Top Investor Reveals 3 Altcoins 'Too Cheap to Ignore' for 2026: XRP, Solana, and Chainlink Set to Outperform Bitcoin?

While Bitcoin and Ethereum dominate the crypto headlines, they're not the only players in town. These two giants make up about 70% of the total crypto market value, but hundreds of smaller, higher-risk cryptos offer potentially greater upside that could outperform the market leaders.

Top investor Dominic Basulto, ranking among the top 3% on TipRanks, highlights three such coins worth watching in 2026: XRP, Solana, and Chainlink. He believes, "All three have the potential to outperform Bitcoin and Ethereum this year to deliver outsized gains to investors."

Let's dive into the case for each.

XRP (XRP-USD)

XRP is possibly the most obvious pick, as it's the fifth-most valuable crypto and delivered outsized gains early last year, including a surge from $0.50 to $3.40 between November 2024 and January 2025. Basulto argues its case is stronger this year, with the long-running SEC lawsuit against creator Ripple resolved in August, removing a major regulatory overhang. Since then, Ripple has completed $2.5 billion in blockchain acquisitions and secured $500 million in financing at a $40 billion valuation.

"Now it’s time to buckle down and put that money to work building an end-to-end financial infrastructure with XRP at the core," says the 5-star investor. "If that happens, XRP could skyrocket in value."

Solana (SOL-USD)

Since its 2020 launch, Solana has been seen as a potential "Ethereum killer." Crypto champion Cathie Wood has highlighted its advantages in speed, cost, and throughput. With a $65 billion market cap versus Ethereum's $326 billion, Basulto thinks Solana could close the gap—and possibly surpass Ethereum within five years.

Its rapid ecosystem growth supports such lofty ambitions. In the year ending September 2025, Solana generated $2.85 billion in revenue, and its decentralized exchanges now see more daily trading activity than Ethereum's.

"As long as Solana can continue to erode the market share of Ethereum in key areas such as DeFi, it should continue to increase in value," Basulto added. As recently as January 2025, Solana was trading at $294, suggesting it's not impossible for it to double in value this year.

Chainlink (LINK-USD)

Chainlink had its last major rally in 2020–2021, when LINK jumped from about $2 to over $50, but has since crashed and now trades 83% below its all-time high. Still, Basulto finds it attractive in 2026 as the leading decentralized oracle network that connects smart contracts to real-world data, enabling sophisticated blockchain applications and interoperability across chains—a foundational role in Web3 that few other projects match.

Its Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) and advanced data services are increasingly used to bridge liquidity and tokenized assets across blockchains, which could underpin demand for the LINK token if adoption continues to rise.

In late 2025 and early 2026, Chainlink expanded its footprint with major ecosystem milestones, including 24/5 U.S. equities data streams across more than 40 blockchains, institutional collaborations for tokenized fund data, and products like the Automated Compliance Engine to embed KYC/AML checks into smart contracts, making Chainlink more appealing to enterprises and regulated financial players.

It's true all three are trading significantly below their all-time highs, which could signal that something major is wrong. "However," Basulto wrapped up, "I’m taking an optimistic (and perhaps foolhardy) view of things. All three of these altcoins look to be grossly undervalued, and as long as it looks like Bitcoin is going nowhere fast this year, I’m willing to take a flier on them. There’s just too much potential upside to ignore."

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured investor. The content is intended for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.