Top Cryptos & Rising Stars
An overview of my fave timeless brews (BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL) & some spicy new blends (MATIC/POL, AVAX, TON)
Dear frens,
If crypto were coffee, then Bitcoin would be the classic espresso shot ~ strong, reliable, and the base for everything else.
Ethereum … that’s your latte, versatile and powering all the new flavors (DeFi, NFTs, DAOs). All the yums kinda like that mocha latte I used to sip on the daily.
XRP ~ that is the straight-up Americano ~ efficient, fast, and now served with legal clarity.
Solana? Think iced coffee: smooth, fast, economical, and made for the next generation of sippers.
And then there are the specialty blends ~ the wild cards. I view Polygon, Avalanche, and Toncoin as the pumpkin-spiced lattes and seasonal pours shaking up the menu. Some blends might not hit the spot, but others could become your daily pour.
Today’s roundup serves up the leaders, challengers, and hot ☕ curveballs shaping the next phase of Web3. It’s an overview of the OGs I love (BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL) and some delish sips shaking things up (MATIC/POL, AVAX, TON).
Here’s to cutting through the noise and keeping the clarity (with coffee in hand, of course). DYOR, NFA. ☕✨
Coffee strong, crypto stronger,
Kelly Ann Collins
Bitcoin
“The OG, still the signal”
Ticker: BTC
Snapshot: coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin
Why Watch: Bitcoin remains the market’s macro driver. Spot ETF inflows, halvings, and its “digital gold” hedge narrative keep it at the center of institutional portfolios.
Overview
Bitcoin is the origin story of crypto. Introduced in 2008 by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto in the now-famous whitepaper, “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System,” the network officially went live in January 2009 with the “genesis block.”
That simple start triggered a financial revolution that Wired later described as something that “changed everything and nothing.”
In those early days, Bitcoin was a fringe experiment, written up in places like The New Yorker as a curiosity about anonymous internet money. Today, it’s a global asset class with a multi-trillion-dollar footprint, institutional buy-in through spot ETFs, and a narrative as “digital gold.”
Satoshi’s solution to double-spending - “We propose a solution to the double-spending problem using a peer-to-peer network” - still anchors its identity as trustless money.
Ethereum
“The world computer (and its L2 superpowers)”
Ticker: ETH
Snapshot: coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum
Why Watch: Ethereum’s base layer plus its growing L2 network keeps it the most important programmable blockchain. It’s the settlement layer where everything else plugs in.
Overview
Ethereum was born out of Vitalik Buterin’s 2013 idea that Bitcoin needed a more flexible scripting language.
His “world computer” vision turned real on July 30, 2015, when Ethereum launched its “Frontier” release. Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum wasn’t just money; it was programmable. That single design choice gave rise to DeFi, NFTs, DAOs, and every flavor of blockchain application since.
Vitalik has consistently described Ethereum as a “world computer,“ and that vision has matured. With the 2022 “Merge,” Ethereum shifted to Proof-of-Stake. In 2025, it’s defined by its scaling ecosystem: rollups, zkEVMs, and Polygon’s new “AggLayer” pushing to unify them all.
XRP
“Cross-border rails, regulatory drama, and a payments push”
Ticker: XRP
Snapshot: coinmarketcap.com/currencies/xrp
Why Watch: After a lawsuit against XRP operator Ripple Labs concluding on Aug. 7, 2025, XRP is in a landmark position. It now has something that many of its competitors crave: definitive legal clarity.
Overview
The XRP Ledger, launched in 2012 by David Schwartz, Jed McCaleb, and Arthur Britto, was built with a different thesis: payments.
Its supply of 100 billion tokens was pre-minted, sparking debates that continue today. Ripple, the company using XRP, has positioned it as a bridge asset for global liquidity and real-time settlement.
The last few years were shaped by Ripple’s ongoing legal battle with the SEC, first filed in 2020. The lawsuit alleged that it had conducted the sale of $1.3 billion worth of securities since 2013. On Aug. 7, 2025, both parties withdrew their appeals. This resolution confers a landmark advantage on XRP: definitive legal clarity that many competing assets still lack.
Ripple’s CEO Brad Garlinghouse has long said, “Banks need an independent digital asset to enable truly efficient settlement … XRP is best positioned for that role.”
Solana
“Speedrun chain with a global-state vision”
Ticker: SOL
Snapshot: coinmarketcap.com/currencies/solana
Why Watch: Solana’s speed, low fees, and consumer-friendly apps position it as one of the most dynamic ecosystems to watch.
