Crypto projects are initiatives leveraging blockchain technology to redefine various aspects of how platforms run, or services are delivered. Therefore, crypto projects’ applications can vary widely, but they all aim to solve specific problems or create opportunities in the digital economy.
These projects also have their native token, which you can purchase or trade on crypto exchanges. By holding a project’s cryptocurrency, you have essentially invested in it.
The crypto landscape is constantly evolving, and keeping track of the top or trending projects in the space can be challenging. Here are some of the top crypto projects that show promise in 2025.
- POPG
- Hyperliquid
- Ethereum
- Solana
- Near Protocol
- Ripple
- The Open Network (TON)
- Ondo
- VeChain
- Hedera Hashgraph
POPG
POPG is an entertainment-focused crypto ecosystem designed to rival similar Web2 projects. There are three core projects in the POPG ecosystem, POP.VIP, POP.GAME, POP.LIVE, each of the projects/platforms is built for fans for fans. The projects leverage blockchain technology to make entertainment, including premium events, accessible to everyone.
In traditional entertainment platforms, fans have little say in shaping the industry as most operate behind closed doors. The result is a lack of transparency and fan engagement. POPG is tackling these challenges in the industry.
Other notable challenges POPG is tackling include:
- Exclusive events are usually expensive or limited to a select few. In most instances, scalpers buy up event tickets and resell them at inflated prices.
- Conventional entertainment platforms operate in silos, often limiting cross-platform experiences.
- Lack of a direct benefit for fans who usually invest their time and money into the events or tickets.
POPG is a fun, exclusive, innovative, engaging ecosystem that is redefining this narrative through its three platforms: POP.VIP, POP.GAME, and POP.LIVE.
Since its launch in November, POP.VIP has been rewarding users for staking their $POPG tokens on the platform to earn rebates which can be used on entertainment products and services available on the POP.VIP website.
Coming up next is POP.GAME, an iGaming platform with a special twist – it’s being built with the input of the community, ensuring the platform’s users can take part in game selection and policies. Users will be able to experience POP.GAME’s exciting and transparent platform using $POPG.
POP.LIVE will launch last and will allow fans to purchase premium event tickets with $POPG at their original rates. Access will vary depending on the saving tiers users have achieved on POP.VIP.
Hyperliquid
Hyperliquid is a decentralized crypto exchange that runs on its native chain, unlike its competition. The Hyperliquid L1 blockchain uses a custom consensus algorithm and its algorithm and networking stack are optimized from the ground up to support the L1. This project also rivals many centralized exchanges for its user-friendly interface.
Other factors that make Hyperliquid appealing are its feature-rich platform, high speed, and reliability. Transactions incur zero gas fees, and the base layer can process 200,000 transactions per second. At press time, the exchange clocked $5.5 B in daily transaction volume. On Hyperliquid, you can access up to 50X leverage with no wallet transaction approvals interrupting your flow.
Ethereum
At its inception, Ethereum redefined blockchain capabilities by enabling the creation of smart contracts on the blockchain. Smart contracts are lines of code that execute when set conditions are met on the blockchain. Ethereum made it possible to create decentralized applications.
Being a first mover, ETH, the blockchain native currency, became the second largest cryptocurrency market capitalization, a position it has maintained to date.
On Sep. 15, 2022, Ethereum transitioned from an energy-intensive proof-of-work consensus mechanism to the proof-of-stake (PoS) validation method by removing incentivized mining, making the blockchain more efficient, and allowing it to scale better.
Solana
Solana is a fast, cheap, and highly scalable blockchain capable of processing about 4,500 transactions per second with a net zero carbon impact. Like Ethereum, it supports smart contracts, albeit at a lower cost, with each transaction costing about $0.00064.
As of February 2025, about 488 million SOL were in circulation. Like many coins, SOL has a limited annual issuance, and coins are rewarded to its supporters. Solana can power several applications that offer various features, including smart contracts, NFTs, and more.
Solana uses a proof-of-history consensus mechanism, which allows it to validate quickly. This translates into projects and tools built on Solana that can be as frictionless and easy to use as the rest of the internet.
