Avalanche’s AVAX token is poised for major gains in coming years that should outpace already bullish outlooks for both bitcoin and ether, according to Standard Chartered’s Geoff Kendrick.

“The unique thing about Avalanche is how it is attempting to achieve scale. Unlike Ethereum or Solana, Avalanche (AVAX) uses a set of subnets, or sidechains,” Kendrick said in a note on Wednesday, initiating coverage on AVAX with a $55 price target for the end of 2025, $100 for 2026, $150 for 2027, $200 for 2028 and $250 by the completion of 2029.

“While it is still too early to tell whether the new subnet approach will work, we think the fact that one-quarter of active subnets are already Etna-compatible is encouraging.”

He also pointed out the network’s growing developer number since its upgrade in December, which cut the cost of establishing a subnet close to zero.

Avalanche, which stands at a $9 billion market cap, is currently the 15th-largest cryptocurrency by that metric, making it a great candidate to profit from a big impact even through incremental improvements, according to Kendrick. Among blockchains, it is the tenth-largest by total value locked (TVL).

“As a result, we see AVAX outperforming both Bitcoin and Ethereum in terms of relative price gains in the coming years, reaching a level around USD 250 by end-2029, more than 10x today’s price.”

Ahead of the December upgrade, the Avalanche Foundation, the issuer of AVAX, raised $250 million in a token sale, led by Galaxy Digital, Dragonfly and ParaFi Capital.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) may be well off their frothy heights, but don’t tell that to Jupiter. Solana’s top DeFi exchange just brought digital collectibles platform DRiP Haus into its orbit.

The acquisition is part of Jupiter’s push to become what Jupiter’s Kash Dhanda calls the «Solana super app:» a home not only for traders of financial instruments like swaps and perps, but for digital culture connoisseurs too.

«We don’t believe it,» Dhanda said of the NFT doomsayers. «We think NFTs are here for the long term.»

Built from the bricks of the short-lived Solana store, DRiP Haus survived the NFT market’s brutal downturn as a digital collectibles distribution hub. Instead of trading it focuses on disseminating: Startups across Solanaland spin up and send out their visual campaigns on DRiP, according to Dhanda, who estimates it now creates the vast majority of Solana NFTs that «aren’t spam.»

Dhanda and DRiP Labs founder Vibhu Norby both declined to state how much Jupiter paid in the all-cash deal. A person familiar with the deal estimated it at two times the funds raised. The startup previously raised $11.5 million from venture investors.

Jupiter co-founder Meow hinted at the acquisition in late February during his campaign to defer a multi-million dollar token payday, which yields more JUP for him later while funding token incentive programs for acqui-hired teams now. Norby confirmed his team will be getting tokens from the incentives program.

Half of DRiP’s eight-person team will continue working on the distribution platform, while the other half will focus on bolstering Jupiter’s currently nonexistent NFT capabilities, most critically by adding a swaps router to the DeFi exchange’s homepage.

Norby will oversee DRiP from an «executive, strategic point of view» from within Jupiter. While the DRiP brand will remain separate, Norby said its visual identity will be reworked to align more closely with the new mothership. He’s also working on building a «really, really excellent NFT experience» within Jupiter’s mobile app.

Once considered speculative investments, cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly mainstream. In Europe, WisdomTree is at the forefront of leading that charge. The global financial services firm offers a number of exchange-traded products (ETPs) that offer diversification and an incredibly easy way to buy and sell crypto assets.

Here Dovile Silenskyte, WisdomTree’s Director of Digital Assets Research, discusses crypto’s evolution as an asset class, the most recent adoption trends and WisdomTree’s latest ETP based on the CoinDesk 20 index.

How do you see crypto becoming more akin to a traditional asset class?

As with every asset class, diversification is essential. Investors diversify across and within equity and bond positions, so it should be no different when considering allocating capital to cryptocurrencies. Relying solely on bitcoin is akin to holding only one stock in an equity portfolio, which is a suboptimal strategy in terms of risk-adjusted returns. A well-diversified approach across multiple digital assets can enhance exposure to the broader growth of the sector.

As the digital asset class evolves, investors require a benchmark to measure performance, invest and trade. The CoinDesk 20 index serves as the benchmark index for the crypto industry and is the world’s most traded crypto index — it could be viewed as the S&P 500 of crypto. Taking a broad and diversified approach through the CoinDesk 20 provides a practical way to access opportunities across the digital asset market.

For investors who lack access to deep crypto knowledge, broad-based crypto indices offer a streamlined way to gain market exposure without the complexities of token selection. Just as ETF investors use index-based funds to gain equity exposure without stock-picking, a diversified crypto index allows for systematic, passive participation in the growth of digital assets.

What kind of adoption trends have you seen in the past? Are there geographical nuances you’ve observed?

After more than 15 years of existence, multiple boom-and-bust cycles and over half a billion users, cryptocurrencies have cemented their place as a major asset class rather than a passing trend. Bitcoin and ether have become integral components of institutional portfolios.

Despite cryptocurrencies’ long-term growth potential, many investors are still unsure. With a total market cap of approximately $3 trillion, the ecosystem and use cases are growing steadily. The crypto market is now of a similar (or larger) size as staple institutional investments such as high-yield bonds, inflation-linked bonds and emerging markets small caps.

Crypto adoption is not monolithic — it varies across geographies based on regulatory landscapes, institutional infrastructure and economic needs. Europe is leading the way with investors being able to invest into bitcoin exchange-traded products for the last 5+ years and now having access to a broad range of single coin and crypto basket ETPs.

How is WisdomTree enabling this next phase of growth beyond bitcoin?

WisdomTree has been providing access to crypto via ETPs since 2019. It has since grown its range to include ETPs providing exposure to five other individual coins and four diversified basket products, including its new ETP providing exposure to the CoinDesk 20. WisdomTree’s crypto ETPs leverage institutional-grade storage solutions ensuring high levels of security, and some of them also generate a staking yield. By incorporating staking into a crypto ETP, investors can gain exposure to the growth of these networks while also participating in their security and governance.

Tell us more about the WisdomTree Physical CoinDesk 20 ETP that you just launched.

The strategy helps investors avoid the complexities of selecting individual assets, as it aims to provide secure and diversified exposure to approximately 90% of the crypto market by market cap, helping shape the next wave of innovation. The strategy also provides a highly diversified entry point into the crypto ecosystem, further democratizing access to a historically difficult part of the market to get exposure to. And finally, the strategy also aims to provide staking yield.

Where can someone get additional information?

European investors can access more information about WisdomTree’s physically-backed crypto ETP range here.

Disclosure: This material is prepared by WisdomTree and its affiliates and is not intended to be relied upon as a forecast, research or investment advice, and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy. The opinions expressed are as of the date of production and may change as subsequent conditions vary. The information and opinions contained in this material are derived from proprietary and non-proprietary sources. As such, no warranty of accuracy or reliability is given and no responsibility arising in any other way for errors and omissions (including responsibility to any person by reason of negligence) is accepted by WisdomTree, nor any affiliate, nor any of their officers, employees or agents. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the reader. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Authors’ views and opinions are their own and not associated with CoinDesk Indices. The interview was conducted by CoinDesk Indices and is not associated with CoinDesk editorial.

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