Overview
Solana came online in March 2020 with Anatoly Yakovenko’s radical idea of a “Proof of History” clock to scale throughput.
From the start, Solana positioned itself as a single, ultra-fast Layer 1 capable of handling global-scale apps. Yakovenko often frames Solana as a “global atomic state machine” that should sync “as quickly as possible within the limits allowed by physical laws.”
The chain has faced outages and criticism, but its developer activity and ecosystem growth - from payments to consumer apps to DePIN - keep it buzzing. With extremely low fees and high throughput, Solana has captured attention as a credible alternative to Ethereum for some use cases.
Polygon
“Aggregation era”
Ticker: POL
Snapshot: coinmarketcap.com/currencies/polygon-ecosystem-token
Why Watch: Polygon is the leading bet on Ethereum scaling, enterprise adoption, and cross-chain aggregation.
Overview
Polygon started as Matic Network in 2017 before rebranding in 2021.
In 2024, Polygon launched its “AggLayer,” aiming to stitch Ethereum’s fragmented rollup ecosystem into a unified UX. Its token is now migrating from MATIC to POL, designed as the ecosystem’s broader utility and governance coin.
Polygon Co-founder Sandeep Nailwal put it bluntly: Ethereum should be the “ultimate, fundamental settlement layer” while projects like Polygon help it scale to billions of users. With enterprise adoption and institutional funds (Nomura’s Laser Digital launched a MATIC fund in 2024), Polygon is carving out a future-proof role.
Avalanche
“Subnets and the everything-token thesis”
Ticker: AVAX
Snapshot: coinmarketcap.com/currencies/avalanche
Why Watch: Avalanche’s subnet framework gives it unique flexibility, and its RWA/tokenization bet could hit big as TradFi explores blockchain rails.
Overview
Avalanche went live in September 2020. Its differentiator: “subnets,” which are customizable, app-specific blockchains that can be tuned for enterprises, gaming, or finance. Emin Gün Sirer, Avalanche’s founder, has described his goal as building “the world’s biggest platform for digitizing all of the world’s assets.”
This everything-token thesis is paired with an emphasis on speed, flexibility, and interoperability. Avalanche is also deeply engaged with the real-world asset (aka RWA) tokenization movement, pitching itself as a natural home for traditional institutions entering blockchain.
Toncoin
“The Telegram effect”
Ticker: TON
Snapshot: www.coingecko.com/en/coins/toncoin
Why Watch: TON is crypto’s closest shot at mass adoption through a mainstream social platform. If Telegram fully doubles down, TON could onboard millions overnight.
Overview
Originally launched as Telegram Open Network (TON) in 2018, the project was halted in 2020 after an SEC case, but the open-source code lived on, and by 2021 the TON Foundation was running with it.
In 2024, Telegram’s founder Pavel Durov announced that all Telegram ad-revenue payouts would happen in Toncoin. With nearly one billion Telegram users, this is potentially crypto’s biggest consumer funnel.
Add to that Tether’s launch of USDT on TON in April 2024 and the ecosystem’s rapid growth in wallets and payments, and TON has become one of the most talked-about tokens. Reuters summarized it as “TON takes off with Telegram tie-up.”
About SheCrypto
SheCrypto is a creative media endeavor that I (Kelly Ann Collins) founded in 2021. In collaboration with Unstoppable Future Corporation, my Washington, D.C.–based 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which is behind the Women In Blockchain initiative, we’re on a mission to expand access to blockchain, crypto and Web3 information - working alongside an incredible network of partners and collaborators.
During the past year, our collaborators and partners have included:
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Blockchain Futurist Conference, Canada / USA leading Web3 event,
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ETHToronto, the Ethereum hackathon that connects builders and creators
Litecoin Summit, covering privacy, regulation, and innovation
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Disclaimer
This roundup and all content by SheCrypto is for informational and entertainment purposes only ~ not financial advice. SheCrypto and its partners and collaborators do not guarantee that all news, statements, or facts referenced are true or complete. SheCrypto, Kelly Ann Collins, Unstoppable Future Corporation, Women In Blockchain as well as all collaborators and partners are not responsible for any investment decisions you make or any of the information in this newsletter / post. Always DYOR (do your own research) and consult a licensed professional before making financial moves. Full disclaimer here.
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Impressive article!!