Recently, while organizing my observations of the crypto market, I realized it’s still necessary to talk about the cryptocurrencies that are worth paying attention to. With so many coins out there, beginners really are prone to making mistakes, so I’ll share some of my thoughts.

First, let’s talk about a basic logic. There’s an old saying in the crypto world: “Buy altcoins in a bull market, buy mainstream coins in a bear market.” The reasoning behind it is actually very simple: in a bull market, altcoins are easier to skyrocket, but in a bear market, it’s mainstream coins that can survive. So the very first step in choosing coins is to look at what stage the market is in right now—this matters more than anything else.

I’ve compiled the top ten by market capitalization based on the latest data. BTC is still the absolute king, with a market cap of 1.55 trillion USD, accounting for nearly 57%, and that position is basically unshakable. ETH comes next, with a market cap of 257 billion USD and a share of 9.45%. The stablecoin USDT has a market cap of 189.6 billion USD and is mainly used for storing value. XRP, BNB, SOL, and others are also representatives of mainstream coins. The reason these are worth the attention of crypto investors is that they have large market caps, high trading volumes, and good liquidity, so they’re less likely to be artificially manipulated.

Let’s talk about a few specific coins. As for BTC, I won’t say much more—it’s passed so many years of tests, and both its security and scarcity are top-tier. ETH’s strongest point is its smart contract ecosystem, with TVL reaching 52 billion USD, which is supported by real application scenarios. As the largest stablecoin, USDT has very small volatility and basically no yield, but it’s still necessary as a cash reserve.

BNB is a particularly interesting coin because it’s supported by a large exchange, allowing users to enjoy various benefits and privileges. SOL is called the “Ethereum killer” for a reason—its TPS reaches 65000 transactions per second, and this performance genuinely crushes other public chains. The recent MEME coin craze also emerged from the SOL ecosystem, attracting a lot of users.

Now let’s discuss investment strategy. For beginners, long-term investing is definitely more suitable than short-term trading. Short-term trading requires an independent trading system, the ability to manage positions, psychological resilience, and more—most beginners don’t have these. Long-term investing is much simpler: you only need to understand basic operations and whether a coin’s market capitalization is high or low. And from the perspective of returns, long-term investing is actually more likely to achieve high gains, because you don’t constantly buy high and sell low.

My own experience is a lesson. In 2018, I bought a few BTC around 5000 USD, and when it rose to 7000 USD, I couldn’t wait and sold them—only to later watch it climb to 12000 USD. I regretted it terribly. Luckily, the 312 event gave me a second chance to get back in. So holding long-term really can effectively lock in profits from an upward trend.

How to buy it? Usually, you first buy stablecoins like USDT or USDC in the fiat trading section, and then trade them for the coin you want in the crypto-to-crypto trading area. BTC and ETH are somewhat special—some platforms support direct fiat purchases. After you’ve bought, the biggest test is whether you can hold on. My suggestion is to separate your long-term and short-term funds into different accounts. You can also transfer your long-term assets to a wallet that you don’t typically access in your day-to-day life, placing them somewhere inconvenient, so you can effectively curb the urge to trade frequently.

Advice on choosing coins: conservative investors can consider only the two most well-known coins, BTC and ETH. If you have good trading experience, growth-oriented investors can add other cryptocurrencies worth watching, such as DOGE, ADA, and SOL. Smaller MEME coins may be volatile, but their risk is especially high—you need to keep a close eye on the market at all times, so I don’t really recommend them.

Finally, no matter which coins you choose, you must be clear about your investment goals, learn how to cut losses, and don’t hold trash coins for the long term. These are the easiest mistakes to make. The top ten coins by market cap are relatively safer, but that doesn’t mean there’s zero risk—still, you need to do your homework.