Even after the latest crypto market "flash crash," Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is still up 35% for the year. While Bitcoin is now trading well below its all-time high of $73,750 set earlier this year, those 35% gains from Bitcoin are looking impressive right now given what's happening elsewhere in the crypto market.

If you analyze the top 50 cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, just one-third of them are now up for the year. And only a handful of those in the green are outperforming Bitcoin. So, other than Bitcoin, what should investors be buying now?

What's down for the year?

To answer that question, we first need to consider which investment strategies have not worked out as planned this year. For example, AI crypto tokens were supposed to be one of the breakout stars of the crypto market this year. But, thus far, all of them are still underperforming Bitcoin. For example, Render (CRYPTO: RNDR) is now down 4% for the year. And Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (CRYPTO: FET) -- the crypto token formerly known as Fetch.ai -- is only up 24% for the year.

Or what about the so-called "Ethereum killers" that were supposed to topple Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) this year? With the exception of Solana (CRYPTO: SOL), which is up 53% for the year, all of them have been colossal failures. Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA), for example, is down a whopping 44%. Avalanche (CRYPTO: AVAX) is down 46%. Aptos (CRYPTO: APT) is down 43%. Admittedly, Ethereum is only up 7% for the year now, but at least it's in the green.

And all of the Layer 2 scaling solutions for Ethereum have also flopped. These are blockchains that promise to make Ethereum run faster, cheaper, and better. Yet, if you take a look at the top Layer 2 scaling solutions for Ethereum, they're also down for the year. Most notably, Polygon (CRYPTO: MATIC) is down 58% for the year.

What's up for the year?

As you can see, it's been slim pickings thus far in 2024. But there is one category of cryptocurrency that has performed admirably, and that's meme coins. Floki (CRYPTO: FLOKI) -- named for Elon Musk's pet Shiba Inu dog -- is up 254% this year. Pepe (CRYPTO: PEPE) -- which has a green cartoon frog as its avatar -- is up 500%. And Dogwifhat (CRYPTO: WIF) -- which features a cute dog wearing a cute hat -- is up an astounding 1,000% this year.

But there's just one problem here. Meme coins are highly risky and highly speculative, and offer little to no real-world utility. Thus, they aren't appropriate for long-term investment portfolios. Over time, they are unlikely to retain their value. And they are subject to extreme fluctuations in price, solely due to investor whims.

That leaves us in a quandary. Just about every sector of the crypto market is down, and the only coins solidly outperforming Bitcoin right now are silly meme coins. So what's a long-term, buy-and-hold investor supposed to do?

Solana

One answer could be: Solana. As noted above, Solana is one of the few large-cap cryptocurrencies to outperform Bitcoin this year. That's primarily because Solana is the one Layer 1 blockchain that is most closely associated with the "meme coin mania" that has taken over the crypto market this year. So, in many ways, Solana is an indirect play on meme coins, without taking on as much risk.

Everyone -- including some entertainment celebrities -- now seems to be minting meme coins on the Solana blockchain, and that is leading to a huge upswing in Solana's performance metrics. Most notably, Solana's daily active users have seen a sharp spike upward. And key metrics related to decentralized finance (DeFi) -- such as 24-hour trading volume -- are also seeing a big increase. This is because Solana's decentralized exchanges are the only places where you can actively trade many of these new Solana meme coins. As a result, Solana is seeing higher trading volume than Ethereum right now.

Of course, there are other reasons to like Solana beyond just the meme coin factor. In terms of overall performance, Solana is cheaper, faster, and more efficient to use than Ethereum. This is something that Cathie Wood of Ark Invest pointed out to institutional investors last November. As a result, Solana might be the one blockchain capable of toppling Ethereum one day.

And don't forget about Solana's mobile strategy. Solana was the first major blockchain to launch its own "crypto phone" (the Saga), and mobile could be a catalyst that drives future growth.

If not Bitcoin, then what?

For now, it's hard to ignore Bitcoin. It has held up well after a crypto market crash and continues to outperform just about every other top cryptocurrency. But if you're looking to turbo-charge your portfolio, you might want to consider adding some high-octane Solana.

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Dominic Basulto has positions in Bitcoin, Cardano, Ethereum, Fetch, Polygon, and Solana. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Aptos, Avalanche, Bitcoin, Cardano, Ethereum, Fetch, Polygon, Render Token, and Solana. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Forget Bitcoin? Only a Handful of Top Cryptocurrencies Have Outperformed It So Far in 2024 was originally published by The Motley Fool