Market sentiment is quite chilly; why not brew a pot of old wine and listen to some tales from the past?
Written by: On-Chain Revelation
In the chaotic world of cryptocurrency, there are always legends about old-school altcoins.
They are like forgotten old heroes in the corners of the world—quietly drinking, not competing for fame, but once they take action, it’s a stunning rise.
In this issue, we present a "Historical Review of Old-School Altcoins":
Why were they popular back then?
Are they still alive today?
Why haven’t they died?
Is there still a chance for a surge in the future?
Market sentiment is quite chilly; why not brew a pot of old wine and listen to some tales from the past?
If you are someone who has experienced multiple cycles in this world and have bought more than half of the coins mentioned in this article—remember to share this article with friends who are new to the space, reminding them to dress warmly.
It really is cold at the top. But old-timers understand:
No matter how long the winter lasts, it cannot stop the return of spring.
Chapter One: The Payment Giants
1. XRP: The Veteran with the Best Legal Skills in the Blockchain World
Background
Born in 2012, older than Ethereum. Created by Jed McCaleb (an early Bitcoin OG) and the Ripple Labs team.
The intention was very clear:
Not to create a "coin for the crypto world," but to build a "cross-border settlement network for banks." The ambition was to replace SWIFT, reducing the traditional cross-border remittance time from days to seconds.
Thus, it quickly secured partnerships with banks, financial institutions, and large payment companies, and in 2017-2018, it surged to the top 3 in global market capitalization, second only to BTC and ETH. Indeed, XRP was genuinely playing alongside bankers back then.
However, unexpectedly, in 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) came down hard: you are a security, and I will penalize you.
Ripple: ?
XRP: ??
Investors: ????
After years of back and forth, XRP has now become the most legally savvy coin in the entire crypto space. It has strength, technology, and bank partnerships, only lacking a favorable mood and regulatory easing. The lawsuit between Ripple and the SEC was announced to conclude in March 2025, officially closing on August 7, confirming that XRP is not a security in the secondary market, with the fine ultimately adjusted to Ripple paying $50 million (a refund of $75 million from the original $125 million).
Technology and Features
Uses the Ripple Protocol Consensus Algorithm (RPCA)
Transaction speed is impressively fast: 3-5 seconds
Low fees + no mining + primarily aimed at financial institutions and banks
Future Surge Points
Wave of XRP ETF approvals
Adoption of global bank cross-border payments
Explosion of the RLUSD stablecoin ecosystem
XRP is a typical project that can "take off again once regulations ease." After the lawsuit, ETF approval, and bank collaborations—under these three axes, XRP could transform from a "suppressed giant" to a "liberated beast."
If one day global financial institutions suddenly want to "accelerate cross-border settlements," XRP is likely to turn the page again.
2. LTC: The "Silver Brother" in the Bitcoin Family That Doesn't Cause Trouble
Background
Bitcoin too expensive and slow? Then use the lightweight version—LTC (Litecoin).
Created by former Google engineer Charlie Lee in 2011, as a lighter version of Bitcoin.
LTC is a native fork of BTC, designed to make payments faster and transactions cheaper. After its release, it was seen as Bitcoin's silver (since BTC = Gold), and it was listed on all major exchanges early on. In every bull market, LTC would suddenly remind everyone, "I’m still here."
The biggest controversy is the founder selling at the peak: yes, founder Charlie Lee sold all his LTC at the peak of the 2017 bull market. The reason was: "to avoid conflicts of interest."
Investors: ???
Market: ????
Coin price: ??????
Since then, LTC has entered a long period of "low-profile operation." The latest news is that in 2025, Canary Capital announced the launch of the Canary Litecoin ETF (Nasdaq: LTCC), the first spot Litecoin ETF approved for trading by the SEC. Additionally, LitVM launched the first zero-knowledge Layer-2 network, built using Polygon CDK, supporting EVM-compatible smart contracts and cross-chain interoperability with Bitcoin, Cardano, and Dogecoin.
