Crypto Community Debates on Top Long-Term Assets Beyond BTC and ETH: Emerging Tokens, L1 Plays, and Future Narratives

On June 22, crypto influencer @Cobie sparked an intense debate on X with a provocative question:

The post quickly went viral, generating over 2,700 replies and drawing insights from traders, builders, influencers, and VCs across the crypto space.The replies offer a unique window into what crypto’s sharpest minds consider the next big opportunities — as summarized in a curated post by TechFlow.

Jesse Pollak, Head of Protocols at Coinbase: Coinbase ($COIN)

Jesse Pollak expressed confidence in Coinbase ($COIN) as a standout investment, citing:

• Its incredibly diverse and robust product line, which has scaled to a significant user base and established a market-leading brand.

• Its position as one of the most visionary and effective on-chain teams in the space, possibly the strongest.

Ansem, Crypto Influencer: Worldcoin ($WLD)

Ansem highlighted Worldcoin ($WLD) as a hedge against OpenAI/Altman dominating the AI race and the potential risks of surveillance states. He emphasized the need for verifiable ways to distinguish humans from AI in a post-AGI world, suggesting that decentralized identity (WLD) could play a critical role if OpenAI leverages its vast personal database in the future.

Alex Svanevik, CEO of Nansen: Diversified L1 Portfolio

Alex Svanevik suggested building a diversified Layer 1 (L1) portfolio as a strategic long-term investment. Assuming investors already hold BTC, ETH, HYPE, and SOL, he recommended adding BNB, SUI, APT, TRX, and AVAX to achieve broad L1 coverage.

He advised staking all assets for an average annual yield of approximately 4.5%, emphasizing that these represent the top staked assets in the market. Alex concluded that it’s highly unlikely none of these chains will emerge as a leading blockchain in the next 3-5 years.

Vance Spencer, Partner at Framework Ventures: $SKY

Vance Spencer, a partner at Framework Ventures, highlighted $SKY as his pick. However, he noted a caveat: the token is currently not listed on any centralized exchanges (CEXs), which may impact its accessibility for some investors.

Mert, Founder of Helius Labs: Jito ($JTO), Zcash ($ZEC), and hSOL

Mert shared a mix of serious and humorous picks:

• Jito ($JTO): A straightforward choice for those confident in Solana's (SOL) longevity over the next 3-5 years, which Mert firmly believes in.

• Zcash ($ZEC): He predicts a revival in privacy coins, citing an upcoming redesign of the chain under a new labs entity. Mert also expressed being technically impressed by Zcash's advancements.

• hSOL: A lighthearted addition, Mert jokingly suggested "hSOL," claiming it’s because he’s handsome and playfully pleading for help to escape poverty.

Qw, Founder of AllianceDAO: Revenue-Producing Tokens

Qw argued that the only viable investments over a 3–5 year horizon are tokens with real or projected revenue streams, trading at reasonable valuations. He warned that most other assets are on a path to zero, adding that the era of monetary premium for non-Bitcoin tokens is largely over.

Fishy Catfish, Crypto Influencer: Chainlink ($LINK)

Fishy emphasized Chainlink’s six-year dominance in market share and security, exceeding even its 2021 peak. Chainlink uniquely serves major markets like real-world asset tokenization and stablecoins with an all-in-one platform for data, connectivity, and computation.

Ahead of competitors, Chainlink is launching TradFi-focused products such as Automated Compliance Engine and Cross-chain Identity, supported by a strong privacy suite. Its partnerships with institutions like SWIFT, JPMorgan, and UBS showcase its leadership in traditional finance adoption. Chainlink’s new architecture enables developers to build once and deploy across all chains, making its token the central hub for value distribution without conflicts from private equity.

Murad, Crypto Influencer: $SPX

Murad described $SPX as the first true “Movement Coin” seeking to disrupt the entire stock market. He compared $SPX’s potential impact on GameStop (GME) to Bitcoin’s impact on gold, and praised its passionate, early-stage community on crypto Twitter.

Unlike typical meme coins, Murad argued, $SPX has a mission-driven narrative at its core.

Awawat, APG Capital Trader: $BNB, $LEO, $AAVE, $MKR, $XMR

Awawat offered a diversified set of picks for the 3–5 year horizon:

• PAXG/XAUT (gold-backed tokens): a classic hedge

• BNB/LEO: limited upside but minimal downside

• AAVE/MKR: likely to remain core DeFi infrastructure

• XMR (Monero): a privacy-focused play He cautioned that many community responses appeared to reflect personal bags and warned that most assets would likely trend to zero in the long term.

Auri, Regular User: Starknet

@Auri_0x, a regular user, brought attention to Starknet He outlined Starknet's current advantages:

• Competes on TPS (transactions per second) with Solana as an Ethereum L2.

• Offers a top-tier user experience with unique Account Abstraction (AA) features and high chain performance.

• Trades at a relatively low valuation (1B FDV compared to Arbitrum and Optimism's 3B FDV).

Auri also highlighted three potential paths to success for Starknet:

• Becoming a generalized Layer 2 solution.

• Evolving into a Bitcoin L2, should settling on Bitcoin become possible and efficient. Auri believes this alone could revalue Starknet by multiples.

• Serving as backend infrastructure for apps on other chains.

Community Perspectives & Takeaways

Cobie’s post has become a hub for some of the most insightful and strategic investment ideas circulating in crypto today. From revenue-generating tokens and Layer 1 portfolios to emerging Layer 2 solutions and privacy plays, the community reveals a broad spectrum of long-term bets beyond BTC and ETH.

What are your picks for the next 3–5 years?