Six coins have led crypto’s quarterly performance rankings over the past two years, according to new Grayscale research. Bitcoin (BTC) did not finish first in any of those quarters.
Grayscale says Bitcoin makes up the entire crypto allocation for many institutional portfolios. The ranking shows where the top returns came from instead.
A Leaderboard That Kept Changing Hands
The Grayscale report tracks quarterly price returns for the 10 largest non-stablecoin assets. It runs from the first quarter of 2025 to the current quarter, using data as of November 4.
XRP (XRP) led the first quarter of 2025. Ethereum (ETH) then held the top spot for two straight quarters, gaining 36% in Q2 and 67% in Q3.
BNB (BNB) led Q4 2025 despite falling 14%, because every top-10 asset declined that quarter. TRON (TRX) followed in Q1 2026 with a 10% gain.
Hyperliquid (HYPE) jumped 78% to lead Q2 2026. Grayscale had already flagged Hyperliquid-led financial tokens beating meme coins in July. Zcash (ZEC) then posted the biggest gain on the board, rising 260% in Q3 2026.
Bitcoin’s best finish came in Q2 2025, when it ranked second with a 30% gain. It placed third in four quarters and finished last in Q3 2025.
Bitcoin Accounts for About Half of Crypto’s Swings
Grayscale says that rotation suggests crypto is not simply a single Bitcoin trade. The firm’s sector data points in the same direction.
Over three years, Bitcoin explained only about half of return variation across the FTSE Grayscale Crypto Sectors. Sector and asset-specific drivers accounted for the rest.
Artificial intelligence (AI) tokens depend least on Bitcoin. Sector-specific factors contributed 50% of annualized volatility there, compared with 35% tied to Bitcoin.
The Currencies sector sits at the other end. Bitcoin-driven volatility measured 43% there, against 7% from sector-specific factors.
Separately, the report restates that Bitcoin’s own volatility has fallen to 43%, within the S&P 500 range. It cites J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s 2027 assumptions, projecting a 10% compound annual Bitcoin return over a decade.
Still, Grayscale added a caveat to its findings.
“None of this means crypto is low risk.”
The fourth quarter has been rough for the whole group so far. Through November 4, all 10 assets were down, and TRX led again with a 5% loss.
Bitcoin ranked third, down 7%. Zcash, last quarter’s leader, had slipped to seventh with a 15% decline.
Only 2 percentage points separated Bitcoin from TRX at that point. Bitcoin’s latest drop came after that cutoff, so the gap may have changed since.
A win before December 31 would be Bitcoin’s first in Grayscale’s table.
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