Grayscale Names Hyperliquid, Ethena, and Solana as Standouts in 2025

• Emerging tokens focused on AI and DeFi stand out.
• Solana expands influence with innovative protocols.
• Ethereum faces increasing competition in the smart contracts market.

Grayscale, an asset manager focused on em cryptocurrencies, included new tokens in its list of the top 20 crypto assets to watch in the first quarter of 2025. The report, released on December 30, highlights Hyperliquid (HYPE), Ethena (ENA), Virtuals (VIRTUAL), Jupiter (JUP), Jito (JTO) and Grass (GRASS), considering market trends such as more favorable regulations in the United States, advances in decentralized artificial intelligence (AI) and the growth of the Solana ecosystem.

Hyperliquid, a layer-1 protocol focused on financial applications, and Ethena, a stablecoin provider, were identified as standouts. Virtuals positions itself as a launchpad for AI agents, while Jupiter and Jito, both native to the Solana blockchain, are classified as a decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator and a liquid staking protocol, respectively. Grass, on the other hand, represents a decentralized data network.

The asset manager highlighted that these additions complement previously explored themes, such as Ethereum scalability solutions, asset tokenization and decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN). Protocols such as Optimism (OP), Chainlink (LINK) and Helium (HNT) remain on the list, reinforcing the firm’s commitment to identifying projects that align with emerging market trends.

The report also addresses the competitiveness of smart contract platforms, highlighting Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche and Sui as leaders in the space. Despite a banner year for Ethereum, with ETF approvals and network improvements, its performance has lagged behind alternative networks such as Solana, which has seen significant growth in its total value locked and decentralized application usage.

At the time of publication, the price of Solana was listed at US$197,20, up 4.2% in the last 24 hours.

Grayscale’s research reflects careful analysis of factors such as network growth, fundamental sustainability, and potential risks. These elements serve as a basis for identifying tokens with the greatest potential for near-term appreciation, in line with market expectations for 2025.