Grayscale has announced the addition of several tokens from artificial intelligence (AI) platforms and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications to its list of top 20 tokens to watch in the first quarter of 2025. This update is part of Grayscale’s quarterly research note, which highlights the trends and opportunities in the digital assets industry.
New Additions to the Watch List
The Q1 2025 watch list now includes:
- Hyperliquid (HYPE): A high-performance layer-1 (L1) network
- Ethena (ENA): A DeFi app
- Virtuals (VIRTUAL): An AI platform
- Jupiter (JUP): A DeFi app native to Solana
- Jito (JTO): A DeFi app native to Solana
- Grass (GRASS): An AI platform
These new additions benefit from three industry trends:
- Friendlier US Regulatory Environment: The changing regulatory landscape in the United States is expected to have a positive impact on the digital assets industry.
- Breakthroughs in Decentralized AI: Advancements in decentralized AI are opening up new possibilities for applications and use cases.
- Growth in the Solana Ecosystem: The Solana ecosystem has been gaining traction, with many DeFi apps and platforms being built on its blockchain.
Continued Focus on Emerging Themes
In addition to the new additions, Grayscale is continuing to follow emerging themes from previous quarters:
- Ethereum Scaling Solutions: Ethereum’s scaling solutions are expected to play a crucial role in the development of the digital assets industry.
- Tokenization: The process of tokenizing traditional assets is gaining momentum, with many companies exploring this opportunity.
- Decentralized Physical Infrastructure (DePIN): DePIN is an emerging trend that involves creating decentralized infrastructure for physical assets.
Competitive Market Segment
Grayscale notes that smart contract platforms are currently the most competitive market segment in the digital assets industry. This is due to the proliferation of alternative L1 blockchain networks, which has partially contributed to Ethereum’s underperformance in 2024.
Industry Trends and Insights
The digital assets industry is expected to benefit from several trends and insights:
- DeFi: Decentralized finance (DeFi) apps are expected to be a key driver of growth in the industry.
- Staking: Staking, or "staking" tokens, is becoming increasingly popular as users look for ways to earn returns on their digital assets.
- Real-World Asset (RWA) Tokenization: Tokenizing traditional assets, such as real estate or commodities, is gaining traction.
- Agentic AI: Artificial intelligence agents are expected to play a more prominent role in decentralized communities.
Industry Executives Weigh In
Industry executives have shared their insights on the current state of the industry:
- "In the US, with Trump’s victory, I am aggressively bullish on the US becoming a global leader in the space by the end of the year." – Raj Brahmbhatt, CEO of Web3 settlement company Zeebu
- "AI agents are expected to take on a more prominent role within decentralized communities. Crypto staking and onchain trading will emerge as early AI use cases." – J.D. Seraphine, CEO of Web3 AI developer Raiinmaker