Holding 500 dollars in hand, I'm calculating how many times it can multiply by 2026 — this shows that you at least thought a few steps ahead of most people. But I have to pour some cold water on this: the next cycle will no longer rely on mindless momentum investing. It only favors those who are truly patient, methodical, and understand where value comes from.

I don't want to throw you the textbook answer of "40% in BTC, 30% in ETH" today. I want to talk about something more poignant: for an ordinary person to safely cross 2026 with $500, the most critical step is not which coin to choose, but to build a set of asset framework that is "offensive when necessary, defensive when needed."

Yes, BTC and ETH must be the ballast. High-performance chain-native assets like SOL also need to be positioned. New narratives like AI and RWA are also worth allocating. But these 'offensive' things have a fatal flaw: volatility.

A black swan event and a sudden regulatory change could have your $500 cut several times before reaching 2026. Can you withstand the mental ups and downs? Is your psychological defense strong enough?

This is the key to the problem - in the constantly fluctuating world of cryptocurrency, how to lay a "protective mat" and "buffer zone" for your money? Many investment guides do not mention this step at all, but all professional players are secretly doing it - they will always allocate a portion to underlying assets that are super stable, have sufficient liquidity, and can generate stable returns. In the traditional investment world, this role is played by government bonds; in the crypto world, it should be taken on by decentralized stablecoins.