Technology and Features
Consensus mechanism is Scrypt PoW
Block time is 1/4 of Bitcoin's (2.5 minutes)
Focuses on stability, speed, and small payments
Future Surge Points
Continued focus on payment and privacy narratives
As a "stable old coin type" driven by funds when the BTC ecosystem rebounds
Market sentiment driving forces
LTC belongs to the type of "old soldiers never die, they just wait for the wind to come." It won't surge 10 times like new public chains, but it also won't go to zero like a worthless coin.
Chapter Two: The Noble Lineage of Smart Contracts—"Also Aiming to Challenge Senior Brother Ethereum…"
3. ADA: The Blockchain Prodigy from Academia
Background
Cardano (ADA) was founded by Charles Hoskinson, one of the co-founders of Ethereum, in 2015 and officially launched in 2017.
The ambition is very clear:
Not to rush to market, but to create the "most rigorous and scientific" blockchain; every upgrade must go through: paper → review → peer review → formal verification; this has given ADA the aura of being "the most rigorous system in blockchain" early on.
With the founder being an early team member of Ethereum, ADA's starting point carries the label of "noble lineage," attracting a large number of academics and institutional investors. The latest news is that in its quarterly report, it announced a partnership with PUC-Rio in Brazil to establish Ada Labs, focusing on blockchain economics, DeFi, and renewable energy solutions.
The biggest controversy:
The market's patience for "writing papers" is limited. The ecosystem's dApps have long been weak, leading investors to jokingly say: "The strongest part is the roadmap, not the ecosystem."
Technology and Features
Uses the Ouroboros PoS consensus mechanism (the first peer-reviewed PoS algorithm)
Layered architecture: Settlement Layer (CSL) + Computation Layer (CCL), separating functions to enhance flexibility
Plutus smart contract language: based on Haskell, supports formal verification
Focuses on security + scalability + sustainability
Future Surge Points
On-chain governance truly taking root
Major applications (finance / gaming / social) launching
Adoption of its underlying technology by African countries (projects already in progress)
ADA's explosive logic resembles a "slow-burning revival." The good news is that the ecosystem has indeed been slowly growing over the past two years.
However, challenging Ethereum's position remains as difficult as "becoming an academician right after graduating with a PhD."
4. DOT: The Elegant Architect of Cross-Chain Concepts
Background
Polkadot (DOT) was founded by Gavin Wood, former CTO of Ethereum and founder of Parity Technologies, in 2016, with the mainnet officially launched on May 26, 2020. It has parachains, shared security, and slot auctions… its designed cross-chain model is almost the most complete in the industry, directly competing with Cosmos, becoming one of the "cross-chain duos."
In the latest episode of PolkaWorld's English livestream, the official announced that Polkadot has been included in the "Strategic Enterprise" project by the Hong Kong government (managed by the OASES program under the Hong Kong Financial Secretary), becoming one of the few blockchain projects to receive such official recognition. The livestream also mentioned institutional investments entering the ecosystem, such as HIC (Harbor Industrial Capital) investing in Polkadot ecosystem projects.
Why hasn’t it achieved legendary status?
The architecture is beautiful but complex. High development difficulty, significant costs for building new chains, and slower-than-expected ecosystem expansion.
Technology and Features
Relay chain + parachain architecture: the relay chain is responsible for security, while parachains handle execution
Shared security mechanism: all parachains share the security of the relay chain, eliminating the need for separate validator maintenance
XCM cross-chain messaging protocol: supports seamless communication between chains
Slot auction mechanism: projects bid for parachain positions by locking DOT
Future Surge Points
Real explosion in cross-chain demand
More parachains launching
Emergence of star applications in the ecosystem
DOT belongs to the "infrastructure-level value" category; it won't disappear, and once the cross-chain narrative returns, it still has the potential to take off.
5. NEAR: High-Performance Sharded Chain, King of Developer Experience
Background
NEAR Protocol was founded by former Google engineers Illia Polosukhin and Alexander Skidanov in 2018, with the mainnet launched in April 2020. The intention is very clear: to create "the high-performance public chain most loved by developers," and various builders generally describe it as "comfortable," which is a rare quality in the public chain space.
