Calvin Tintle, Senior Manager of National Accounts and Distribution for CoinShares, joined Keith Black, Managing Director of RIA Channel, to discuss investing in blockchains beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Tintle notes that 2025 was an important year for the crypto asset class, as investors increased allocations beyond Bitcoin amid the launch of single-token altcoin ETFs such as Solana, Litecoin, and XRP, as well as multi-asset ETFs. The move by large banks and asset managers into areas such as decentralized finance and tokenization will bring a renewed focus on the utility of blockchains in 2026. Bitcoin has not only proved that digital money can exist but has also demonstrated sustained real-world adoption.
Layer 1 blockchains are the foundational infrastructure on which most crypto assets and services are built. Tintle states that these innovations will revolutionize payment networks, monetary systems, and financial markets. One application is tokenization, in which money market funds, stocks, and stablecoins can be issued, traded, and custodied on a blockchain-secured ledger. Lending, borrowing, and derivative products are widely traded on applications built on layer 1 blockchains. The growth in tokenization and decentralized finance is likely to drive greater use of layer 1 blockchain infrastructure platforms.
Investors can access single-token ETFs, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, or cap-weighted baskets of tokens that allocate the majority of their weight to Bitcoin and Ethereum. The CoinShares Altcoins ETF (DIME) invests in ten ETPs tracking layer 1 blockchains on an equally-weighted basis. Investing on an equally-weighted basis reduces concentration risk, which is beneficial when it is hard to tell today which layer 1 platforms will be the long-term winners.
Over the next five years, Tintle sees the crypto market moving away from retail-driven speculation and toward institutional-driven professional financial markets. Layer 1 blockchains are likely to be integrated into the financial infrastructure rather than remaining as stand-alone ecosystems. Altcoins can be growth investments alongside technology stocks rather than as an alternative investment allocation.
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