Bitwise CIO Names His ‘Mount Rushmore’ Of Crypto, Says These 4 Coins Are Driving Bull Market

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.