Why hasn’t it dominated the market? Because every chain now claims to be fast, cheap, and user-friendly. The competition is too fierce, and NEAR's advantages have been diminished. It remains strong, just not as flashy. The latest news is that OceanPal has partnered with the NEAR Foundation to announce a $120 million PIPE investment, launching SovereignAI, which uses NEAR to build a blockchain-native confidential AI cloud infrastructure, combined with NVIDIA technology, supporting proxy business.
Nightshade sharding technology: dynamic sharding, supports infinite scalability
Rainbow Bridge: seamless cross-chain with Ethereum
Human-readable account names: no need to remember a long string of addresses, directly use account names like alice.near
Developer-friendly: supports Rust, AssemblyScript, and has a complete toolchain
Future Surge Points
Large social/AI applications landing
Strong ecosystem user growth
Deep integration with popular narratives (AI/Web3 games)
NEAR belongs to the "low-profile powerhouse" category; once the AI + Web3 narrative truly explodes, it will be in the first tier.
6. ICP: The Most Ambitious Public Chain Dreaming of "Rebuilding the Internet on the Chain"
Background
Internet Computer (ICP) was founded by the Swiss DFINITY Foundation, with founder Dominic Williams being an expert in distributed systems. The project started in 2016 and officially launched its mainnet in May 2021.
ICP's dream is incredibly ambitious: it aims not to create just a chain, but a blockchain-based alternative for the entire internet.
This means enabling everyone to use on-chain versions of YouTube, TikTok, and cloud services. The vision is enormous, even somewhat sci-fi—directly targeting AWS and Google Cloud, intending to move the entire Web 2.0 onto the chain.
The biggest drawback: the token unlock structure at launch was unfriendly, causing the price to plummet from hundreds of dollars to single digits at "reverse light speed."
Technology and Features
Chain Key technology: allows smart contracts to interact directly with external systems without the need for oracles
Container (Canister) architecture: similar to smart contracts but more powerful
Network Nervous System (NNS): fully on-chain governance
Infinite scalability: supports large-scale dApps running directly on the chain
Future Surge Points
Emergence of large on-chain applications
Trend of migrating internet services
New cross-chain capabilities (progress already made)
If one day it really launches an "on-chain Instagram," it could laugh its way back into the top ten. ICP belongs to the type of "dreams are too big, but the technology is indeed impressive."
7. ATOM: The Father of Cross-Chain Ecosystems, but the Most "Laid-Back" Itself
Background
Cosmos (ATOM) was founded by Jae Kwon and Ethan Buchman in 2016, with the mainnet launching in 2019.
Why it was so popular back then: because the Cosmos architecture (IBC + SDK) allowed countless projects to easily create their own public chains.
Those chains that are strong today: Osmosis, dYdX (new version), Celestia ecosystem… all have the shadow of Cosmos. What it provides is not just a public chain, but "a complete toolbox for building chains."
The biggest problem: ATOM's own value capture is weak.
The entire Cosmos ecosystem is strong, but ATOM itself often lags behind other sub-chains. Some jokingly refer to it as: "the father of ecosystems, but the poorest."
As of 2025, the situation is that staking has surged, with stable annual interest rates: according to institutional analysis reports, despite market fluctuations, ATOM staking has increased by 15.7%, reaching a historical high of 274.04 million ATOM. The annual staking interest rate for Cosmos remains stable at 16.34%, driven by proposal #996, which redirected 98% of inflation to stakers.
Technology and Features
IBC protocol: cross-chain communication standard, which has become an industry benchmark
Cosmos SDK: allows developers to quickly build their own blockchains
Tendermint consensus: high-performance BFT consensus mechanism
Application chain model: each application can have its own chain
Future Surge Points
Upgrade of the ATOM economic model (already in progress for 2025)
Larger-scale adoption of IBC
Ecosystem chain explosion
ATOM belongs to the type of "value may be delayed but will not be absent"—the stronger the ecosystem, the more ATOM will eventually catch up. ATOM belongs to the "value may be delayed but will not be absent" type.
Chapter Three: The Three Giants of Decentralized Finance—"The Best Money-Makers on the Chain"
8. AAVE: The On-Chain Bank, Lightning Loan Magician
Background
Aave was founded by Finnish entrepreneur Stani Kulechov in 2017 (originally named ETHLend) and officially rebranded to Aave in 2020 with the launch of version 1. It was the first project to bring "flash loans" into the public eye—an on-chain magic that allows borrowing without collateral, with automatic repayment after the operation.
