CONVICTION

Most crypto projects are a waste of time.

They launch a token, drum up hype, throw around buzzwords, and hope something sticks. A year later, the chart is wrecked, the founders are gone, and the Discord is silent.

But there are a few names that actually matter…

Not because they’re perfect. Not because they’re trending. But because they’re solving real problems at scale and doing it with actual usage, not just speculation.

If you're trying to make sense of this space without getting lost in hype cycles, start with these four….

1. Bitcoin (BTC): Store of Value with no Counterparty Risk

Bitcoin doesn’t need to keep up. It’s not here to compete with smart contract platforms or shiny new tokens. Its only job is to store value and move it without anyone’s permission.

That’s not nothing. That alone is huge. It means you can hold an asset that no one can dilute, freeze, or devalue. That’s what makes it digital gold with one difference: it moves.

Bitcoin is used by sovereign nations (i.e. El Salvador), held by major institutions, and more & more seen as a long-term hedge against fiat debasement. No other coin comes close in terms of institutional trust.

The best-case scenario? Bitcoin becomes a neutral reserve asset held by countries, funds, and individuals alike. And unlike gold, it runs on code.

2. Ethereum (ETH):  The Internet's Base Layer for Value

If you’ve ever interacted with crypto beyond just buying and holding, chances are Ethereum was involved.

Ethereum is where most of the action happens. It powers smart contracts, decentralized finance, NFTs, stablecoins, and thousands of other applications. It’s the programmable layer of the crypto economy.

Ethereum has processed trillions of dollars in transaction volume. At its peak, it has seen periods where the total value of transactions settled exceeded Visa’s processed value in a given timeframe.  Most importantly, it’s already operating at scale.

Developers build on Ethereum. Stablecoins like USDC run on Ethereum. Layer 2 scaling networks like Arbitrum and Optimism extend it. None of the serious financial infrastructure in crypto works without it.

Think of it as the settlement layer for programmable money. If crypto infrastructure is the new internet, Ethereum is the backend.

3. Ripple (XRP): Global Money Movement, at Scale

Ripple doesn’t get the same retail attention as Bitcoin or Ethereum, mostly because it’s not built for consumers. It’s built for banks, institutions, and large payment networks.

Ripple's XRP Ledger is designed for moving value across borders, fast and cheap. That’s it. But it does it extremely well.

It has processed well over 2.5 billion transactions with zero downtime across 10 years. That’s real-world scale. And it’s not just being tested, it’s being used by financial institutions in places where the traditional banking system is slow or expensive.

The biggest misconception about Ripple is that it’s “corporate” or centralized. It’s one of the few crypto networks that’s actually closing deals with real financial entities.

It’s not sexy. It’s functional. And in crypto, that’s rare.

4. Solana (SOL): Speed & Throughput Built In

Solana is the outlier on this list. It’s the newest, most aggressive, and the one with the most to prove.

What sets Solana apart is raw speed. It can handle 65,000+ transactions per second and costs a fraction of a cent per transaction. Ethereum can’t compete with that on the base layer. That’s why it needs rollups and Layer 2s to scale.

Solana just does it natively.

This opens the door for use cases that aren’t viable elsewhere…real-time games, consumer apps, social networks, and even high-frequency trading. It’s already home to some of the most active consumer-facing crypto apps.

Yes, Solana has had technical issues. It’s been offline before. But it’s also moving faster than almost any other chain in terms of actual improvements and user traction.

It’s the bet on performance at scale.

The Conviction Takeaway

These are the four I own and holding.  Am I adding on dips?  Yes on BTC, ETH, and XRP.

Not because they’re going to 100x. But because they’re being used at scale, with real transactions and with real infrastructure behind them.  The “speculation” argument is over.

Everything else? Maybe fun to speculate on. But if you’re looking for conviction, this is where it starts.