BENGALURU: For investors living on the digital edge, bitcoin is starting to look a little old-fashioned.

Hooked on high growth, some are turning away from the original cryptocurrency — designed as an alternative to regular cash — in favour of its descendants created as native tokens of blockchain platforms that host smart contracts and apps.

MarketVector’s Smart Contract Leaders Index, which tracks major tokens of this kind — including ether, dot and solana — is up 36 per cent in 2023, outpacing even bitcoin’s 33pc rise. Solana’s token is up 76pc this year.

Bundeep Rangar, CEO of crypto-focused investor Fineqia, said he expected the biggest crypto returns to come from smart contract tokens on platforms that support decentralised finance (DeFi) apps.

“Those are ones that you will find capital appreciation, similar to what a growth stock will be,” he added.

Some investors in the $1 trillion world of digital assets appear to agree, according to CoinShares data which shows investment products tracking ether and solana have seen small inflows even as bitcoin products suffered four consecutive weeks of outflows.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2023