Bitcoin and Ethereum have led the crypto market recovery. However, only a handful of altcoins have risen alongside them.

On paper, the cryptocurrency market has erased the losses of the long crypto winter of 2022 and 2023. Last month, crypto's market cap -- the total value of all the cryptocurrencies in circulation -- set a new high. At a glance, it seems all's right with the crypto world.

In reality, many altcoins , which are essentially any cryptocurrency that isn't Bitcoin ( BTC 0.67% ) , have not recovered. If you'd invested $200 in each of the top 20 altcoins four years ago, your original $4,000 investment would be worth around $2,840 today, per CoinMarketCap data. That's a 30% drop.

Let's dive into why so many altcoins have underperformed, and whether they may yet recove

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