Cryptocurrencies have become a hot investment that is gaining mainstream adoption. Markets for digital currencies such as Bitcoin (BTC -1.66%) were virtually unheard of in 2012, but they have since grown into a massive industry.
The cryptocurrency sector reached a market value of $3 trillion in the fall of 2021 and has continued to rise to a total market cap of roughly $3.9 trillion. The sudden surge in value and rapid evolution created immense wealth for early crypto investors.
Everyone wants to know which token will become the next Bitcoin or Ethereum (ETH -3.76%). With thousands of active cryptocurrencies on the market, investing in technologies linking the digital blockchain space with society could be even more lucrative. And there is no shortage of innovative companies and investment vehicles trying to bridge the gap between the two.
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1. Coinbase Global
Coinbase Global (COIN +2.11%), a top cryptocurrency trading exchange, made its initial public offering (IPO) in April 2021. The company is a popular platform for purchasing major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Cardano (ADA -3.61%), allowing users to trade about 250 cryptocurrencies, including many altcoins.
The Coinbase platform's success has been contingent on the increase in crypto prices, which in turn has led to millions of new users creating accounts. Coinbase earns a small transaction fee whenever someone buys or sells a cryptocurrency.
But the company aspires to be more than just a place to trade. It also sponsors a debit card that allows consumers to spend from the balance in their digital wallet, and it's launched a cloud platform for companies using and storing digital currencies.
Coinbase offers two game-changing innovations. The first is bringing the practice of asset loans -- which were previously only available to affluent investors -- to the masses. Users can pledge their Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies as collateral and receive a low-interest loan to cover expenses. Using crypto as collateral means investors don't have to sell their assets when emergencies arise, allowing their principal to continue compounding.
The second innovation is the rising adoption of Coinbase's blockchain analytics by governments and financial institutions. Because most blockchains operate on a public ledger, the company can harness and monitor the data for illicit transactions and wallet addresses.
Suppose hackers managed to break through an individual's computer and demand a ransom in the form of Bitcoin to unlock the machine. In that case, Coinbase could then match the hacker's wallet address with millions of know-your-customer (KYC) data points stored on its platform. This could help law enforcement track down the flow of funds and apprehend the cybercriminals -- building greater trust in the crypto space.
All in all, investing in Coinbase is a broad bet on the crypto market. If crypto trading and ownership gain traction in the long run, Coinbase and its shareholders will benefit from the digital currency trend.
[Cryptocurrency] is a new asset class, but like real estate, there's only so much Earth. So it's defined, and therefore this moving price of the commodity is just how much, within this finite class of a commodity, this new asset class, how much people value it or want it.
2. Block and PayPal Holdings
At the heart of every digital payment protocol is the absence of central intermediaries (which means lower costs for businesses and consumers). So, Block (XYZ +0.77%) (formerly Square) and PayPal (PYPL +0.92%) saw a meaningful business opportunity in enabling users to purchase and hold cryptocurrencies within a digital wallet.
In late 2017, Block's Cash App consumer-facing application began allowing Bitcoin trading. Bitcoin is often a huge revenue generator for Block when cryptocurrencies are on an upswing, although the trading feature is not helping the company's bottom line very much. In 2025, Block managed over $3 billion of quarterly Bitcoin revenue.
However, the company is helping to foster the use of Bitcoin among its business users (through the Block ecosystem), and it could become a top platform for crypto transactions between companies and their customers. This is especially promising for disrupting traditional international transactions in which banks often charge hefty foreign exchange fees. Cash App added support for the Bitcoin Lightning Network in April 2022, allowing customers to transfer Bitcoin much faster and without transaction fees. CEO Jack Dorsey said the feature will "increase the usability of Bitcoin, all toward an open global monetary transmission network the world can trust."
PayPal's Venmo digital wallet and peer-to-peer payments app, which unlocked crypto trading in early 2021, offer a similar mix of simple banking features and mass-market crypto-trading tools. At the launch, Venmo supported the trading of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash (BCH -0.87%), Ethereum, and Litecoin (LTC -0.76%). Other cryptos may appear over time, like the PayPal USD (PYUSD +0.01%) stablecoin that became available in 2023.
With the most users of any peer-to-peer money movement app, Venmo could become a leading cryptocurrency platform with its new feature. It serves as a solid access point for investors who wish to buy major cryptocurrencies and then use them to purchase altcoins or access decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.
4. Strategy
The company formerly known as Microstrategy has rebranded itself as Strategy (MSTR +2.27%), and its wholehearted focus on cryptocurrency operations is Wall Street's worst-kept secret.
The company started converting its cash reserves into Bitcoin in the summer of 2020, and its enterprise software operations soon started to look irrelevant.
In February 2025, the company held 478,740 Bitcoins on its balance sheet at a spot-price value of $46.6 billion. Strategy also continues to buy more Bitcoin, with an official plan to raise $21 billion in loans and another $21 billion in stock sales to support more crypto acquisitions from 2024 to 2027.
It's a bold strategy with massive potential upside if Bitcoin's value keeps rising in the long run. It's also a risky one, as it will expose you to huge risks if the Bitcoin story goes off the rails for some reason.
Strategy is best managed as a small and speculative investment, large enough to make a potential difference but small enough that you won't lose much sleep if it goes to zero. It's an all-or-nothing approach to Bitcoin's fundamental value, amplified with traditional business tools such as loans and opportunistic stock sales.
5. Robinhood Markets
Robinhood Markets (HOOD +4.45%) is a popular discount brokerage app that allows users to buy stocks, options, rare metals, and now, cryptocurrencies. Investors can buy and sell more than a dozen cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin (DOGE -4.30%), commission-free on the platform, 24/7. The company already holds billions of dollars in crypto assets under custody, with crypto trading revenue now comprising a significant portion of overall sales.
Robinhood can combine its commission-free trading model with scaling the number of cryptocurrencies on the platform, gaining a massive competitive advantage over both traditional and decentralized exchanges. The company also could offer the same crypto analytics services as Coinbase to further promote trust in the sector and boost its adoption.
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