Bitcoin (BTC 1.53%), the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency, endured some wild swings over the past five years but still rose about 46%. However, Bitcoin underperformed some of the market’s smaller, hotter altcoins during that volatile period.

One of those altcoins was Solana (SOL 2.20%), which rallied 95% over the past five years. Let’s see why Solana generated bigger gains — and if it’s the better crypto to buy right now.

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Why did Solana outperform Bitcoin?

Bitcoin and Solana are different types of cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin is mined using the energy-intensive proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism, which requires miners to run powerful computers to solve complex cryptographic puzzles.

Bitcoin has a…