accumulating heavily, and vice versa.

The metric recently plunged to a yearly low, as reported, which coincided with the growing ETF outflows after the FOMC meeting. Now, though, CryptoQuant data shows that it has returned to neutral territory almost immediately after posting that low. This shows that “sentiment by the US and institutional investors is back.”

Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Index. Source: CryptoQuant
Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Index. Source: CryptoQuant
SPECIAL OFFER (Sponsored)
Binance Free $600 (CryptoPotato Exclusive): Use this link to register a new account and receive $600 exclusive welcome offer on Binance (full details).

LIMITED OFFER for CryptoPotato readers at Bybit: Use this link to register and open a $500 FREE position on any coin!

Continue Reading

Trending

©2021-2024 Letizo All Rights Reserved