In 2015, you could buy one ether for under $3, while in 2025, it trades above $4,600. Bitcoin started at fractions of a cent and now exceeds $115,000. Stories like these explain why many investors are still searching for the best long-term crypto investments even in 2025 and 2026. This guide focuses on coins with proven technology, large market capitalization, and real use cases so you can see which projects might be worth holding.
Remember to do your own research before investing in cryptocurrency.
The crypto market has a lot to offer to long-term investors. Some coins and tokens have produced far higher multi-year returns than traditional assets such as stocks or gold. For example, over the past decade Bitcoin’s total return reached tens of thousands of percent compared to single-digit gains in major US stock indexes.
Coins with fixed or predictable supply, like Bitcoin, are viewed by many investors as digital gold that can help preserve purchasing power during inflation. Adding cryptocurrency to a portfolio can also improve diversification. Investing in cryptocurrencies can reduce correlation in your overall portfolio, meaning in some market downturns crypto may not decline in sync with equities.
Additionally, institutional participation in the cryptocurrency space is slowly but steadily growing. Funds, corporations, and ETFs are entering the market, and regulatory clarity is improving in several jurisdictions. Meanwhile, innovations such as smart contracts, decentralized finance, Layer 2 scaling, and asset tokenization continue to expand crypto’s use cases.
Crypto remains volatile, but a long-term horizon allows investors to ride out price swings. Historically, holding through several market cycles has produced strong net gains.
Long-term investing in crypto means looking past short-term price swings and focusing on projects with durable technology, strong communities, and real-world use cases. The tokens below are among the most established or fastest-growing in their niches. Each has shown significant appreciation from launch to 2025 and continues to attract developers, users, and institutional interest.
Bitcoin is the original cryptocurrency and the largest by market value. Launched in January 2009 by the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto, it introduced a decentralized, proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain that allows value transfer without banks or governments. Its code limits total supply to 21 million coins, making it scarce by design. Over the years, Bitcoin has become widely recognized as “digital gold” and a reserve asset within the broader crypto market, accepted by major exchanges, funds, and a growing list of companies worldwide.
Read more: Bitcoin vs. Satoshi, What’s the Difference?
Why BTC Is a Good Long-Term Cryptocurrency Investment
Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain platform launched on July 30, 2015 by Vitalik Buterin with several co-founders. It introduced smart contracts and the Ethereum Virtual Machine, allowing developers to build dApps (decentralized applications), issue tokens (ERC-20), deploy NFTs, and run DeFi protocols. After “The Merge,” Ethereum shifted from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus, reducing its energy footprint. Its flexibility, ongoing infrastructure upgrades, and large developer community make it a key blockchain beyond just being a value store.
Why ETH Is a Good Long-Term Cryptocurrency Investment
Solana is a public blockchain launched in 2020 by Solana Labs, founded by Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal. It uses proof-of-stake consensus along with a novel proof-of-history algorithm to enable very high throughput. SOL supports smart contracts, decentralized apps, NFTs, and DeFi. Its architecture allows block times in the sub-second range and extremely low transaction fees, making it well suited for mass adoption through scalable, high-volume use cases.
Read more: Wanna Invest In Crypto? Here Are Top Under $1 Utility Tokens With Long-Term Potential
Why SOL Is a Good Long-Term Cryptocurrency Investment
XRP is the native token of the XRP Ledger (XRPL), launched in 2012 by Jed McCaleb, Arthur Britto, and David Schwartz. It is designed for fast, low-cost cross-border payments and built-in decentralized exchange functionality. Unlike many other cryptos, XRP was pre-mined, meaning 100 billion tokens created at launch, with a large portion controlled by Ripple Labs and released gradually. It uses a consensus protocol based on independent validators rather than mining or staking. XRP is often seen as a bridge currency for remittances and global payments infrastructure.
Why XRP Is a Good Long-Term Cryptocurrency Investment
Cardano is a proof-of-stake blockchain platform launched in September 2017 by Charles Hoskinson and Jeremy Wood. It aims to offer a scalable, sustainable, and secure infrastructure for smart contracts and decentralized applications, with a layered architecture separating settlement and computation. Its design emphasizes peer-reviewed research, interoperability, and governance. The native token, ADA, is used for transaction fees, staking, and network governance.
Why ADA Is a Good Long-Term Cryptocurrency Investment
Polygon (originally Matic Network) is a Layer 2 / sidechain ecosystem designed to scale Ethereum and support modular infrastructure. First launched in 2019, it offers a proof-of-stake (PoS) chain that enables low transaction fees and fast settlement, along with tools like SDKs for rollups, bridges, and other scaling solutions. It emphasizes interoperability, developer support, and a versatile architecture that supports a variety of rollup types. Its token, initially called MATIC, was rebranded to POL in 2024, though many still refer to it by the older ticker.