Does it sound like a "money-making tool"? Yes, but it is actually:
An arbitrage tool
A liquidation tool
The core infrastructure of DeFi Lego
At the same time, it is the leader in DeFi lending, with the largest asset scale and the highest recognized security. During the DeFi summer (2020-2021), Aave directly became synonymous with "on-chain bank."
Technology and Features
Flash Loans: uncollateralized borrowing that must be completed within a single transaction
Multi-chain deployment: ETH, Polygon, Avalanche, Base, Arbitrum, etc.
GHO stablecoin: Aave's native over-collateralized stablecoin
Isolated market model: introduced in V3 to reduce risk contagion
Future Surge Points
Recovery of the DeFi market
Expansion of the multi-chain lending market
New asset types launched (RWA real-world assets)
Aave is one of the most stable "cash flow protocols" in the entire crypto market— as long as DeFi doesn't die, Aave is a money printer.
9. UNI: The Grandmaster of AMM, the Eternal King of DEX
Background
Uniswap was founded by Hayden Adams in 2018, with version 1 launching on the Ethereum mainnet in November 2018. It defined the AMM (Automated Market Maker) model, allowing anyone to instantly create trading pairs on-chain.
Before Uniswap, on-chain trading required order books and centralized matching. The emergence of Uniswap directly rewrote the rules:
No permission required
Anyone can provide liquidity
Any token can be listed
The emergence of Uniswap was the starting point for the entire DeFi; without Uniswap, there would be no DeFi summer. On January 31, 2025, Uniswap officially announced the launch of Uniswap v4. This is a significant upgrade, referred to as "the new era of DeFi." V4 introduces stronger customizability and lower costs. The new architecture introduces "hooks" contracts, allowing developers to customize pools, fees, LP behaviors, etc., greatly enhancing the protocol's flexibility.
Technology and Features
AMM model: x * y = k constant product formula, pioneering a new era for DEX
No permission required: anyone can create trading pairs
V3 concentrated liquidity: allows LPs to provide liquidity within specific price ranges, improving capital efficiency
V4 hooks: launching in 2025, allowing developers to customize AMM logic
The "hard flaw" of the UNI token:
UNI is primarily a governance token, with no protocol dividends, so UNI's price fluctuations are unrelated to protocol revenue. This often makes it seem "lackluster."
Future Surge Points
Reform of the protocol revenue model
Opening of the regulatory environment
DEX trading volume hitting historical highs
If one day UNI starts buybacks/dividends
Then it would explode immensely.
10. MKR: The Guardian of the Stablecoin DAI
Background
MakerDAO (now announced to be rebranded as Sky Protocol) was founded by Rune Christensen in 2014, officially launching the DAI stablecoin and MKR governance token in December 2017.
DAI is the largest decentralized stablecoin on-chain, and MKR is the token responsible for governance and risk control. MakerDAO was at its peak during the DeFi summer of 2020-2021, serving as the cornerstone of the entire DeFi ecosystem—almost all DeFi protocols require DAI as the stablecoin layer.
The biggest highlight: it is a truly decentralized stablecoin, unlike USDT/USDC, which are backed by centralized institutions.
Technology and Features
Over-collateralized stablecoin: users collateralize ETH and other assets to generate DAI
MKR governance: holders vote to determine collateral rates, stability fees, and other key parameters
RWA (real-world assets): MakerDAO was one of the first protocols to bring real assets like government bonds onto the chain
Sky rebranding: renamed to Sky in 2024, MKR will convert to SKY
Current issues:
MakerDAO's risk structure is complex, even needing to manage real assets like government bonds. The rising complexity has led to greater volatility for MKR.
Future Surge Points
RWA (real assets) igniting on-chain finance
Large-scale demand for stablecoins rising
MakerDAO organizational structure reform
As long as the demand for stablecoins remains, MKR will be a super core asset. It is the "central bank" of DeFi, with an unshakable position.
Chapter Four: The Three Meme Gods—"Logic? Nonexistent."
