Institutional players are increasing their footprint in alternative crypto assets, with DeFi Development Corp (JNVR) setting plans in motion to buy up to $1000000000 worth of SOL

This move reflects a growing institutional interest in digital assets, with the United States' pivot toward deregulating the industry opening the door for capital inflows and new blockchain-based operations.

Institutional players are increasing their footprint in alternative crypto assets, with DeFi Development Corp (JNVR) setting plans in motion to buy up to $1 billion worth of $SOL.

The company has filed a registration statement with the SEC to offer up to $1 billion in securities for "general corporate purposes, including the acquisition of Solana."

This move follows the United States' pivot toward deregulating the industry, which is opening the door for capital inflows and new blockchain-based operations.

Last week, SOL Strategies raised $500 million via convertible notes to buy more $SOL, reaffirming that it's no longer only Bitcoin that companies are interested in stockpiling.

But as institutional Solana adoption rises, what are the best crypto to buy? Here are our top picks:

Solaxy

Solaxy is building the first-ever Solana layer 2 blockchain. The project aims to tackle Solana's congestion issue, which leads to longer wait times and more transaction failures in periods of peak activity.

Solana is capable of 6,500 transactions per second (TPS), but Solaxy uses rollup technology to be even quicker, targeting 10,000 TPS.

This will open the network to higher levels of adoption and new use cases, which will unlock billions of dollars in new value.

Not only will that drive demand for $SOLX from network users, but it'll also attract attention from institutional players such as DeFi Development Corp and SOL Strategies.

Solaxy is currently undergoing a presale, where it has raised $31 million so far.

Investors are scrambling to buy into the $SOLX presale, which suggests it could continue to show strength once it lists on exchanges.

Bonk

One of the use cases that Solana is best known for is meme coins. While the sector offers little in the way of utility or innovation, it's an accessible means of speculation without being too serious or technical.

Everyone from novice to institutional-level traders can participate in the market, which is why it shows such strength every time crypto prices begin to rise.

This week, for instance, the Solana meme coin market has begun to provide massive gains – and Bonk is one of the projects leading the way. It's the second-largest meme coin after OFFICIAL TRUMP and the project that kicked off Solana's initial meme coin season in late 2023.

And it continues to prove itself as a fan favorite, with the project booking a 54% gain in the past seven days.

Like Solaxy, Bonk's strength signifies that it could continue performing well as Solana's adoption rises.

Sei

One of the interesting twists of this week has been the rise of a Solana rival, Sui, which has rallied 80%. Like Solana, Sui is highly scalable and focuses on use cases including meme coins, AI, DeFi, and gaming.

But as the market watches these projects, a newer crypto called Sei is flying under the radar.

Like Solana and Sui, Sei is also a scalable layer 1 blockchain. However, it's far faster, capable of 12,500 TPS.

With Solana and Sei pumping recently, Sei could prove the next major opportunity for investors to capitalize on.

One thing worth noting is that while Solana is worth over $76 billion and Sui is worth $11 billion, Sei is worth just $1 billion, leaving massive untapped potential.

Polkadot

Polkadot has been around as long as Solana, but it has massively underperformed recently. Both projects launched in 2020, and while Solana is worth $76 billion, Polkadot is worth just $6 billion.

However, both projects are tackling different issues. While Solana offers a low-cost rail for users to trade and interact with dApps, Polkadot is building a "layer 0" blockchain that enables developers to build specialized, interconnected layer 1s.

In some ways, the Polkadot use case is more complex than Solana's; thus, achieving real adoption could be more of a slow burn.

Another factor to consider is that Polkadot was created by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood. This is a unique moat for the project, not only adding credibility but also signifying technical robustness that other chains may not possess.

Considering that, the project appears to be well-positioned to garner adoption this year, which could allow strong price growth and potentially close the gap on some of Solana's gains.