As investors prepare for what many believe will be the next major crypto bull run, altcoins — cryptocurrencies that aren’t Bitcoin — are once again in focus.
Tools like Best Wallet are making it easier to track, research, and invest in promising projects with a feature-rich experience built for both newcomers and seasoned traders.
The non-custodial app offers multi-chain support, no KYC onboarding, in-app token discovery, access to exclusive presales, staking integrations, and real-time portfolio management — all designed with a strong emphasis on user security and privacy.
Best Wallet also includes curated market insights, a Web3 launchpad, and social tools that help users follow top-performing wallets and trending tokens. With everything from token swapping to asset tracking in one sleek interface, it’s becoming a go-to platform for anyone looking to get an edge in the altcoin space.
Still, picking winners remains as much art as science. We asked leading figures across the blockchain ecosystem how to spot the best altcoins, which tokens they’re watching, and how newcomers can gain an edge.
Find the Best Altcoins
- Download the Best Wallet app on iOS or Android.
- Create your own wallet — no KYC needed.
- Tap “Upcoming Tokens” to find altcoins and presales.
- Buy and trade instantly with a card or crypto.
- Track and manage your portfolio easily in-app.
Identifying promising altcoins starts with looking beyond hype and understanding real-world use.
“The best formula always will be finding the confluence of teams with a proven history of execution building in a vertical that has strong growth tailwinds,” Douglas Colkitt, contributor to Initial Fogo, a high-performance blockchain, told The Post.
That emphasis on proven execution is echoed by others in the space — with a growing focus on real-world application and long-term utility.
“When it comes to investing in Altcoins, I’m always going to be thinking about real usability,” said Mike Cahill, CEO of Douro Labs and a core contributor to the Pyth Network.
“The ones that stand out have true use cases, growing user adoption, sustainable tokenomics, and are powering new financial infrastructure.”
Mike Marshall, head of research at analytics firm Amberdata, echoed that view, telling The Post: “Try to look beyond hype to spot altcoins with a clear utility, credible teams and a healthy balance of community support and institutional interest — real substance beats speculation every time.”
Musa Hakim Jr., CEO and co-founder of LazyMoose.co, added that network infrastructure matters more than noise.
“For everyone else, the best way to identify valuable altcoins is developer community and organization or network infrastructure strength,” Hakim told The Post.
“Those two things drive utility which define value. Buy coins that you want to buy, not your friends.”
Not every expert is ready to offer a list of 10 altcoins, but many shared their highest-conviction picks.
Hakim added that his top picks were Solana, Ethereum, XRP, Dogecoin and USD Coin — with the last two interchangeable depending on market sentiment.
Rounding out Hakim’s list are Cardano, Tether, Binance Coin, Bitcoin Cash and Uniswap.
“These 10 all have strong organizational credibility and heavy developer support,” said Hakim.
Marshall, who prioritizes foundational blockchain infrastructure, highlighted ten altcoins he believes are well-positioned both technically and commercially.
His picks include Ethereum, noted for its “ecosystem dominance”; Solana, praised for its “speed and adoption”; Arbitrum, a leader in “Layer 2 scaling”; Optimism, which experiencing “fast ecosystem growth”; Chainlink, known for its “oracle infrastructure”; Uniswap, a “DeFi cornerstone”; Aave, trusted for “lending”; MakerDAO, advancing “real-world asset adoption”; Ondo Finance, a “RWA yield pioneer”; and Fetch.ai, gaining traction for its “AI integration momentum.”
Cahill favored projects with clear usage and ecosystem momentum. The list he provided to The Post includes: “Hype, Pyth, Kamino, Drift, Raydium, Jito, Pendle, Helium, Jupiter, and Pumpfun (when it launches).”
Colkitt preferred to keep his list lean. He told The Post that he prefers Hype “just because it’s a runaway category winner and expanding into a full fledged ecosystem.”
Colkitt said his second choice was Berachain, especially at its current price. His third-best option is Jito, which is “basically essential to Solana continuing to function and not much of the market has realized it yet.”
What makes an altcoin worth buying now? Many experts say real usage is more important than speculative buzz.
“Altcoins with proven usage are the best value in my mind,” Cahill noted.
Hakim recommended watching changes in who is leading major projects and which cryptocurrencies are gaining attention.
He told The Post that some of his top picks for the next rally include XRP and Solana — noting that some investors now see Solana as a smarter bet than Ethereum, especially since former Blockchain Association head Kristin Smith recently took over at the Solana Foundation.
He also pointed to Dogecoin as a meme-driven coin worth watching, saying, “There’s something there, very good or very bad.”
Colkitt emphasized risk management. He told The Post that since Bitcoin “won’t 10X overnight,” the best course of action would be to adopt “a barbell strategy” of Bitcoin and altcoins “further out on the risk curve.”
For serious investors, research is key.
“It’s still hard to beat DefiLlama and Dune dashboards for data driven exploration,” said Colkitt.
“And of course, stay active on Crypto Twitter. Coins will get talked about there before they blow up.”
“You can find new altcoins by following new projects and tracking their testnet launches,” added Cahill.
“Most of these launches can be found on crypto-native news sites like The Block, Coindesk, and Cointelegraph.”
Hakim said that it would be best to compare top tens on exchanges as well as “observing the community on the social platforms you frequent.
“Don’t buy a coin who’s founder you can’t quote,” Hakim advised.
Spotting the next big thing requires watching early traction and developer momentum.
“Finding promising altcoins early requires staying at the forefront of reliable data and analytics,” said Marshall.
“I personally use Amberdata to track on-chain metrics, liquidity trends, and unusual transaction activity.”
Cahill stressed the value of developer signals and ecosystem growth.
“It’s important to watch for early community traction and smart developer activity over time to try and gauge the success of the project,” Cahill told The Post.
Hakim said Layer 2s (L2s), which help blockchains grow by handling more transactions quickly and cheaply, and regulatory clarity are key indicators.
“Follow the money,” said Hakim. He cited Polygon, a blockchain scaling solution designed to make transactions on Ethereum faster and cheaper, as an L2 that people should keep an eye on.
“The American coins are probably the best to start digging,” he added.
“Recent SEC guidance makes all of these projects that are compliant hot commodities globally.”
Bitcoin and Ethereum still dominate market cap — but that doesn’t mean altcoins can’t outperform.
“Bitcoin is still a great benchmark, especially for new investors,” said Cahill.
“But I believe that the next wave of meaningful growth will come from altcoins that power financial infrastructure and help drive institutional capital.”
“BTC and ETH still anchor the market and deserve core holdings,” added Marshall, “but select altcoins offer compelling upside, especially in sectors like tokenized real-world assets, AI, and L2 scaling.”
“Altcoins have much higher upside,” said Colkitt. “BTC won’t 10X overnight.”
As momentum builds toward the next bull market, experts agree that finding the right altcoins involves a blend of research, real-world usage and community strength.
With platforms like Best Wallet making access easier, and data tools from DefiLlama to Amberdata offering deeper insights, investors now have more tools than ever to make informed decisions — and avoid chasing hype.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
