As Bitcoin Matures, Altcoins Face a Reckoning. Here's Which Ones Have a Real Use.
Among the biggest and most established altcoins, from XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) on down, Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) and Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) are the incumbents that show a real use case and a real investment thesis that doesn't depend on the next buyer being willing to buy at a higher price than the seller paid. Other well-known altcoins like Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) , Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) , and Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB) still have something to prove, and they might never prove it . CoinGecko research from early 2026 indicates that 53% of the tokens it tracked from mid-2021 through 2025 had already failed. Given that, here's how each altcoin's thesis holds up, with Bitcoin as the benchmark. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading