With crypto markets regaining momentum, investors are looking beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum to find the best altcoins to watch that offer high upside. In 2025, several promising projects are drawing attention with strong fundamentals, real-world utility, and aggressive presale or growth-phase opportunities. 

Leading this pack is BlockDAG, a project combining DAG technology with proof-of-work consensus and offering rare presale benefits. Other coins like Monero (XMR), Filecoin (FIL), and Ethena (ENA) also stand out due to their steady adoption or emerging use cases. Here’s a breakdown of four altcoins offering solid ROI potential. 

BlockDAG (BDAG): Limited-Time Double Up Offer Supercharges ROI 

BlockDAG is currently one of the best altcoins to watch thanks to its aggressive presale economics and tech-forward positioning. It recently launched a "Double Up Offer" allowing investors to gain 1.25 million BDAG for a $1,000 contribution, at a fixed rate of $0.0016 per token. 

Under normal circumstances, this would yield just 625,000 tokens. This short-term offer is designed to maximize volume before BlockDAG’s GLOBAL LAUNCH release, which is set before CEX listings and a price shift. 

BlockDAG has already raised $329 million across 29 presale batches, selling over 23 billion coins. The current batch price is $0.0276, representing a 2,660% ROI since batch 1. Yet thanks to the limited $0.0016 offer, early contributors can buy in far below the current market momentum.

Combining a strong community, 100K+ miner shipments, and a hybrid DAG + PoW architecture, BlockDAG is positioning itself as a high-return option for both retail and strategic buyers. With aggressive incentives and a fixed low entry price, it's the most ROI-friendly presale currently running. 

Monero (XMR): Privacy Leader with Long-Term Holding Power

Monero has been a mainstay in the privacy coin space, offering fully anonymous transactions through ring signatures and stealth addresses. While regulatory pressures have kept it away from major exchanges, Monero continues to maintain strong support in decentralized circles. It’s often viewed as the gold standard for transactional privacy in crypto.

Over the past five years, XMR has maintained a reliable value range even in bearish cycles, giving it a reputation as a stable hedge for more volatile holdings. With increasing concerns around surveillance and financial censorship, Monero's relevance could increase in 2025 and beyond. For investors focused on privacy and long-term value, XMR remains one of the best altcoins to watch.  

Filecoin (FIL): Real Storage Use Case with Expanding Adoption

Filecoin offers decentralized data storage infrastructure, positioning itself as a blockchain alternative to centralized services like AWS and Google Cloud. It uses a proof-of-storage model, where users rent out spare storage and earn FIL in return. This practical use case has led to meaningful adoption across blockchain-based data providers and dApp ecosystems.

As of 2025, Filecoin is expanding partnerships across Web3 platforms and institutional storage needs. While price action has been choppy, FIL has retained its position among the top utility tokens by market cap. With decentralized infrastructure becoming more essential, especially in AI and machine learning applications, Filecoin is expected to gain further ground. For investors betting on blockchain-backed infrastructure growth, FIL is a strategic pick among the best altcoins to watch. 

Ethena (ENA): Synthetic Dollar Yield with Growing DeFi Utility

Ethena’s ENA token supports a new model of stablecoin yield through synthetic dollars, combining Ethereum staking and derivatives exposure. It’s part of a growing DeFi sector that tries to balance stability with return, offering users a non-bank alternative for yield generation.

Ethena’s ecosystem continues to grow, with new integrations in DEXs, perpetuals, and synthetic asset platforms. Though still early, the potential of ENA lies in its approach to blending DeFi-native tools with a dollar-linked asset that’s not pegged to centralized reserves.

As more users move away from traditional stablecoins due to regulatory and trust concerns, ENA could carve a strong niche. Among new DeFi entrants, ENA is one of the best altcoins to watch due to its risk-managed growth potential and yield appeal. 

Final Thoughts

For anyone seeking high-return altcoin opportunities in 2025, these four projects offer a range of advantages, from BlockDAG’s presale-driven volume multiplier to Monero’s time-tested privacy edge, Filecoin’s practical infrastructure role, and Ethena’s DeFi-based yield innovation. 

Each comes with a different risk profile and user case, but all are on the radar of ROI-focused investors. BlockDAG, however, leads the list with its 1.25 million BDAG per $1K deal, making it the standout among the best altcoins to watch this year.