So I've been thinking about the foundational cryptos to invest in, and honestly, the landscape has shifted quite a bit since 2023. Let me break down what's still worth understanding about the major players.

Bitcoin still dominates everything. Back in 2023, people were talking about it hitting $28K, but now we're looking at around $74.5K with a market cap hovering near $1.5 trillion. The thing about Bitcoin is it's not going anywhere - it's still the baseline that everything else gets measured against. The scarcity narrative (21 million coin cap) remains compelling, even if the year-over-year movement has been choppy.

Ethereum's actually had a solid run lately. From those 2023 levels around $1,831, we're now seeing it trade near $2,280 with a market cap over $275B. What's interesting is Ethereum maintained its position as the platform layer - developers still build on it more than anywhere else. The smart contract ecosystem keeps expanding, which matters more than the price noise.

The stablecoin space got more competitive. Tether's still massive at $187B market cap, but USD Coin has grown to $78B. Both serve the same function - they're the on-ramps and off-ramps for traders. If you're moving money around, you're probably touching one of these.

Now here's where it gets messier. Some of these 2023 picks didn't age well. Cardano's down significantly, Dogecoin struggled even with its meme appeal, and Polygon's market cap has compressed dramatically. XRP's been volatile with regulatory noise. Solana and BNB held up better - SOL's at $84 range and BNB near $621, though both saw pullbacks from their peaks.

The real lesson from looking back at these cryptos to invest in 2023 is that market cap rankings shift constantly. What was top 10 then might be top 50 now, and vice versa. The ones that survived are the ones with actual utility - Bitcoin for store of value, Ethereum for development, the stablecoins for liquidity.

If you're curious about how these have evolved, Gate's got solid charting tools to track the historical performance. Worth comparing where these were versus where they are now - tells you a lot about which narratives actually held up.