Settlement layers, DeFi protocols, US dollars on chain, and the rails of tomorrow’s finance.
The term “altcoin”, used to define digital assets different from Bitcoin, covers everything from mission-critical financial infrastructure to memecoins inspired by internet jokes. For advisors, the distinction matters enormously. The serious end of the altcoin spectrum consists of blockchain networks and decentralized applications that process real economic activity, generate fee revenue, and are increasingly integrated with traditional financial institutions.
More than 50% of the nearly seven million tokens listed on CoinGecko since 2021 have disappeared. The survivors — the networks and protocols that continue to grow — are the ones building infrastructure that the financial industry is actively adopting.
Settlement layers: the blockchain platforms
Ethereum is the dominant settlement layer for decentralized finance and tokenized assets. It hosts BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, Franklin Templeton’s OnChain US Government Money Fund, and the majority of stablecoin activity. Users have deposited over $168 billion into DeFi applications built on Ethereum and its ecosystem.
Solana offers a different value proposition: raw speed at minimal cost. Its architecture processes thousands of transactions per second for fractions of a cent, making it competitive for payments, high-frequency trading applications, and consumer-facing products. Solana’s throughput positions it as a complement to Ethereum rather than a competitor — optimised for different use cases.
BNB Chain, backed by the Binance ecosystem, prioritizes accessibility and low transaction costs. Its validator set is smaller and more centralised than Ethereum’s, but this design choice enables faster finality and lower fees — trade-offs that make sense for its target market.
US dollars on chain: the stablecoin engine
The most tangible product running on these settlement layers is the stablecoin — a digital dollar, redeemable one-to-one, that lives on blockchain rails. Stablecoin supply surpassed $300 billion in 2025, up nearly 50% from the start of the year, while annual transaction volumes hit $33 trillion according to Artemis Analytics — a 72% year-on-year increase that now dwarfs the combined throughput of Visa and Mastercard.
The demand is structural, not speculative. In emerging markets, stablecoins offer direct access to the dollar — a hedge against local currency depreciation and a cheaper route for remittances. In DeFi, they serve as the base collateral for lending, borrowing, and trading. For institutions, they are becoming a preferred settlement asset: faster and cheaper than legacy rails, operational around the clock, and now backed by a federal regulatory framework following the passage of the GENIUS Act in July 2025 — the first comprehensive US legislation on digital assets.
The issuer landscape is broadening fast. Tether’s USDT ($187 billion) and Circle’s USDC ($75 billion) still dominate, but PayPal’s PYUSD grew over 600% in 2025 to $3.6 billion, and new entrants — including bank-backed and fintech-backed issuers — are entering under the GENIUS Act’s licensing framework. Ethereum processes the majority of stablecoin value, but Solana and BNB Chain are capturing growing share, particularly for payments and consumer-facing applications. The settlement layers described above are, in other words, the rails on which the digital dollar already runs.
Why this matters for client portfolios
An exchange-traded fund like CoinShares Altcoins ETF (DIME) reflects the emergence of this new paradigm by providing an exposure to the economic activity generated by these networks, not just speculative price appreciation.
For advisors seeking to differentiate infrastructure tokens from speculative ones, the criteria are straightforward: transaction volume, fee revenue, user growth, institutional adoption, and developer activity. The altcoins that score well on these metrics are the ones worth owning.
For more news, information, and strategy, visit the CoinShares Crypto ETF Hub.