11. DOGE: The King of Dog Coins, Elon Musk's Favorite Toy
Background
Dogecoin was created by Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer in December 2013, originally to satirize the speculative frenzy surrounding cryptocurrencies.
Its story is simple and straightforward:
There’s a dog 🐕
There’s a community 💪
There’s Elon Musk 🚶
That’s enough.
DOGE relies entirely on internet culture + community power + Musk's superpowers. From a joke to a top ten cryptocurrency by market cap, DOGE's existence is itself the greatest satire on "value investing"—but it does have value because consensus is value. And in November 2024, Donald Trump announced the creation of a new government agency called the "Department of Government Efficiency" (abbreviated as DOGE), to be led by Elon Musk. This political-brand combination is not just a gimmick but reinforces DOGE's status as a "meme coin" and a symbol of power.
Technology and Features
Based on Litecoin code, using the Scrypt algorithm
Unlimited supply: 5 billion new coins added each year (inflation design)
Fast transaction speed, low fees
Focused on micro-payments and tipping culture
Future Surge Points
A tweet from Musk, or even just a photo of a dog… DOGE will rise.
The meme coin logic still holds: internet culture + consensus = value
Technological upgrades provide long-term potential: if ZKP, Libdogecoin, etc., are implemented, DOGE may combine community enthusiasm with on-chain capabilities, becoming not just a joke but also infrastructure.
12. SHIB: From Meme to "Hardworking Player"
Background
Shiba Inu (SHIB) was created by an anonymous founder, Ryoshi, in August 2020, claiming to be the "Dogecoin killer." It is considered "the brother of DOGE," but with a more active community. More importantly—unlike traditional meme coins that just fool around, it attempts to create:
ShibaSwap (DEX)
Metaverse (Shib The Metaverse)
NFTs
Games
Technology and Features
Based on Ethereum ERC-20
Shibarium: its own Layer-2 solution
Three-token ecosystem: SHIB (main token), LEASH (liquidity), BONE (governance)
Token burning mechanism: continuously reduces supply to combat inflation
Future Surge Points
Real ecosystem implementation (Shibarium, Metaverse)
Another wave of meme popularity
SHIB belongs to the hybrid category of "wanting meme traffic while also having actual products"—if the Shibarium ecosystem really takes off, it will be more than just a meme.
13. PEPE / FLOKI: Emotion + Meme = Market Cap
Background
PEPE: Launched in April 2023, based on the classic internet frog meme, Pepe the Frog. This coin is essentially a pure MEME revolutionary product, similar to Dogecoin and Shiba Inu. The project does not claim to have a long-term business roadmap or technical support from an official team, instead emphasizing "no taxes, no pre-sales, no team token distribution." After launching on Binance, it officially became one of the "three major mainstream MEME coins" (DOGE, SHIB, PEPE).
FLOKI: In June 2021, Elon Musk tweeted that "I will name my Shiba Inu Floki," and shortly after, the Floki Inu token appeared and quickly went viral; like DOGE and SHIB, it initially relied on the "Musk effect" and meme dissemination. FLOKI is one of the few projects in the meme space that actively develops real application ecosystems.
The original intention of these two coins is simple:
Community
Emotion
Topic relevance
High-frequency trading
PEPE is a typical representative of culture + emotion; FLOKI has begun to combine community culture + practical applications + compliance investment value.
Technology and Features
PEPE:
Pure meme, no practicality
Relies on social media for dissemination
High volatility, high speculation
FLOKI:
(1) Valhalla Metaverse Game
An on-chain Play-to-Earn game, with FLOKI as the in-game currency.
(2) FlokiFi DeFi Ecosystem
FlokiFi Locker: a crypto asset locking protocol, claimed by the team to be used by multi-chain projects (locking TVL in the millions of dollars).
Future plans for FlokiFi Bank, lending, and other services.
(3) Educational platform "Floki University"
A learning platform for Web3 users, offering courses from beginner to advanced levels.
Future Surge Points
Just two words:
Emotion. Meme resurgence.
If you can accept that "value comes from culture and emotion," then the PEPE coin is your playground.
