Promising altcoins of 2025: which cryptocurrencies will show the strongest growth

2025 has been one of the most favorable years for altcoins since the 2021 decentralized finance (DeFi) boom. In just the past 90 days, the most significant altcoins have increased in value by 23–65%, which may indicate the beginning of an altseason* amid the declining dominance of Bitcoin.

* Altseason refers to a period when altcoins show faster growth rates compared to Bitcoin.

Despite Ethereum's dominance in the altcoin sector, several other promising altcoins are demonstrating even faster growth rates.

Key promising altcoins

Layer-1 (L1) blockchain platforms form the foundation of the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, as decentralized applications (DApps) — with millions of users — are built upon them.

Altcoins that serve as the native tokens of these platforms become increasingly valuable as L1 ecosystems, such as Ethereum, Solana, and BNB Chain, expand. As of October 2025, the following blockchains dominate the DeFi sector in terms of total value locked (TVL):

Ethereum — 68% of total DeFi TVL
Solana — 8.7%
BNB Smart Chain (BSC) — 6.1%
Tron — 4.8%
Avalanche — 1.6%

Experts recommend paying attention to promising altcoins, such as ETH, SOL, BNB, TRX, and AVAX, which form the backbone of the most rapidly developing Layer 1 (L1) ecosystems.

According to Bitget Research's lead analyst Ryan Lee, the growth of promising altcoins like Ethereum and Solana is mainly driven by high institutional demand. The SOL token is also popular because the Solana network has demonstrated substantial technological advantages, maintaining stability without outages for 19 consecutive months.

Statistical data support this: Solana and BNB blockchains dominate both liquidity and network activity, with daily active addresses reaching 2.1 million and 4.4 million, respectively. Thanks to this, since early 2025, SOL has risen nearly 40%, while BNB has gained more than 44%.

BNB has become one of the fastest-growing altcoins of 2025, reaching new all-time highs twice. In September 2025, BNB's price surpassed $1,000 for the first time.

Since the start of 2025, BNB's market capitalization has grown by almost 38%, reaching $138 billion. According to DefiLlama, the total value locked (TVL) in the BNB Chain increased by 40% over the same period. By this metric, BNB Chain ranks among the top four blockchain ecosystems in the DeFi segment, holding over 6% of the market share.

The XRP token has also experienced a rapidly growing ecosystem and a sharp price increase in 2025, amid expectations of potential XRP ETF approval and the overall positive momentum of the cryptocurrency market. Since the beginning of the year, XRP has gained more than 36%, reaching a price of $2.84 as of October 2025.

Other positive factors include:

XRP entered the top four cryptocurrencies and even briefly surpassed the largest stablecoin, Tether (USDT), by market capitalization.
Multiple investment firms, including 21Shares, Bitwise, Grayscale, and Franklin Templeton, have filed for XRP ETF applications.
Ripple continues to expand its international partnerships with major financial institutions, including BNY Mellon, Franklin Templeton, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC).
Integration of XRP into traditional banking systems: major financial institutions are adopting XRPL technology for cross-border transactions due to its transparency and scalability.
Launch of new trading instruments, such as XRP futures options, which the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME Group) plans to introduce in October 2025.

Trending promising altcoins

Layer-1 platforms are not the only area for discovering promising altcoins. Experts also highlight several key trends:

Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Meme coins
DeFi tokens, including those of decentralized exchanges
Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN)
Real World Asset tokenization (RWA)

Experts note that with the growing demand for AI technologies, crypto projects integrating AI solutions may gain significant traction. Such projects include NEAR Protocol and Render (RNDR). Render also belongs to the DePIN segment, which could further amplify its growth potential in a bullish market.

Besides NEAR and RNDR, Grayscale Research identifies Bittensor (TAO), Worldcoin (WLD), Story Protocol (IP), and Theta Network (THETA) as promising AI-related altcoins.

Analysts also emphasize tokens of popular decentralized platforms and infrastructure protocols. Some of the most promising altcoins include:

PUMP — the token of Pump.fun, the most popular meme-coin launch platform that drove Solana's recent activity surge. Launched in July 2025, PUMP has already entered the top 60 on CoinMarketCap with a market capitalization exceeding $500 million.
HYPE — the native token of Hyperliquid, a decentralized crypto derivatives exchange built on its own blockchain. Although HYPE was launched only in late 2024, it has already approached the top 10 cryptocurrencies, boasting a market capitalization of over $15 billion.
ASTER — the token of Aster DEX, a decentralized derivatives exchange competing with Hyperliquid. In September 2025, Aster even surpassed Hyperliquid in daily trading volume. Given that ASTER's market cap is about five times smaller than HYPE's, the token has substantial growth potential.

Among meme coins, Dogecoin (DOGE) remains the undisputed leader, ranking among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, with a value exceeding $34 billion.

Analysts also highlight Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Pepe (PEPE) on Ethereum, as well as Bonk (BONK) on Solana — which was recently added to Grayscale's monitoring list as a candidate for potential inclusion in a Grayscale investment trust or ETF.

In the RWA sector, Ondo Finance (ONDO) remains one of the leading projects. Other promising altcoins in this category include Mantra (OM), Centrifuge (CFG), and Goldfinch (GFI).