Key Points
Bitcoin belongs in nearly all cryptocurrency portfolios.
But it doesn't get any upside from trends like asset tokenization.
Ethereum and Solana, on the other hand, are highly exposed to that upside.
Eventually, there will be another crypto bull market, and it might even happen soon. Bitcoin, as always, will be the coin that leads the crypto market, and it's the most obvious one to own.
But a few other coins are worth buying before prices start rising, assuming they do, so let's take a look at those.
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Don't overthink this one
Bitcoin might set the market's direction, but it's Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) that sets the tone for everything downstream, especially in anything touching the decentralized finance (DeFi) segment.
Today, Ethereum is the ugly duckling of the crypto majors, down about 64% from its 2025 peak. It's beset on all sides by problems, ranging from a spate of exploits in April that drained hundreds of millions of dollars from some of its largest ecosystem projects, to major turnover at its governance organization, the Ethereum Foundation. And in the bull market that ended in late 2025, its DeFi ecosystem was never quite able to surpass its heights set in the prior bull market in 2021.
Nonetheless, it's still the dominant smart contract chain, and it's positioned to capture growth in the next bull market from a variety of different areas, especially from tokenized assets -- cryptos that represent the ownership of assets like stocks and bonds.
In a bullish scenario, the tokenized real-world asset (RWA) market could be worth as much as $4 trillion by 2030, per research by the consulting firm McKinsey. Ethereum today hosts nearly half RWAs by value, with $16 billion worth parked on its chain, and there are also more than $152 billion in stablecoins. As the market for tokenization grows, asset issuers and asset managers will prefer to store their tokenized assets on the networks where they can be sure that there will be plenty of liquidity for their transactions, and Ethereum's stablecoin base makes it an obvious choice.
What's more, the coin could be at a steep discount right now. So, sometime between now and the next bull market, it's probably worth getting at least a little exposure to Ethereum in your crypto portfolio.
Another coin could ride the same trend
Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) is another pick that's worth buying because of its positioning in tokenized assets. But while Ethereum is a chain that may be well-optimized for niches that need fast, cheap transactions, like tokenized stocks, Solana is already excelling at just that.
It processes about 96% of every tokenized stock trade across public blockchains, and it cleared $5.7 billion in tokenized equity trading volume in Q2 alone. Some $318.7 million in those stocks are hosted on its network right now, and it also has $14.8 billion in stablecoins. And during the past 90 days, it saw tokenized asset-related capital inflows of $860.2 million, so there's fresh evidence that it's a desirable location for asset managers and issuers.
Solana is thus likely worth owning in advance of the next bull market, though it's important to note that it has problems of its own. For instance, on-chain revenue is still heavily concentrated in one meme coin launchpad, Pump.fun, which continues to lead the network's daily fees. That means if the tokenization trend doesn't pan out in the network's favor, it will have few growth drivers for on-chain activity (and the coin's value too).
Finally, a word on what not to buy to prepare for the next crypto bull market.
Generally, buying yesteryear's altcoin winners in hopes of them starring in the next bull market is a reliable way to lose money. Skip the altcoins that made their debut in the last market cycle until they prove that they're viable. They could do that by gaining value and then retaining it for at least a few months due to new initiatives or capabilities, but even then, they would still be very risky plays.
Alex Carchidi has positions in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.