10 Altcoins With Potential: What They Do and Why They Could Matter
Your guide to the crypto markets and what’s ahead. Prices are rough snapshots from 14 November and move constantly.
First, the market reality
This is not a comfortable week to be writing about altcoins.
Bitcoin is around $67,000–68,000, about 47% below its October 2025 high of roughly $126,200. Fear & Greed Index: 13 (Extreme Fear), down from 20 the day before. Total market cap is about $2.3–2.4 trillion, down about 3% in a day. Markets price an 89% chance of a Fed rate hike in December. October producer inflation hit 6.5%, its highest since November 2022. Compared with last week’s edition (my own calculation): Bitcoin is about 11% lower, Ethereum about 15%, XRP about 17%, and Solana about 17%. Altcoins have fallen more than Bitcoin.
“Potential” means a reason the coin could matter later. It does not mean the price will rise. The picks below are my selection for education, not a ranking by size or returns, and not recommendations. I looked for real use, institutional adoption and regulated access.
The 10
Ethereum (ETH) – ~$1,900 What it is: The largest smart contract platform. Most DeFi, stablecoins and tokenised assets run on it. Why it has potential: Wall Street is tokenising assets, and Ethereum is the main place it’s happening. US spot ETFs give institutions access. Watch out: Its price trend is still down, especially against Bitcoin.
XRP – ~$1.00 What it is: A coin built for fast, cheap cross-border payments on the XRP Ledger. Why it has potential: Ripple received final US approval for a national trust bank on 26 October. It will oversee the reserves behind its RLUSD stablecoin (about $2.5B) and offer custody to enterprises. BNY has also added XRP to its custody platform. Watch out: The approval covers RLUSD, not XRP itself, and the price hasn’t responded. It doesn’t allow deposit-taking or lending.
Solana (SOL) – ~$75 What it is: A fast, low-cost blockchain for trading, payments and apps. Why it has potential: Solana ETFs held about $904M in assets as of July. This week the Solana Foundation launched an open-source privacy toolkit (Solana Confidential Compute, in devnet beta), aimed at institutional use. Watch out: It’s down roughly 16% over seven days.
BNB – ~$618 What it is: The token used for fees on BNB Chain and across Binance’s products. Why it has potential: It sits at the centre of the largest exchange ecosystem, with revenue from that activity. Watch out: It’s tied to Binance, which suffered a $6.3B hack in October.
Chainlink (LINK) – ~$11 (4 Nov) What it is: The data network that feeds prices and real-world information to blockchains, and moves assets between them. Why it has potential: If tokenisation grows, it needs reliable data. Chainlink launched a 24/7 pricing service for tokenised real-world assets, and Aave has adopted it for tokenised stock collateral. Watch out: Institutional pilots haven’t yet become strong token demand.
Hyperliquid (HYPE) – ~$72 What it is: A decentralised exchange focused on perpetual futures trading. Why it has potential: It’s a revenue-generating protocol, and analysts say most fees go to HYPE buybacks. ETFs have drawn about $350M in inflows (as of July), and ICE has said it plans a regulated US market built on its technology. Watch out: CME and ICE have pushed US regulators to rein it in, over manipulation and insider-trading concerns. It’s down about 9% on the week.
Aave (AAVE) – ~$131 (4 Nov) What it is: A major lending protocol where you can lend or borrow crypto without a bank. Why it has potential: Its Horizon platform handles tokenised assets, which links DeFi to traditional finance. Watch out: It was still trading below its key moving averages in early November.
Avalanche (AVAX) – ~$8.86 (9 Nov) What it is: A blockchain that lets institutions run customised networks. Why it has potential: On 9 November the NYSE chose Avalanche to record and settle trades on a planned 24/7 platform for tokenised stocks, which could launch before the end of 2026 if regulators approve. AVAX jumped as much as 10% on the news. There are also US AVAX ETFs. Watch out: The launch depends on approval. Total value locked is only about $633M.
Sui (SUI) – ~$0.92 (4 Nov) What it is: A fast blockchain aimed at payments, DeFi and AI agents. Why it has potential: A spot SUI ETF with staking launched in February. Sui’s own blog says stablecoin transfers have exceeded $100B a month for five months running (self-reported). Watch out: Analysts flagged it as trading below resistance in early November.
Ondo (ONDO) What it is: Tokenises US Treasuries and similar assets (the products are OUSG and USDY). Why it has potential: The products are widely used (about $3.6B in value locked, per May commentary). A vote on giving token holders a share of revenue is expected in the second half of 2026. Watch out: Today ONDO is mainly a governance token, and holders get no revenue share. Useful product, token still being decided.
What these have in common
Most of this list leans on tokenisation (real-world assets going on-chain), institutional access (ETFs, trust banks, exchange platforms) or real revenue. That’s a better filter than hype. But it doesn’t protect you from a sell-off like this one.
What a sensible investor does now Know that altcoins fall harder than Bitcoin in a downturn, and can take longer to recover. Avoid leverage. Over $1 billion was liquidated in a single day this week, according to multiple reports. Size positions so a 50–70% fall wouldn’t hurt. Beware of “potential” lists, including this one. Check each project yourself. Keep long-term holdings off exchanges. What to watch The Fed’s December decision and the next inflation data (check the date) NYSE’s tokenised stock platform and its regulatory approval Ondo’s fee-switch vote ETF flows for Bitcoin, Ethereum and the altcoin funds
Chat to the Orange Brick Road team: https://calendly.com/brandon-orangebrickroad/15min-call
General information only. Not financial, investment or tax advice, and it doesn’t consider your objectives, financial situation or needs. Orange Brick Road does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL). Crypto is highly volatile and you can lose all your money. Do your own research and speak to a licensed adviser before making decisions.
Sources:
CoinCodex: Daily Market Update, 14 Nov CoinGabbar: Crypto News, 14 Nov The Block: Ripple wins final OCC approval Cointelegraph: NYSE picks Avalanche Cointelegraph: ICE and CME press regulators on Hyperliquid The Block: Solana and Hyperliquid ETFs crypto.news: SUI, AAVE and LINK buy signals CryptoTicker: Best crypto to buy now Live Bitcoin News: Ondo token and fee switch Sui: Canary SUI ETF CoinGecko: Solana, XRP
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General information only. Orange Brick Road Pty Ltd (ABN 92 655 540 480) does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence and nothing here is financial product advice.