Grayscale Adds Avalanche, Morpho to Top 20 Assets List for Q3 2025

Grayscale Investments has updated its Top 20 assets list for Q3 2025, adding Avalanche (AVAX) and Morpho (MORPHO) due to their significant growth potential. This revision reflects the company's focus on assets driving innovation in decentralized financial systems and smart contract environments. To accommodate these additions, Grayscale removed Lido (LDO) and Optimism (OP) from its list.

Avalanche secured its spot on the list due to its surging on-chain transaction volumes. Grayscale highlighted Avalanche's high user activity, particularly in gaming integrations like MapleStory and stablecoin usage. This organic growth indicates a robust ecosystem, positioning Avalanche as a key player in the smart contract protocol space. The network's ability to handle numerous transactions and its recent activity demonstrate strong fundamentals, making it a strategic choice for Grayscale's portfolio.

Morpho's inclusion is attributed to its achievements in decentralized finance. The introduction of Morpho V2 brings market-driven, fixed-rate loans with variable periods to the market, merging traditional finance with decentralized finance. Alongside Aave and Maple Finance, Morpho is seen as well-positioned to capitalize on the growth of on-chain financing. Morpho V2 aligns decentralized finance with institutional requirements, offering predictable loan structures and support for various assets, including real-world assets (RWAs) as collateral. This flexibility and financial growth indicate Morpho's potential for a high market share.

Lido was removed due to regulatory uncertainty surrounding staking, which could impact its fee revenue. Optimism, despite being deployed for Layer 2 scaling, did not capture economic value and was consequently delisted. These decisions were based on Grayscale's developed taxonomy in partnership with FTSE/Russell, as outlined in the Crypto Sectors report.

Grayscale's Top 20 list now includes high-volatility assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and others. While these assets carry significant risk, Grayscale expects substantial growth in Q3 2025. The update demonstrates Grayscale's targeted approach toward assets with strong foundations and market relevance. The growth of Avalanche's ecosystem and Morpho's DeFi innovations align with the evolving interest in cryptocurrency. The delisting of Lido and Optimism shows Grayscale's cautious approach to assets facing regulatory or economic challenges.