Top Picks: Messari Analysts' Portfolio Insights — Solana Emerges as Investment Consensus, AI Tokens Gain Favor

By TechFlow

As expected, Messari, the well-known crypto data and research firm, has released its "Messari Theses 2024," which includes insights into the personal portfolios of its analysts—highlighting their most profitable positions, biggest losses, current token holdings, and preferred sectors or narratives.

Overall, Messari’s analysts have aligned with the predictions and principles shared in their annual report: bullish on Bitcoin and Solana, optimistic about AI-related tokens. Most hold SOL or related ecosystem tokens, followed by AI-focused tokens such as OLAS, AKT, TAO, and RNDR. While Messari's 2024 trend report expresses a bearish view on Ethereum, most analysts still hold ETH as a beta exposure, although one analyst, KEl, noted that his biggest mistake in 2023 was not selling ETH sooner.

Messari Analysts’ Holdings

TBI

Biggest gain: GBTC, SOL

Biggest loss: Popular VC-backed tokens, and why can't I let go of ZEC?

Holdings: BTC, ETH, SOL

Likes: You reading this report

Maartje

Biggest gain: RNDR

Biggest loss: Parting ways with CRV

Holdings: BTC, ETH, RNDR

Likes: DePIN

Dustin

Biggest gain: SOL, OLAS, NOS

Biggest loss: USDC

Holdings: SOL, OLAS, NOS, LIKE, HBB

Likes: AI-related cryptocurrencies

Kunal

Biggest gain: RUNE, AKT, TAO

Biggest loss: PEPE

Holdings: ETH, TIA, RPL, AKT

Likes: EigenLayer and restaking protocols. Demand for security drives value in L1 assets, and EigenLayer significantly expands Ethereum’s security market.

Sami

Biggest gain: RNDR, AKT, TAO

Biggest loss: Not buying more TAO

Holdings: BTC, ETH, SOL, HONEY, TAO, RNDR, AKT, LPT

Likes: DePIN and decentralized AI will become crypto’s killer applications. ZK coprocessors will bring crypto apps to feature and performance parity with Web2 applications.

Ally

Biggest gain: SOL, TIA, RNDR, MKR

Biggest loss: MATIC

Holdings: Solana ecosystem tokens, Ethereum-based memes

Likes: Networks and applications with relatively little zombie/fake activity, innovation and development trajectory of consumer applications

Steph

Biggest gain: PEPE

Biggest loss: MARBLES

Holdings: BITCOIN (HPOS10), TIA, ETH, BTC, SOL

Likes: Infrastructure and MEMEs

Kel

Biggest gain: SOL

Biggest loss: Not selling ETH quickly enough

Holdings: SOL, Solana ecosystem tokens, NFTs, LIKE

Likes: Solana ecosystem projects. Token valuations may be overheated in the short term, but realistically, most people have only recently started liking Solana, and I expect further inflows from this group over the medium to long term.

Seth

Biggest gain: RNDR, SOL

Biggest loss: ALCX

Holdings: BTC, ETH, SOL, RNDR, LPT

Likes: Bringing off-chain computation and state on-chain, key management infrastructure.

Toe

Biggest gain: AKT

Biggest loss: HAMS

Holdings: AKT, TAO, SOL + Solana ecosystem, DYDX

Likes: DePIN finding product-market fit, Solana protocols with new charts, derivative DEXs (VRTX, AEVO, Hyperliquid), ZK coprocessors, some DeFi (Ethena Labs, OSMO, SOMM).

Mihai

Biggest gain: RNDR, SOL

Biggest loss: ATOM

Holdings: BTC, ETH, SOL, RNDR

Likes: Zero-knowledge machine learning, key management solutions, scaling solutions.

JTVL

Biggest gain: GBTC

Biggest loss: ATOM, not riding the RWA train

Holdings: BTC, ETH, SNX, PENDLE, LBR, GNS, LINK, LQTY

Likes: RWA and LST bringing more on-chain yield; LSTFi and perpetual DEXs will remain growth areas, especially the latter if priced reasonably. Denominate your wealth in Satoshis and embrace store-of-value.

Nick

Biggest gain: AKT

Biggest loss: SYN

Holdings: AKT, DYDX, ILV, SYN

Likes: Mobile apps, EIP-4844, ETH chain abstraction, rehypothecation and LSTs, and election-related meme coins.

Peter

Biggest gain: SOL, Mad Lads

Biggest loss: Boss’s friend.tech key

Holdings: SOL, BONK, ETH, COIN

Likes: Solana ecosystem

Red

Biggest gain: COIN

Biggest loss: XMR

Holdings: BTC, ETH, XMR

Likes: Alt-VM Ethereum rollups to capture Ethereum users and liquidity without being constrained by EVM. Bitcoin programmability for developer experimentation and trust-minimized access to Bitcoin liquidity. AI driving the DePIN narrative.

Micah

Biggest gain: COIN, PEPE

Biggest loss: LYX

Holdings: BTC, ETH, SOL, AKT, RNDR, LYX, $COIN

Likes: ZK coprocessors, perpetual contracts, Bitcoin programmability, account abstraction.

AJC

Biggest gain: BTC

Biggest loss: Chasing meme coins

Holdings: BTC, ETH, LINK, ARB, Milady, WINR, GMX, GRAIL

Likes: SocialFi/reputation layer (friend.tech), perpetuals and on-chain options taking market share from CEXs, capital flowing from Ethereum to Arbitrum ecosystem and other L2s post-Dencun upgrade, ETF approvals for BTC and ETH, and GambleFi.

Mike

Biggest gain: BTC.D and Remilia NFTs

Biggest loss: friend.tech keys

Holdings: BTC, ETH, SOL, Remilia NFTs

Likes: New cycle tokens: TAO, TIA, and SOL.

Crypto culture keeps winning: Remilia NFTs and SocialFi / Gambling / Prediction Markets 2.0 (they’re all the same thing).