Grayscale has updated its 20 best cryptographic active ingredients for the third quarter of 2025, appointing Avalanche (AVAX) and Morpho as new entrants while removing optimism and Lido Dao, according to a July 26 report.
The firm has stressed that changes reflect a selection process focused on research which promotes chain traction compared to popularity or market capitalization.
After these additions, the list of the first 20 includes a mixture of established names such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Suit and Chainlink, as well as deffi protocols like Aave, Uniswap, Hyperliquid and more recent entrants like Bittensor, Ethena, Story Protocol, Aerodrome and Geodnet.

Why Avx and Morpho were added
Grayscale said that the avalanche reduced after a significant increase in activity through its ecosystem.
The investment company explained that AVALANCHE has experienced significant growth in transactions volumes, which can be linked to the integration of game titles supplied with blockchain and the use of stables.
Although the long -term sustainability of this growth remains uncertain, the company considers it as a promising signal of traction within the network.
On the other hand, Grayscale said that he added the Defi Morpho loan protocol because of its rapid growth in the past year.
According to the company, Morpho has doubled its total value to more than $ 4 billion and generated annualized costs of expenses approaching $ 100 million in the past year.
In addition, its second version of the second version aims to attract institutional players and further strengthen its position in the decentralized financial space.
Given this, Grayscale wrote:
“Research in gray levels is optimistic about the future of the chain loan activity, and Morpho seems well placed to potentially grasp a significant part of this growth (as well as the other protocols linked to loans on the list of the first 20, Aave and Maple Finance).”
XRP is absent from the Grayscale list
In particular, the revised Graycale list does not include several high -level digital assets such as XRP, Cardano, BNB and Tron.
Although these assets remain among the most important by market capitalization, Grayscale said that its list of the 20 best focuses on assets with fundamental solids, future catalysts and a sustainable network activity.
Meanwhile, these assets have experienced developments of significant ecosystems and institutional adoption this year.
For the context, XRP has experienced increased attention in recent months, partly due to Ripple’s corporate partnerships and the continuous expansion of the major XRP book.
The same can be said for Cardano, which has made progress with its roadmap on a scale and plans to integrate bitcoin into its DEFI ecosystem.
However, the two assets underwent the larger market despite the current gross feelings of industry.
Cryptoslate The data show that XRP has decreased by more than 4% since the start of the year and remains around 45% below its top of all time. At the same time, the Cardano ADA fell by more than 35% during the same period and is more than 80% below peak levels.
Thus, this lack of pricing can be one of the reasons for their continuous exclusion.