Flash crashes aside, bitcoin is still up an impressive 34% YTD. Of course, that’s nothing when comparing it to BTC’s all-time ROI. If you’d bought one bitcoin in March 2010 when its pricing history began you’d have made gains of a staggering 320,000,000% today.
Of course, there are very few people who had even heard of bitcoin back then. Moreover, those in the circle weren’t buying bitcoins in ones at a price of $0.003.
But, what if you had gotten into bitcoin earlier? Here’s how much money you’d have now if you’d bought bitcoin at different times over the last nine years.
Bitcoin Returns Over the Last 9 Years
Data from https://coin.dance/stats
If You Bought Bitcoin 9 Years Ago
If you missed buying bitcoin when it was worth practically nothing, you could have still jumped on the gravy train in 2011. If you’d bought one bitcoin nine years ago, you’d be up 918,361.90% today. Just imagine if you’d bought 100.
In Feb 2011, BTC took on parity with the dollar. Of course, $1 worth of BTC wouldn’t have been very useful back then. You needed at least 2.5 bitcoins to buy a cup of coffee–which means you would have paid a staggering $24,105k for your brew today.
If You Bought Bitcoin 8 Years Ago
If you’d bought one bitcoin eight years ago, you would have missed out on its heyday but still have made an eye-popping 223,655.22% ROI today.
In Feb 2012, BTC was worth around $4, so you could have had a coffee, maybe even with some whipped cream on the side.
If You Bought Bitcoin 7 Years Ago
If you’d bought bitcoin in Feb 2013, you’d have got in just in time to experience the best and worst of bull and bear markets and the volatility of BTC.
You would have needed around $7 to buy 1 BTC then (coffee and a cake). And you would have seen a respectable +32,624.30% ROI if you’d kept that bitcoin until today.
That’s unlikely, though, as you were about to preside over two massive market rallies and crashes in just two months. Bitcoin soared to $259.34 on April 10 only to lose 84% of its value three days later.
It would then go bananas for the rest of the year soaring to $1,242 on Nov 29 and ending the year around $700.
If You Bought Bitcoin 6 Years Ago
If you had entered the market in Feb 2014, today you’d have percentage gains of 1,508.97% to show for it. The price of BTC was already beginning to render smaller returns. But that still knocks out all other asset classes.
One bitcoin at that time would have set you back between $550 and $750. The price fell upon the unfortunate closing of Mt. Gox and rallied shortly after, only to hit skidrow amid fears of bearish anti-bitcoin rhetoric coming out of China.
Imagine scooping up a bitcoin for $600. Let’s be honest though, if you were into tech, you’d probably have invested that cash into an iPhone instead starting at $649. How much is that iPhone worth today?
If You Bought Bitcoin 5 Years Ago
Buying bitcoin in Feb 2015 would have been a smarter move. The prices were low in Feb at around $220 a coin. That would have yielded higher returns than buying in the previous year at 3,876.03% today.
The price would remain low until the last quarter of the year when BTC entered a bullish rally and closed 2015 at $504.
If You Bought Bitcoin 4 Years Ago
Four years can pass in the blink of an eye, yet it seems an extraordinarily long time when it comes to Bitcoin. If you were one of the relatively early adopters buying BTC in Feb 2016, you were still set to make a killing with 2,080.24% ROI today.
The price in Feb 2016 was around $430. The rest of the year remained fairly flat until near the end–and we all know what happened in 2017.
But, if you didn’t buy bitcoin at that time, what did you spend that $430 on instead? You’d remember if you’d spent it on bitcoin.
If You Bought Bitcoin 3 Years Ago
Without a doubt, 2017 was the most memorable year in terms of BTC price. Considering its past levels, at between $1,000 and $1,100, you probably would have thought that the price was inflated. You may have waited for it to drop back down to triple digits.
Alas, we all know those days are firmly behind us. BTC was about to embark on a phenomenal rally. If you’d bought in Feb 2017, you would have made a 770.09% return on your investment today.
BTC blasted to an all-time high of nearly $20,000 in December. At this point, you could have bought yourself a lot more than a few cups of coffee–you could have started your own cafe.
If You Bought Bitcoin 2 Years Ago
Buying bitcoin in Feb 2018 is the only time over nine years that you would have made a loss today. Priced anywhere between $8,00 and $11,000, according to CoinDance, you would have made a loss of -3.63% if you’d held that BTC until today.
Don’t feel too bad about it though. According to Max Keiser, one bitcoin will sone be worth $400,000. So if you bought around $10,000, you’re still going to 40x.
If You Bought Bitcoin Last Year
Buying BTC in Feb 2019 would have been an exceptional idea as its price languished in the $3,000s. Rather than licking your wounds for buying at the height of a bull run, you’d be up 157.43% today. Is there anything else you’ve ever bought that’s yielded returns like that?
What year did you first buy into Bitcoin? Let us know in the comment section below!
Images via Shutterstock
Source: https://bitcoinist.com/if-youd-bought-bitcoin-instead/