While everyone’s watching Bitcoin, one expert says there are 4 other assets quietly leading this entire bull market. Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, said his long-standing “Mount Rushmore” of crypto assets remains unchanged: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Chainlink. He described this basket as essential exposure for anyone playing crypto’s two biggest macro themes: currency debasement and tokenization. “It’s hard to argue with those four assets not being part of your exposure,” he said.
Challengers Making Their Case
Hougan said the basket isn’t set in stone. Hyperliquid, he said, is “making its case to be chiseled into the Mount Rushmore,” while Zcash is arguing privacy deserves a spot and Venice is pushing the case for real-world AI applications. He said he’s bullish on several of these downstream DeFi assets, but still views the original four as the core, broad-based play.
Why He’s Bullish On Chainlink Despite Its Token Weakness
Asked specifically about Chainlink, given its steady stream of positive news around on-chain data and real-world asset integration, Hougan acknowledged the token itself remains “questionable.”
His broader thesis is that current tokenomics represent the worst version of themselves for nearly every crypto asset, and that regulatory pressure easing will force progressive improvement across the board.
He said he’s already seeing that reflected in Chainlink’s price, and that the underlying protocol business is strong enough to carry the token forward even as its economics catch up. He compared his current view on Chainlink to how he felt about Uniswap for years before its tokenomics improved.
A New Frontier: Tokens Tied To Real Assets
Hougan also flagged growing interest in pairing tokens with real-world assets, floating ideas like companies distributing rewards through tokenized stocks or fund companies marketing through tokenized funds.
He said while the current economics behind some of these paired-asset trades look unusual and likely temporary, the underlying concept, attaching a token to a real asset, still has significant unexplored potential ahead.
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