If you insist that "Meme investments should also consider fundamentals," then FLOKI is worth paying attention to, as it begins to develop practical value 😂
Chapter Five: Storage Heavyweights—"We may not be the hottest, but we are the most essential"
14. FIL: The Millennium Undertaking of Decentralized Storage
Background
Filecoin was proposed by Protocol Labs founder Juan Benet in 2014, raising $257 million through an ICO in 2017 (the largest ICO in history at the time), and officially launched its mainnet in October 2020. That year, Filecoin was the first project to truly turn "decentralized storage" into an industry.
This project is not about storytelling; it really allows people to store files:
Competing with centralized storage like AWS S3 and Google Cloud
Turning idle hard drives around the world into a distributed cloud storage network
From technology to business model, it embodies long-termism
Filecoin's vision is to rebuild the storage layer of the internet—allowing data to be stored on-chain permanently, securely, and in a decentralized manner.
The biggest highlight:
It is the incentive layer for IPFS (InterPlanetary File System), which is the underlying protocol for Web3 storage, and Filecoin provides economic incentives for this protocol.
Why is the price so volatile? Because its economic model and storage mining mechanism are complex, with miners selling large amounts of coins putting pressure on the price—miners need to stake FIL to mine, but after mining, they need to sell coins to realize value, creating selling pressure.
Technology and Features
Proof of Spacetime: proves that data has indeed been stored for a period of time
Proof of Replication: proves that data has been genuinely replicated to physical storage
FVM (Filecoin Virtual Machine): supports smart contracts, making Filecoin more than just storage
Storage + Retrieval Market: dual market mechanism that incentivizes miners to provide services.
Future Surge Points
Large-scale adoption of decentralized storage in Web3
Growing demand for AI data (training data, model storage)
Global trend towards decentralized storage markets
FIL is an infrastructure type; as long as crypto doesn't disappear, it will always have a place. Just like building roads—it’s not sexy, but someone has to do it.
Investor: When will FIL rise? FIL: Oh, that will have to wait until Web3 truly explodes. Market: So when will that be… FIL: I said, a millennium undertaking.
Chapter Six: The Invisible Champions of On-Chain Infrastructure
15. LINK: The God of Oracles
Background
Chainlink was founded by Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis in 2017, raising $32 million through an ICO in September 2017, and launched its mainnet the same year. Currently, at SmartCon 2025 (Chainlink's own developer industry conference), Chainlink officially launched the Chainlink Runtime Environment (CRE). This is an "orchestration layer" for institutions to build end-to-end smart contracts, capable of connecting external data, cross-chain, and meeting compliance and privacy needs.
The importance of Chainlink: without oracles, there is no DeFi. Without LINK, there are no oracles. Its position in the entire on-chain ecosystem is equivalent to: "the weather station of blockchain + data highway."
Why is it so important? Because blockchains are closed systems that cannot directly access external data (like ETH prices, weather, sports event results).
Oracles are the bridge between on-chain and off-chain:
DeFi protocols need price data → LINK provides
Insurance protocols need flight delay data → LINK provides
Games need random numbers → LINK provides
Technology and Features
Decentralized oracle network: multiple nodes provide data to prevent single-point tampering
CCIP (Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol): cross-chain communication protocol
Chainlink Staking: staking mechanism to enhance network security
Price Feeds: provides real-time price data for DeFi
VRF (Verifiable Random Function): verifiable random numbers for games, NFTs, etc.
Why hasn’t it surged in a long time?
Because everyone is only focused on "new narratives," but the entire industry uses LINK every day—just like you use water and electricity every day, but you don’t think about the stocks of the water and electricity companies every day.
Future Surge Points
RWA asset integration (already in the process of exploding)
Off-chain data connections exploding
Large-scale adoption of on-chain finance by institutions
LINK belongs to the type of "working quietly, surging at critical moments"—it’s not a celebrity, but it is the "water, electricity, and coal" of the entire crypto world.
Conclusion: The Hero's Ambush
So, what will the market direction be in the next episode?
Heroes do not ask about short-term gains and losses; they set the stage and lurk in the shadows, waiting for that moment when the winds rise and the waves surge.
"All human wisdom is summed up in two words; wait and hope." — Alexandre Dumas
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