If you could have invested in Apple in 2008 when it launched the App Store, would\u00a0you?<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what owning ETH or SOL in 2025 feels\u00a0like.<\/p>\n
You see, they\u2019re not just cryptocurrencies. They\u2019re platforms where developers are building the next generation of disruptive businesses.<\/p>\n
Think banking, gaming, even social networks\u2026 all rebuilt from the ground up on blockchain. Same as how developers were building Facebooks and Ubers on the App Store back in the\u00a0day.<\/p>\n
Today, over 3,500 decentralized apps (or \u201cdapps\u201d) are running on Ethereum and Solana. And that number\u2019s growing\u00a0fast.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the biggest reason why I prefer buying ETH or SOL over BTC<\/a>. There\u2019s one use case for bitcoin. With Ethereum and Solana, the sky\u2019s the\u00a0limit.<\/p>\n But which is a better buy in 2025, Solana or Ethereum?<\/p>\n It\u2019s the first choice for developers looking to build blockchain apps.<\/p>\n Over 3,000 projects run on Ethereum, about six times more than on\u00a0Solana.<\/p>\n Even better, Ethereum has a much smaller proportion of memecoins<\/a>. Most of them launched on Solana since it was way\u00a0cheaper.<\/p>\n While BTC trades 49% above its previous 2021 peak, ETH never reclaimed its all-time\u00a0high.<\/p>\n Our research suggests this sleeping giant is finally waking\u00a0up.<\/p>\n After years of focusing on abstract technical challenges, Ethereum appears to be having a crucial realization: Technology without adoption is just an academic exercise.<\/p>\n Vitalik Buterin and core developers are pivoting back to scaling the base layer itself, not just relying on Layer 2 solutions to do the heavy lifting. Several big upgrades (including the Pectra hard fork, which launched last week) are scheduled over the next 18\u00a0months.<\/p>\n I sense a fundamental cultural\u00a0shift.<\/p>\n Ethereum increasingly views itself as a product that must sell itself to the world. This means renewed focus on improving user experience and emphasizing Ethereum\u2019s unique selling proposition: decentralization.<\/p>\n This pivot couldn\u2019t come at a more critical moment. <\/strong>Regulation has finally given Wall Street the green light to embrace\u00a0crypto<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n This exact conversation is happening right now in corporate America\u2026<\/p>\n Years ago, your most forward-thinking employees advocated getting on-chain. But with hostile regulators threatening enforcement, the risk was simply too\u00a0great.<\/p>\n Now, the cloud has lifted. Suddenly, those dusty blockchain proposals are being resurrected from the bottom\u00a0drawer.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t take my word for it. Listen to the world\u2019s largest asset\u00a0manager.<\/p>\n BlackRock\u2019s tokenized Treasury fund\u200a\u2014\u200athe BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL)\u200a\u2014\u200ahas already accumulated $2 billion in assets. BlackRock wasn\u2019t willing to risk that capital on any blockchain but Ethereum.<\/p>\n As Robbie Mitchnick, BlackRock\u2019s Head of Digital Assets, explained:<\/p>\n \u201cThere was no question that the blockchain we would start our tokenization on would be Ethereum, and that\u2019s not just a BlackRock thing. That\u2019s the natural default\u00a0answer.\u201d<\/p>\n Clients have clearly made the choice that they really do value decentralization, credibility, and security. And that is a great advantage that Ethereum continues to\u00a0have.<\/p>\n Ethereum already dominates the tokenized real-world asset\u00a0space:<\/p>\n Source: Allium<\/em><\/p>\n This is Ethereum\u2019s opportunity to become the settlement layer for global\u00a0finance.<\/p>\n If it plays its cards right, we could witness a revaluation of ETH. I believe a massive price jump is ahead that will make look the previous bull market look like a\u00a0blip.<\/p>\n Investors who think Solana is just a platform to launch meme coins are missing the big opportunity.<\/p>\n Like with Ethereum, thousands of blockchain apps are being built on the Solana infrastructure.<\/p>\n Today, there are over 500 apps running on Solana\u2019s blockchain. It\u2019s the home to many of the world\u2019s top and DePin<\/a> projects.<\/p>\n And each app pays millions of tiny fees to Solana for each transaction. Solana made over $52 million in fees in the last 30\u00a0days.<\/p>\n Solana currently processes 65,000 transactions per second\u200a\u2014\u200ajust as fast as Visa. That\u2019s 10,000X faster than bitcoin and 2,000X better than Ethereum.