2025 has become a significant milestone for the cryptocurrency industry: investor interest in promising altcoins* continues to rise, while new market trends strengthen their position.
* Altcoins are any cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. The term encompasses all alternative digital assets created on their own blockchains or built on different networks, offering a range of functions, technologies, and use cases.
This year has been one of the most successful for altcoins since the DeFi (Decentralized Finance) boom in 2021. Over the last 90 days, major altcoins have gained 23–65%, suggesting the start of an altseason* amid declining Bitcoin dominance.
* Altseason is a period when altcoins grow faster than Bitcoin.
Despite Ethereum’s stable leadership in the altcoin segment, several other cryptocurrencies are showing even stronger growth dynamics.
Key promising altcoins
Layer-1 (L1) blockchains serve as the foundation of the entire DeFi infrastructure, as decentralized applications (DApps) used by millions of users are built on top of them.
Altcoins that act as native tokens of Layer-1 blockchain platforms gain increasing value as first-layer ecosystems expand — such as Ethereum, Solana, and BNB Chain. As of October 2025, the distribution of Total Value Locked (TVL)* in the DeFi sector shows the dominance of the following blockchains:
- Ethereum — 68% of the total TVL in the entire DeFi sector
- Solana — 8.7%
- BNB Smart Chain (BSC) — 6.1%
- Tron — 4.8%
- Avalanche — 1.6%
These figures directly affect the price of native Layer-1 blockchain tokens. Experts highlight ETH, SOL, BNB, TRX, and AVAX as the most promising altcoins — they form the core of the fastest-growing L1 ecosystems.
* TVL (Total Value Locked) is the total amount of assets locked by users in decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. It shows how many funds are placed in smart contracts within an ecosystem and how popular and in-demand the ecosystem is.
According to Bitget Research analyst Ryan Lee, the growth of assets such as Ethereum and Solana is primarily driven by increasing institutional demand.
One of the strongest performers is SOL: over the last 19 months, the Solana network has operated without interruptions, significantly boosting investor confidence.
Statistics also confirm the strength of Solana and BNB:
- Daily active addresses reach 2.1 million and 4.4 million, respectively
- since the beginning of 2025, SOL has grown by about 40%, while BNB has gained over 44%
BNB’s market capitalization has also increased by nearly 38%, reaching $138 billion. According to DefiLlama, BNB Chain’s TVL has grown by 40%, placing the network among the top four DeFi ecosystems with a market share above 6%.
BNB has become one of the most dynamic assets of 2025, hitting all-time highs twice: surpassing $ 1,000 in September and $ 1,300 in October.
XRP has also shown remarkable growth. In 2025, its price rose by more than 36% and reached $2.84 (as of October 2025). Key growth drivers include:
- XRP entered the top-5 cryptocurrencies and temporarily surpassed Tether (USDT) by market capitalization
- investment companies, including 21Shares, Bitwise, Grayscale, and Franklin Templeton, submitted applications for an XRP ETF*
- Ripple (the issuer of XRP) is expanding partnerships with banks and financial institutions, including BNY Mellon, CIBC, and Franklin Templeton.
* An ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) is an investment fund traded on stock exchanges, like a regular share. A crypto ETF allows investors to gain exposure to a cryptocurrency without directly holding it: the fund stores the asset, and investors buy shares of the fund.
Trend-focused promising altcoins
Beyond Layer-1 platforms, analysts highlight several thematic areas that could produce fast-growing altcoins:
- artificial intelligence (AI) projects
- memecoins
- DeFi tokens, including decentralized exchange assets
- decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePin)
- real-world asset tokenization (RWA)
In the AI sector, the most promising projects are those integrating neural network solutions. Key representatives include NEAR Protocol and Render (RNDR), with the latter also belonging to the DePin category.
According to Grayscale Research, other promising AI-related altcoins include Bittensor (TAO), Worldcoin (WLD), Story Protocol (IP), and Theta Network (THETA).
Among infrastructure and exchange tokens, experts highlight:
- PUMP — the token of Pump.fun, a leading Solana-based memecoin platform; market cap exceeds $500 million, ranking 53rd on CoinMarketCap
- HYPE — the token of Hyperliquid, one of the largest decentralized derivatives platforms; market cap exceeds $15 billion
- ASTER — the token of Aster DEX, a major competitor to Hyperliquid; in September 2025, the exchange surpassed Hyperliquid in daily trading volume, while ASTER’s market cap remains nearly 5 times smaller
Among memecoins, Dogecoin (DOGE) leads the sector, ranking in the top 10 cryptocurrencies with a market capitalization above $34 billion. Other promising memecoins include Shiba Inu (SHIB), Pepe (PEPE), and Bonk (BONK).
In the RWA sector, Ondo Finance (ONDO) maintains a leading position. Other promising projects include Mantra (OM), Centrifuge (CFG), and Goldfinch (GFI).
New promising altcoins
Every quarter, new cryptocurrencies appear on the market, rapidly gaining high market capitalization and competing with well-established projects. In addition to the widely discussed HYPE and ASTER, analysts point out:
- MYX Finance (MYX)
- World Liberty Financial (WLFI)
Both projects are quickly gaining momentum and have already attracted substantial investor interest.