Bitcoin vs Ethereum vs Solana: returns, volatility and worst falls

Bitcoin, Ether and Solana are three of the most widely held crypto assets, and they are often discussed as if they were one bet. On the numbers they share a lot: all three rose many times over, all three lost more than three quarters of their value at least once, and since 2024 they have moved together more closely than ever. But the size of the swings differs a great deal, and so does what each one did when stocks fell.

This guide compares the three on the same daily data: return, volatility, every fall of more than 50 %, the link to stocks and gold, and the record in six stress episodes since 2020.

Bitcoin, Ether and Solana in numbers

Source: daily closes from 18 Aug 2017 (Bitcoin, Ether, S&P 500 and gold through SPY and GLD) and from 12 Aug 2020 (Solana) to 30 Sep 2026, buy & hold; volatility from daily returns, annualised. The S&P 500 and gold columns use the Aug 2017 window for return and worst fall. Ether's 2017–2026 return is lower than its 2020–2026 return because the 2017–2018 crash, −93.5 %, sits inside the longer window.

Three things stand out:

• All three earned far more than stocks, and all three paid for it with falls that would have wiped out almost any stock portfolio. Solana's −96.1 % means that $10,000 at the November 2021 high was worth about $390 at the end of 2022.
• Volatility rises step by step down the list. Solana swung about twice as hard as Bitcoin, Ether about one and a half times. Bitcoin itself swung more than three times as hard as the S&P 500.
• The 2020–2026 returns are close for Bitcoin and Ether (38.0 % and 37.1 % a year), but Ether took 40 % more volatility to get there.

The chart starts in August 2020, when Solana's data begin. On a log scale, equal distances mean equal percentage moves, so the much larger swings of Solana are easy to see.

Every fall of more than 50 %

The table above shows each asset's single worst fall. The full list is more useful, because it shows how often a holder had to sit through a halving of their money.

Falls from the previous high on daily closes, to 30 Sep 2026.

Each of the three went through four falls of more than 50 % in about six to nine years. Recoveries were sometimes fast (three months in 2021) and sometimes very slow: Ether needed more than three and a half years to regain its November 2021 high, and Solana almost three years. For comparison, the S&P 500's worst fall since 1993 was −55 %, in 2007–2009. Our guide on max drawdown explains why the depth and length of falls matter more than volatility for most investors, and the drawdown recovery calculator shows the gain needed to get back: after a 96 % fall it is 2,400 %.

Volatility: still high, but falling

Bitcoin's swings have become noticeably smaller over time. Its volatility was 92 % a year in 2017, 64 % in 2022, 47 % in 2023 and 40 % in 2025. Ether and Solana followed the same direction from a higher level: Solana went from 166 % in 2021 to 79 % in 2025.

Annualised volatility of daily returns in each calendar year.

Lower does not mean low. Even in 2025, its calmest year in our data, Bitcoin was about twice as volatile as the S&P 500 (40 % against 19 %). In day-to-day terms: Bitcoin moved more than 5 % on about 41 trading days a year, Ether on about 63 and Solana on about 85. The S&P 500 did so on about 2.

One more pattern is worth knowing. In the up years, the upward swings of Bitcoin were larger than the downward ones (2017, 2023); in the bear years 2018 and 2022 it was the other way round. Stocks, gold and bonds show no such tilt: their upward and downward swings are about the same size in most years.

Do they move together?

Mostly, yes, and more than they used to. The correlation of daily returns, where 1 means always moving together and 0 means no link, rose for both large altcoins:

Two conclusions follow. First, holding all three spreads the risk less than it seems: since 2024, Ether and Solana have moved largely as a more volatile version of Bitcoin. Second, crypto's link to the stock market changed around 2020. Before, Bitcoin moved independently of the S&P 500; since then the correlation has been around 0.4, and higher when stocks were under stress. With gold and long Treasuries the link stayed close to zero throughout. The Bitcoin portfolio guide shows the 36-month correlation with stocks over time and what this means for sizing a position.

What they did in stress episodes

Price changes over each period; S&P 500 through SPY, gold through GLD.

In every episode that started in the stock market, all three crypto assets fell, usually by more than stocks. In the episodes that started inside crypto (Terra/Luna and FTX), they fell sharply while stocks barely moved or rose. Solana was hit hardest by FTX, because the exchange and its sister trading firm were among its largest holders and backers. Gold held up far better than crypto in every one of these episodes, which is why the "digital gold" label has not been borne out in sell-offs so far.

Bitcoin, Ether and Solana: what is the difference?

• Bitcoin (2009) is a payment network with a fixed maximum supply of 21 million coins. Its case rests on scarcity and on being the most widely held and most liquid crypto asset. Its market page is Bitcoin.
• Ether (2015) is the native asset of Ethereum, the largest platform for applications built on a blockchain, from stablecoins to decentralised finance. Since 2022 Ethereum runs on proof of stake, so holders can earn a staking yield. Its market page is Ethereum.
• Solana (2020) is a younger, faster blockchain built for cheap, high-volume transactions. Its short history means fewer full cycles to learn from, and its record includes network outages and the FTX link above. Its market page is Solana.

The further down the list, the younger the asset, the higher the volatility and the deeper the worst fall. Over the shared window since 2020, that extra risk was paid for in Solana's case and not in Ether's; a different window would give a different answer.

The short answer

On data to September 2026, Bitcoin had the best balance of the three: the lowest volatility (57 % a year since 2020), the shallowest worst fall (−83.0 %) and a return close to Ether's. Ether carried about 40 % more volatility for a similar return since 2020 and a much lower one since 2017. Solana delivered the highest return but fell 96 % on the way. All three have moved closely together since 2024, and all three fell with stocks in every stock-market sell-off since 2020.

The live figures for all three, next to their worst falls and the trend-following results on each, are in the free Research Terminal.

Frequently asked questions

Hamann, H. (2026). Bitcoin vs Ethereum vs Solana: returns, volatility and worst falls. InvestWealth.com. https://www.investwealth.com/learn/guides/bitcoin-vs-ethereum-vs-solana

<a href="https://www.investwealth.com/learn/guides/bitcoin-vs-ethereum-vs-solana">Bitcoin vs Ethereum vs Solana: returns, volatility and worst falls</a> (InvestWealth.com)