Read more: Blockchain Technology and Its Layers. Layers 0, 1, 2, and 3 Explained
Why POL Is a Good Long-Term Investment
Chainlink is a decentralized oracle network co-founded by Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis in 2017. It enables smart contracts on blockchains (especially Ethereum) to securely ingest data from off-chain sources, like price feeds, weather data, or market metrics. LINK, the native token, pays node operators, secures the network, and underpins features like verifiable randomness (VRF) and cross-chain data transfer protocols.
Why LINK Is a Good Long-Term Investment
Sui is a Layer 1 blockchain platform developed by Mysten Labs and launched in May 2023. It uses the Move programming language and introduces an object-centric data model that allows transactions to be processed in parallel, enabling sub-second finality and low gas fees. Designed for scalability, usability, and a broad range of dApps—from gaming and DeFi to NFTs—Sui emphasizes both developer tools and end-user experience. Since its mainnet launch, it has been seen as part of the next generation of smart contract platforms.
Why SUI Is a Good Long-Term Investment
Binance Coin (BNB) launched in July 2017 through an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) led by Changpeng Zhao and He Yi. Initially, BNB was an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum blockchain; later it became the native token of Binance Chain, and then Binance Smart Chain (now BNB Chain). It serves multiple utility functions: paying trading fees with discounts, fueling smart contracts on BNB Chain, staking, governance, and participating in token burns that reduce circulating supply.
Why BNB Is a Good Long-Term Investment
Dogecoin launched on December 6, 2013, created by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer. It began as a memecoin inspired by the “Doge” Shiba Inu meme, meant partly as a joke, but it soon developed a loyal community. Dogecoin uses a proof-of-work algorithm (Scrypt), has fast block times (about one minute), and originally no hard cap on total supply—currently around 5B coins are introduced annually. It’s used for tipping, small transactions, and community fundraising.
Read more: Dogecoin Mining, Everything You Need to Know
Why DOGE Is a Good Long-Term Investment
Monero is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency launched in April 2014 as a fork of Bytecoin. It uses the CryptoNote protocol, later enhanced with RandomX proof-of-work to keep mining resistant to specialized hardware (ASICs). Monero’s design includes ring signatures, stealth addresses, and confidential transactions (RingCT), all enabled by default. These features aim to hide the sender, receiver, and amount in every transaction. Its goal is fungibility: each coin should be indistinguishable from any other.
Why XMR Is a Good Long-Term Investment
Cryptocurrencies can deliver large returns but remain extremely volatile. Before you invest in cryptocurrency, review these core factors to reduce risk and improve decision-making. Whether you invest with a lump sum or use dollar-cost averaging, looking beyond short-term cryptocurrency prices is critical.
Getting into crypto is easier than it used to be, but planning still matters. Today, many investors use trusted cryptocurrency exchanges to buy, hold, or sell cryptocurrency, while others explore the Ethereum blockchain and decentralized apps for more advanced uses. Follow these steps to start safely when you invest in cryptocurrency with fiat currency.
Cryptocurrency investing can be rewarding, but it’s also volatile and unpredictable. The tokens listed above have shown remarkable performance and continue to evolve, yet no investment is risk-free. Focus on fundamentals such as use cases, technology, and market capitalization, decide whether to invest a lump sum or build a position gradually, and always keep security in mind. By taking a measured approach, many investors can capture long-term upside while managing risk responsibly.
Holding means buying and keeping crypto for months or years, while trading involves frequent buying and selling to profit from short-term price moves. Many investors start by holding before exploring active trading.
Research the team, code audits, and community reputation before you invest in cryptocurrency. Projects with higher market capitalization and transparent teams are generally safer.
Look for strong use cases, credible teams, active communities, and healthy market capitalization. These traits help a token withstand volatility over time.
Start with an amount you can afford to lose. Many investors limit crypto to a small percentage of their portfolio.
Up to you, but while both assets are mature, they’re still evolving, with ongoing development and growing adoption. Price gains may be slower, yet they remain leading networks by market capitalization.
Use reputable exchanges, enable two-factor authentication, and store coins in private wallets you control. Never share your private keys.
These coins can surge on hype but often lack fundamentals. Treat them as speculative and only allocate small amounts if you decide to invest in cryptocurrency.
Disclaimer: Please note that the contents of this article are not financial or investing advice. The information provided in this article is the author’s opinion only and should not be considered as offering trading or investing recommendations. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information. The cryptocurrency market suffers from high volatility and occasional arbitrary movements. Any investor, trader, or regular crypto users should research multiple viewpoints and be familiar with all local regulations before committing to an investment.
The post Best Long-Term Crypto Investment for 2025–2026 appeared first on Cryptocurrency News & Trading Tips – Crypto Blog by Changelly.
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