The sudden adoption of cryptocurrencies as an asset class by the financial world has caused massive changes in the market. Earlier this year, the SEC approved the listing of spot Bitcoin (BTC-USD) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) which allow any investor to invest directly in Bitcoin through the public equity markets. Already, these ETFs have garnered billions of dollars worth of investors’ funds, proving that there are very disruptive cryptocurrencies at play. 

Bitcoin’s price has skyrocketed to a new high of nearly $74,000, thanks to a supply shock emanating from sudden demand. And, as crypto investors know, as Bitcoin surges, other coins are bound to follow as well. 

If you’ve been thinking about adding exposure to your portfolio through disruptive cryptocurrencies, look no further. Here are three cryptos that are causing a stir in the mainstream financial world. 

Bitcoin (BTC-USD)

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) is the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap. In fact, its market cap of $1.2 trillion would make it the seventh most valuable “company” in the world. It’s worth noting that over 53% of the total market cap of the crypto industry is currently in Bitcoin In many cases, it has found its use as a novel payment system to send and receive crypto assets securely.

In January 2024, the SEC approved the listing of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States. Then in April, spot Bitcoin ETFs were approved for listing in Hong Kong as well. These ETFs are a big deal since they increase the accessibility of Bitcoin for many investors. This is because they can be directly exposed to it in their brokerage accounts without having to own any themselves. Bitcoin is becoming an increasingly safe way to hedge portfolios and make encrypted payments, boosting it’s profitability for investors. 

Analysts have some lofty price targets for Bitcoin. At this point, it seems like a price target of $100,000 is all but confirmed for this bull run. Even Cathie Wood of Ark Invest believes Bitcoin will one day be worth more than $1 million. Thus, owning some Bitcoin is a surefire bet to stay diversified and exposed to disruptive cryptocurrencies. 

Solana (SOL-USD)

Solana (SOL-USD) is a mega-cap altcoin that leverages its own blockchain. Unlike Bitcoin, which has a proof-of-work consensus mechanism, Solana is built with proof-of-stake to allow smart contract functionality. Its native token, SOL, is currently in the top five disruptive cryptocurrencies by market cap. 

This coin has a checkered history, largely due to its historic network failures and use by Alameda Research, the hedge fund division of the bankrupt FTX crypto exchange. Nonetheless, the possibilities of this crypto to disrupt the financial world are immense.

At its core, the reason why Solana has been able to edge against competitors is simple — speed and scalability. Due to it’s superior networks and low fees, Solana has become a popular for blockchain developers and decentralized applications. In fact, its network even recently hit a high daily transaction volume of around $40 billion! Investors should keep this disruptive coin on their radar due to its strong trading volume and potentially widespread use in emerging blockchain tech. 

Polygon (MATIC-USD)

Polygon (MATIC-USD) is a blockchain platform and cryptocurrency that was originally launched as a “sidechain” to support the Ethereum (ETH-USD) ecosystem. In short, it offers a layer-2 scaling solution that resolves Ethereum’s scalability problems. 

Polygon has been able to garner much attention from the cryptocurrency community due to its superior confirmation times, security measures and reasonable transaction costs. With Ethereum-compatible projects, Polygon’s technology is assisting small businesses in creating Web3 applications. In fact, one of Polygon’s biggest catalysts is the release of Polygon Miden, a decentralized rollup for private, high-throughput applications. Many investors are already becoming excited about its new paradigm focused on client-side proving, which will no doubt push the Ethereum ecosystem to even further bounds. 

Pricewise, Polygon has mostly seen price action akin to Ethereum. Nonetheless, while Polygon is still sitting under the $1 threshold, its link to Ethereum will help it find traction. JPMorgan analysts anticipate that Ethereum is projected to perform better than Bitcoin, so now is the best time to scoop up a handful of this cheap, heavily Ethereum-related crypto. 

On the date of publication, Ian Hartana and Vayun Chugh did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.