Grayscale, a long-established firm in cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other exchange-traded products (ETPs), has announced the addition of six new projects to its Research Top 20 list. This move highlights the firm’s commitment to diversifying its offerings and adapting to market conditions.
Newly Added Projects
The newly included assets are Hyperliquid, Ethena, Virtuals Protocol, Jupiter, Jito, and Grass. Grayscale has indicated that these projects are characterized by high volatility, implying considerable risk for potential stakeholders.
Selection Process and Evaluation Criteria
To evaluate cryptocurrencies, Grayscale employs a range of metrics including community growth and development progress. Current focal areas consist of the impact of U.S. political decisions on crypto regulation, integration of artificial intelligence, and the expansion of the Solana 
$87 ecosystem.
Removed Projects and Reasons
Projects like TON, Near, Stacks, Maker, UMA Protocol, and Celo have been removed from the Top 20 list. While Grayscale acknowledges the inherent value of these projects, the revised list is asserted to offer a more “attractive risk-adjusted return” for the upcoming quarter.
Virtuals Protocol allows users to create and share AI-supported digital assets on the Base blockchain. After its market launch in March 2024, VIRTUAL experienced a price surge of 45.844%.
Grayscale Research conducts such evaluations to guide the rebalancing of index families. Criteria like community expansion, development milestones, fundamental metrics, price assessment, distribution ratios, and potential downsides are considered to select 20 promising blockchain projects.
Re-included projects like Optimism, Chainlink 
$9, and Helium reflect Grayscale’s belief in the narratives surrounding Ethereum 
$2,378 scaling, tokenization, and decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN).
Through these updates in the cryptocurrency market, Grayscale aims to provide a wider and more diverse selection for its clients. The list, shaped by high-potential projects, is designed to align with market dynamics.