<\/p>\n Solana is also far cheaper to use than most other blockchains. It costs about three bucks to do a transaction on bitcoin. And between $8 and $40 on Ethereum. A transaction on Solana will set you back $0.00025\u200a\u2014\u200aa fraction of a\u00a0penny.<\/p>\n It boasts over 3 million daily active users, more than Ethereum and all its Layer 2s combined:<\/p>\n Source: Token\u00a0Terminal<\/em><\/p>\n In April, Solana briefly overtook Ethereum in total staked value, with over $53.9 billion locked and 65% of its supply earning an attractive 8%\u00a0yield.<\/p>\n On the stablecoin front, Solana has become the dominant chain for USD Coin (USDC) issuance, minting billions in fresh supply and positioning itself as the settlement layer for tokenized dollars.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to overstate what\u2019s coming\u00a0next.<\/p>\n If Wall Street wants exposure and 57% of supply is staked and illiquid, we\u2019re staring down the barrel of an epic supply\u00a0shock.<\/p>\n Once billions of institutional and retirement funds start flowing into SOL, exepct the price to shoot\u00a0up.<\/p>\n At the same time, CME\u200a\u2014\u200athe world\u2019s leading derivatives marketplace\u200a\u2014\u200arecently launched SOL futures, a clear signal that confirms institutional demand is not only here but also accelerating.<\/p>\n Yes, Solana is faster. Yes, it\u2019s onboarding users at breakneck speed. But Ethereum still sits at the heart of institutional tokenization and DeFi infrastructure. It\u2019s where the serious money showed up first. It\u2019s still the most credible settlement layer in existence.<\/p>\n BlackRock\u2019s BUIDL fund launched on Ethereum, and while it\u2019s since expanded to Solana and others, Ethereum remains the default base layer. Franklin Templeton\u2019s BENJI, along with dozens of other tokenized funds, also chose Ethereum first. When Wall Street tokenizes, it still starts on Ethereum.<\/p>\n Fortunately, this isn\u2019t a winner-take-all market. It\u2019s a multi-chain world. Both will succeed. Some developers will chose Solana for its low fees and fast speed. Others will flock to Ethereum for its reputation and unmatched security.<\/p>\n We call it the lopsided barbell strategy.<\/p>\n In our Venture portfolio<\/a>, we allocate 75% to both Ethereum and\u00a0Solana<\/strong>.<\/p>\n They are the only two blockchains with institutional legitimacy, scalable infrastructure, and economic activity to back up their valuations.<\/p>\n We don\u2019t choose between them. We own both, because together, they represent the strongest foundation in\u00a0crypto.<\/p>\n Bottom line: In a market where flows and fundamentals drive everything, owning both ETH and SOL is the single best way to stay exposed to crypto\u2019s new financial era.<\/strong><\/p>\n We put the other 25% of our portfolio into smaller tokens with higher upside. We wrote about 3 such small cryptos\u00a0here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014 Stephen McBride, Chief Analyst at <\/em>RiskHedge<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Better buy: Solana vs Ethereum<\/a> was originally published in Coinmonks<\/a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Is ETH or SOL a better investment in\u00a02025 If you could have invested in Apple in 2008 when it launched the App Store, would\u00a0you? That\u2019s what owning ETH or SOL in 2025 feels\u00a0like. You see, they\u2019re not just cryptocurrencies. They\u2019re platforms where developers are building the next generation of disruptive businesses. Think banking, gaming, even […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interesting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67966"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67966"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67966\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Bull case for Ethereum\u00a0(ETH)<\/h3>\n
ETH remains the second biggest crypto behind\u00a0BTC.<\/h4>\n
Ethereum has been a major laggard this\u00a0cycle.<\/h4>\n
Ethereum is the blockchain most big players will flock\u00a0to.<\/h4>\n
Bull case for Solana\u00a0(SOL)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Solana is the speed and cost\u00a0king.<\/h4>\n
Developers love Solana because it\u2019s the fastest of all the major blockchains.<\/h4>\n
SOL is now outpacing Ethereum across several key\u00a0metrics.<\/h4>\n
The Solana ETF is likely landing this year, with approval odds above\u00a090%.<\/h4>\n
Solana vs Ethereum: Verdict<\/em><\/h3>\n
This is the crypto investment strategy we use at RiskHedge.<\/h3>\n