The altcoin market has reached an extreme level of undervaluation—40% of coins are trading near all-time lows, according to analysts at Cryptoquant. However, they note that about 60,000 new cryptocurrencies appear every day, while market liquidity is not growing at the same rate. As is easy to understand, most of these projects are doomed to fail.
When selecting crypto assets, it’s important to remain very selective right now. Experts told RBC Crypto which categories of cryptocurrencies have growth potential and which altcoins are worth keeping an eye on.
“Three Trends Driving the Market Right Now”
One of the most promising areas today is perp-DEX, or decentralized exchanges for trading perpetual futures (perps) without intermediaries, says Cryptorg analyst Dmitry Savintsev. According to him, “Hyperliquid is the game-changer here, and its strength lies not in hype, but in the numbers.” The expert noted that the platform’s cumulative revenue has surpassed $1 billion, with annual revenue hovering around $800 million, and nearly all fees go toward buying back the native HYPE token.
Since the start of this year alone, HYPE has risen in price by 180%, and since its launch in late 2024, it has shown 2,000% growth without any sharp declines.
“The formula is simple: the higher the trading volume, the more money for token holders. In terms of trading volume, the Hyperliquid token is already competing with Solana for the title of the crypto world’s leading liquidity hub and has entered the top 10, overtaking Cardano and Dogecoin. It’s a rare case where a token’s growth is driven not by faith but by the service’s real-world utility,” said Savintsev.
The analyst identified synthetic dollars and yields on stablecoins as another area with growth potential, citing the Ethena project—which features the USDe stablecoin that pays holders a yield—as a benchmark. Savintsev noted that demand has been enormous: after its launch on Solana, the token’s market cap reached approximately $400 million within a day. As of July 8, USDe’s market capitalization stands at $4.39 billion; by this metric, the token ranks 5th among stablecoins and 21st among all cryptocurrencies.
“Ethena is an aggressive play in the yield-generating stablecoin space. This is an important topic because stablecoins have become the foundation of the entire industry; this market has surpassed $300 billion and continues to grow. But the risk here is higher than usual: the model is tied to interest rates and funding, regulatory issues hit such projects first, and during a market downturn, they weaken more noticeably than others,” the expert warned.
In his view, betting on an entire ecosystem could also be an interesting strategy. An example is Solana—not as a standalone coin, but as an entire ecosystem. The principle here is also simple, says Savintsev: capital flows to where there is already plenty of it. He explained that Solana has a large volume of liquidity and activity within its network, and the approval in the U.S. of an exchange-traded fund with staking has opened the door to institutional money. The value lies not in a single product, but in its breadth: DeFi, payments, gaming, meme coins—all of this “runs” on a single infrastructure, says the analyst. He added that this approach is more balanced than investing in a single niche altcoin.
The SOL cryptocurrency has fallen 39% in price since the beginning of the year. Today, it ranks seventh among the largest cryptocurrencies, with a market capitalization of about $45 billion.
Savinets pointed out that the options he listed carry different levels of risk, but together, these three themes cover the entire spectrum of the current cycle. Looking at the bigger picture, beyond specific coins, three areas are currently attracting capital: RWA (real-world asset tokenization—bonds, real estate, private credit), perp-DEXs, and the yield-generating stablecoin protocols segment. This is precisely where money from institutional investors and experienced market participants is flowing right now, the expert said.
The Issue of Activity
The crypto market is currently suffering from high interest rates, capital outflows to other markets, and a lack of internal activity, says Nikita Bredikhin, lead investment analyst at Go Invest. In his view, in such a scenario, the “safest investment” is projects that generate real revenue from trading fees, loans, and other services. Such a project can support its price by burning a portion of the fees or buying back tokens.
Bredikhin also identified derivatives trading on perp-DEXs as the most stable and fastest-growing segment of the crypto market. According to him, this sector has become the main generator of cash flow across the entire DeFi (decentralized finance) sector and is now gradually taking market share away from centralized exchanges. The analyst also believes that Hyperliquid deserves special mention, as nearly all of its trading fees are used for token buybacks. Another option, in his view, could be Uniswap (UNI). This is the token of one of the largest DEXs, which also burns a portion of the fees it receives.
The analyst also highlighted the Aave protocol (AAVE) and, once again, the Solana token. The former is a leader in the lending sector and conducts buybacks of its native cryptocurrency, while Solana has a clear and diversified model and, when the market recovers, will be the first to experience an influx of new capital and increased activity.
In addition, one of the so-called “safe-haven” sectors is that of privacy coins, such as Monero (XMR) or Zcash (ZEC), said Bredikhin. Due to the growing institutionalization and regulation of the market, an increasing number of crypto enthusiasts are seeking to reduce the level of control over their funds and are turning to anonymous coins. This sector has a low correlation with the rest of the crypto market and often rises even during a general downturn, the expert added.
At the same time, Bredikhin warned that the meme coin sector is in the most vulnerable position. Since they have no real utility and are speculative instruments, a decline in activity and capital outflows hit this segment the hardest, and when the market recovers, as a rule, the old leaders do not reach their historical highs again, as new market favorites emerge, the analyst said.
