Forget Bitcoin! I’d much rather hold top dividend stocks like these 2

Volatile Bitcoin and solid, blue-chip FTSE 100 dividend stocks are roughly the same as the two investments.

Last year, they did very differently, too, with Bitcoin plummeting 60% while the FTSE 100 weathered the global stock market crash. This year, both are up. Bitcoin is up 39.77% year to date, while the FTSE 100 is up 2.74% and is only short all time.

I will buy FTSE 100 shares through Bitcoin

I still hold one Bitcoin legacy but I won’t buy another one. Alt-coins are pure speculation. Investors buy them in the hope that another crypto mania will hit investors hard, sending prices to the moon. Some will certainly enjoy short-term trading gains, but I don’t want any of that. Prices will only crash again.

I want to build a solid long-term investment portfolio that will give me a growing income in retirement, rather than jumping into nowhere. These two stocks will serve me well.

Gas and electricity National Grid (LSC: NG) couldn’t be more different than Bitcoin. Some investors buy in anticipation of growth in stock prices. This is a deemed dividend. It is one of the most reliable income payers, with a forecast yield of 5.2%. Payment is only guaranteed 1.2 times by earnings, which seems thin, but Management can be generous because earnings are strictly regulated. Being a monopoly helps.

But the stock has shown some growth potential of late, with November half-year results showing a 50% rise in interim operating profit to £2.1bn. The management said this shows the “strength and endurance” from business.

Another reason I like National Grid’s stock is its exposure to the northeastern US energy market, providing diversification from the UK. The stock is down 3.88% in one year, but is up 29.78% over five, so investors can expect some growth.

National Grid has had to invest heavily in green infrastructure, and its debt rose by more than 45% to £45.5bn in March last year, which is a cause for concern. Also, the Shares are not particularly cheap, trading at 16.82 times earnings. I would still buy them, though.

I like dividends for income

I would combine it with the slightly riskier FTSE 100 dividend income shares, housebuilder Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW). Now it is cheap, trading at only 6.5% of earnings, while yielding more than National Grid at 7.34% a year.

The risk here is obvious. Taylor Wimpey is building houses, and property prices are expected to fall this year, possibly by a factor of two. But I think some of the doom and gloom is overdone. The UK still has a huge property shortage, mortgage rates are falling, and prices may not be as fast as expected.

A sell-off has largely been priced in, as the company’s share price has fallen 20% over the past year and is down 40% over five years.

Taylor Wimpey’s sales have fallen “important”, as an order book, while the volume is also set to slip in 2023. I’m braced for everything that happens. My sights are set on next year, and Taylor Wimpey looks like an opportunity worth pursuing. In contrast to Bitcoin.