Got $500? 3 Riskier Cryptocurrencies to Buy and Hold for Decades

Over the past year, numerous investors have returned to the realm of cryptocurrencies due to the allure of speculative investments becoming more enticing with reduced interest rates. Just this month, I proposed that investing $1,000 in the two leading cryptocurrencies, namely Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), could be a smart choice for a long-term investment horizon of several decades.

Today, I’ll delve into three potentially promising cryptocurrencies – Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), and XRP (XRP) – which could shine in the future. Although these digital currencies may carry slightly higher risks compared to Bitcoin or Ethereum, a more cautious investment of around $500 might be worth considering.

Solana

As an observer, I’ve noticed that Solana’s blockchain ingeniously merges the energy-efficient Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, similar to Ethereum, with its unique Proof-of-History (PoH) mechanism. This blend theoretically allows Solana to handle a whopping 65,000 transactions per second (TPS), significantly outpacing Ethereum’s theoretical maximum of 30 TPS. In reality, factors such as network congestion limit the speed, but Solana consistently achieves a daily average of over 1,400 TPS, while Ethereum averages around 19 TPS.

On the platform of a Proof-of-Stake blockchain known as Solana, developers can create a variety of decentralized applications (dApps), cryptocurrencies, and other assets by using its smart contracts. Due to its speed surpassing that of Ethereum and other PoS blockchains, it’s increasingly being chosen for the development of decentralized finance (DeFi) apps, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and other innovative projects. Major companies like Visa, Shopify, and others have incorporated Solana Pay, its peer-to-peer payment system for handling stablecoins, Solana, and other Solana-based tokens, into their digital environments as well.

Solana functions without a capped supply, making it unlike Bitcoin whose value is tied to its scarcity. Instead, Solana’s worth may increase as its ecosystem expands. As per Artemis Analytics, Solana currently caters to approximately 1.5 million daily active users (DAUs), yet VanEck foresees a potential rise in this figure to over 100 million DAUs within the next five years under an optimistic forecast. However, it’s important to approach such optimistic predictions with caution. Nonetheless, Solana still has ample potential for growth.

Cardano

I’m thrilled about Cardano, a blockchain born from the mind of Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson, that’s designed to nurture the creation of decentralized apps, similar to Solana. What sets it apart is its speed – it clocks in at around 250 transactions per second (TPS) daily, making it faster than Ethereum. To take things up a notch, Cardano is innovating with its “hydra heads,” off-chain processing solutions that help ease congestion on the main blockchain. Their goal? Achieving average speeds over 1,000 TPS!

Introducing those heads (meaning new features or updates) could boost Cardano’s reputation as a versatile platform for Decentralized Finance (DeFi), gaming, and business applications development. The introduction of its Mithril protocol, which consolidates all data across the blockchain into a compact index, promises to enhance both user and developer experience. Moreover, the recent integration of Bitcoin assets onto its own blockchain could attract more Bitcoin-backed stablecoins to its system, thereby fostering growth in its DeFi applications.

Cardano is a digital currency that tends to increase in supply (inflationary), but due to its quick pace and recent improvements, it could become an appealing destination for developers. If this happens, the value of Cardano might settle down and potentially grow over the long term as it approaches the level of established cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

XRP

XRP represents a digital currency developed by the creators of fintech firm, Ripple Labs. Prior to its debut in 2012, all 100 billion units were already mined and subsequently sold by Ripple to finance their growth. This sale attracted attention from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), leading to a lawsuit alleging that unregistered securities were being traded. The legal battle persisted until last year when a court imposed a relatively lenient penalty on Ripple and ruled that XRP was not considered an unlicensed security during individual investor sales, thus concluding the case.

The highly advantageous decision triggered a rush of bulls returning to the market. Following this surge, XRP was reinstated on prominent cryptocurrency exchanges, Grayscale reintroduced its XRP Trust as a closed-end fund (CEF), and various crypto companies submitted their proposals for XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs). However, beyond the short-term increase, XRP continues to pursue other opportunities.

The favorable ruling brought back a wave of bullish momentum. Subsequently, XRP reappeared on major cryptocurrency exchanges, Grayscale revived its XRP Trust as a closed-end fund (CEF), and multiple crypto businesses submitted applications for XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Despite this temporary growth spurt, XRP still has other endeavors in progress.

As a passionate advocate for the world of digital currencies, I’m thrilled to share the exciting advancements being made by Ripple! This innovative platform is championing the use of XRP as a bridge currency to streamline international transactions, temporarily converting both involved currencies into XRP. This not only speeds up the process but also reduces fees significantly.

Moreover, Ripple has initiated pilot projects with numerous central banks, utilizing XRP to facilitate seamless liquidity between their respective national Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Recently, they’ve even applied for a U.S. banking license, paving the way for more widespread integration of XRP in cross-border transfers.

For developers, Ripple has been enhancing its blockchain by adding support for lightweight smart contracts – primarily designed for payment purposes rather than applications. This growing ecosystem could potentially propel the value of XRP higher over the next few decades.

2025-07-20 14:45

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