Grayscale Research Unveils Top 20 Crypto Assets Expected to Perform Well in Q1 2025

As 2024 draws to a close, Grayscale Research has published its updated list of the top 20 crypto assets expected to perform well in the upcoming quarter.

Key Takeaways

Grayscale Research has unveiled its updated list of the top 20 crypto assets poised to perform well in Q1 2ضب25, as 2024 draws to a close. The list welcomes six new altcoins.

The updates are influenced by themes regarding the US elections, advancements in decentralized AI technologies, and growth within the Solana ecosystem, which Grayscale forecasts will be key for the next quarter.

Decentralized AI platforms were previously included on Grayscale’s Q4 2024 list, featuring Bittensor (TAO). For the next quarter, there is a heightened emphasis on this sector with the inclusion of Virtual Protocol (VIRTUAL) and Grass (GRASS).

Launched in October 2024 on Base, Virtuals Protocol enables users to effortlessly create, deploy, and monetize AI agents without requiring any technical expertise. The VIRTUAL token hit $1.4 billion in market value within one month of launch and is now the largest AI agent coin with a market cap of $3.4 billion, according to CoinGecko data at press time.

Tapping into both the growing AI and Solana ecosystems, Grass is a decentralized network built on Solana’s layer-2. It enables residential users to contribute their unused internet bandwidth through nodes, which collect public web data for AI training. The GRASS token has soared around 160% since its launch in late October, per CoinGecko.

Meanwhile, Hyperliquid has emerged as a leader in trading volume and total value locked among decentralized perpetual swap platforms. Its HYPE token has risen approximately 300% since its November 29 launch, reaching $28.

Jupiter leads as the primary DEX aggregator on Solana with the highest total value locked, while Jito, a liquid staking protocol, generated over $550 million in fee revenue in 2024, Grayscale Research highlights.

Six assets—Toncoin (TON), Near (NEAR), Stacks (STX), Maker (MKR), Celo (CELO), and UMA Protocol (UMA)—were removed from the list.

According to Grayscale, these projects remain relevant to the crypto ecosystem, but the team believes the revised selection offers a more compelling risk-adjusted return profile for the next quarter.

The smart contract arena

Smart contract platform competition is another highlight in Grayscale Research’s report. While Ethereum had some big wins this quarter, it didn’t outperform some of its rivals, especially Solana.