The cryptocurrency market is changing. After several speculative cycles marked by surges then brutal crashes, investors are now looking for projects capable of surviving in the long term. Because all cryptos no longer play in the same category: some remain essentially speculative, while others try to become real technological infrastructures for global finance.
For Maxime Prada, financial analyst and consultant at Ferless Conseil, the market has entered a new phase. “The major adoption phase at the institutional level has already been underway for a year now”he believes. “A few years ago, some banks blocked transfers to crypto platforms. Today, several offer storage services for their customers »also underlines the financial analyst.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP: four very different bets
According to data from CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin remains largely dominant with a capitalization exceeding 2 trillion dollars after crossing the symbolic threshold of 100,000 dollars. Ethereum evolves around 300 billion dollars of valuation, against approximately 100 billion for XRP and 90 billion for Solana. A gap which explains why some investors see even more potential for progress on Solana, despite much greater volatility.
Conversely, Ethereum And Solana rely mainly on their technological uses. Ethereum still largely dominates decentralized finance and smart contracts thanks to its immense ecosystem of applications. “Without the blockchain Ethereum, a large part of decentralized finance would not exist today »recalls Maxime Prada. Its main advantage: an ecosystem already widely adopted by developers and financial applications.
It is precisely on this ground that Solana is trying to gain ground. Faster and less expensive than Ethereum, blockchain is attracting more and more financial projects. “Solana is based on the same foundations as Ethereum, but with greater speed and efficiency”believes Maxime Prada. The next growth engine for the sector could come from tokenization financial assets. The idea: to eventually allow the exchange of shares, bonds or fund units directly on blockchain. Several American financial players are already working on these infrastructures.
XRP follows a different logic. Historically designed to facilitate international payments between banks, the Ripple project remains more focused on financial infrastructure than on a speculative explosion. Maxime Prada, judges its potential more limited despite its strategic positioning
How to invest without falling into traps
For Maxime Prada, the strongest cryptos remain those which have already found real uses. “Since 2017, there are still the same big cryptos remaining. Many others are mostly speculative fads”he warns. In his eyes, projects linked to decentralized finance, payments or tokenization could concentrate a large part of the market value by 2030.
The analyst also points out that cryptocurrencies cannot be analyzed like traditional stocks. “When we invest in crypto, we invest above all in technology and in a vision of the future”he summarizes. Rather than trying to buy at the “right time”, he above all recommends a gradual and long-term approach.
Some investors hold their cryptocurrencies directly on “wallets” secure, others prefer to go through ETFs or platforms allowing you to invest in cryptos without actually owning them.
But for Maxime Prada, the main trap remains the promise of quick enrichment. “When it’s too good, it’s rarely true”he recalls about platforms promising spectacular returns. Because while certain blockchains could still transform finance by 2030, the sector remains faced with several major challenges. Among them: the rise of quantum computing, whose capabilities could one day weaken certain blockchain security systems. A subject already taken very seriously by several American states and technological giants, notably under the administration of Donald Trump.
