Cryptocurrencies can deliver explosive gains, but they remain heavily influenced by investor sentiment, speculation, and a changing regulatory landscape. The artificial intelligence (AI) boom, however, is evolving into a more sustainable, measurable global investment cycle. Research firm Gartner expects worldwide AI spending to grow 44% year over year to $2.5 trillion in 2026.
Against this backdrop, here are two technology stocks that appear to offer a better risk-reward proposition than cryptocurrencies in the long run. While these stocks may suffer during a potential technology industry downturn, their recovery prospects appear higher due to strong underlying fundamentals.
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Nvidia
Nvidia (NVDA 1.49%) is a critical enabler of the global AI infrastructure build-out and is not relying heavily on a sentiment-driven narrative cycle. According to Goldman Sachs, the consensus estimate for hyperscaler capital spending on AI initiatives is $527 billion in 2026, up from $400 billion in 2025.
With this spending cycle still intact, Nvidia should continue to witness robust demand for its AI-optimized chips, networking, and software solutions. Unlike cryptocurrency, where demand can surge and fade with changing regulation or risk appetite, AI capital expenditure (capex) is increasingly tied to productive workloads across enterprise and government clients.
AI demand is also shifting from less frequent training workloads to recurring inference workloads (deploying AI models in real products and workflows), making demand stickier once deployed.
NASDAQ: NVDA
Key Data Points
Management has highlighted that revenue visibility for Blackwell and next-generation Vera Rubin systems is more than $500 billion from the start of 2025 to the end of 2026. Nvidia is also well positioned to benefit from the next data center upgrade cycle. The company has designed Vera Rubin systems as rack-scale AI solutions, where entire AI server systems, including compute, networking hardware, and software, are sold as an integrated platform.
Rubin platforms are also designed to be more power-efficient and higher throughput than the Blackwell systems. Rubin systems are already seeing early success, as evidenced by Nvidia's strategic partnership with OpenAI to deploy at least 10 gigawatts of Nvidia's systems, involving millions of GPUs. The first gigawatt deployment is scheduled for the second half of 2026 on the Vera Rubin system.
In this environment, Nvidia appears to be a smarter and more resilient pick than any cryptocurrency.
ServiceNow
ServiceNow (NOW 2.03%) can be a better pick than any cryptocurrency, as its upside is primarily driven by recurring cash flows and AI monetization, rather than regulatory changes or speculation. The company's cloud-based platform seeks to digitize and automate enterprise workflows.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, the company's subscription revenue increased 19.5% on a constant-currency basis to $3.47 billion. The company exited the fourth quarter with a 98% customer renewal rate and total remaining performance obligation (RPO, a measure of contracted backlog) of $28.2 billion, up 22.5% on a constant currency basis. Hence, the company has impressive revenue visibility through 2026.
NYSE: NOW
Key Data Points
ServiceNow is also effectively monetizing its AI capabilities. The company's AI product suite, NOW Assist, surpassed $600 million in annual contract value (ACV) at the end of the fourth quarter. NOW Assist is expected to reach over $1 billion in ACV in 2026, as enterprises scale agentic AI use cases across their processes.
With its rapidly growing subscription revenue, expanding operating margin, and free cash flow, ServiceNow is a more durable pick than most of the cryptocurrencies in the long run.