Near Protocol
Near Protocol is one of the best developer-friendly blockchains in the space. It allows developers to build decentralized applications in Javascript or Rust and other familiar development tools. The NEAR protocol also comes packaged with built-in features such as account abstraction and named accounts.
Other than having an alphanumeric account/ wallet address, users can adopt names like ‘brian.near.’ With account abstraction, users can sign up for an account using Telegram or an email address.
Near protocol beats Ethereum with lower transaction fees and beats Solana for maintaining a 100% uptime for over four years.
Ripple
Money transfer, particularly across borders, can be expensive and slow due to the transaction charges and third parties involved. The Ripple crypto project seeks to revolutionize this system by acting as a bridge between financial institutions and payment providers.
Ripple enables providers to settle transactions faster and more securely. For instance, if a financial institution in the United States wants to send money to a bank in China, it could use XRP to facilitate the transaction in seconds at a fraction of a cent.
Instead of going through comparatively costly intermediaries and taking days, the transaction could be completed within seconds using XRP.
Banks, remitters, and payment providers in various countries are integrating XRP into their operations, a fact evident to XRP, which at press time was the fourth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization after Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the USDT stablecoin.
Recent updates show that Ripple is working on launching XRP depository receipts through Receipts Depositary Corporation (RDC) and Digital Wealth Partners (DWP), a function that will enable interested parties to invest in XRP without having to log into a crypto exchange.
The Open Network
The Open Network is a high-performance crypto project capable of seamlessly handling millions of transactions in a second. Thanks to its affiliations with the Telegram social messaging platform, it has a large and lively community.
The Open Network initially started as the Telegram network but later fell into legal trouble with the SEC in 2020. The project would then fall into abandonment, but the community later picked it up and rebranded it.
TON now boasts a community of over 15 million users participating in its TON-based mini-apps built into Telegram.
Ondo Finance
Ondo Finance, based in the US, is a crypto project focusing on democratizing institutional-grade financial products and services for everyone. It has over $200 million in tokenized assets and decentralized products, such as Flux Finance, a lending platform that supports tokenized securities as collateral.
The project boasts financing from Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Pantera, Coinbase, and service providers like Blackrock and Morgan Stanley.
Much recently, the crypto project announced the launch of a layer 1 blockchain, Ondo Chain, with an aim to accelerate the creation of institutional-grade financial markets on-chain. The new blockchain will support tokenized Real World Assets (RWAs) like Ondo GM, which are tokens issued to secure the network.
The chain will also enable fund/asset managers to create and manage RWAs to ensure innovation. Whatever you’re looking for in on-chain cash management, chances are you can find a solution at Ondo Finance.
VeChain
VeChain is another crypto project working on bringing the blockchain to the masses through enterprise decentralized applications that span industries. The project began around 2015 and has held through the crypto winters and the volatility of the crypto market, a testament to its resilience.
With Web3 for Better, VeChain is laying the foundations to advance a $26T sustainability and $16T tokenization market opportunity that will create and shape a meaningful change in the new global economy.
The project runs on the VeChainThor blockchain with a dual token ecosystem, VET and VTHO. VET is the system’s governance token, while VTHO is used to settle transaction fees on the blockchain. Each transaction on the chain costs less than $0.01 with 100% uptime.
Hedera Hashgraph
While it is considered a crypto project, Hedera does not operate on the blockchain. Instead of grouping transactions into blocks and ordering them sequentially, Hedera uses a Directed Acyclic Graph approach, where transactions are directly attached to each other.
Swirds holds patents on this approach, which computer scientist Leenon Baird invented in the mid-2010s. At the time, the concept was described as a better version of the blockchain.
Despite the technical differences, Hedera has functions similar to those of other blockchains like Solana and Ethereum. These include the creation of smart contracts and the creation and management of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with a proof-of-stake consensus model. HBAR, the project’s native token, is used for settling transaction fees.
Conclusion
Our list shows that crypto projects are constantly devising innovative ways of solving everyday problems. The projects are providing real value to their communities, which usually translates to the value of their tokens. So, whether you are looking to invest or speculate in a crypto project, consider joining its communities and finding one that aligns with your interests so as to reap the best benefits.
Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/top-crypto-projects-to-invest-in-2025/