If You'd Invested $1,000 in Bitcoin (BTC) 5 Years Ago, Here's How Much You'd Have Today

Key Points

• A $1,000 Bitcoin purchase on Aug. 20, 2020, would be worth roughly $9,784 five years later.

• The bull run included a roughly 75% drawdown by the end of 2022 -- followed by another strong rebound.

• Bitcoin may trend higher from here, but risks remain, and there may be sharp price corrections.

• 10 stocks we like better than Bitcoin ›

Let's say you had $1,000 of spare cash to invest on Aug. 20, 2020. If you had invested that money in the popular Vanguard 500 Index Fund (NYSEMKT: VOO) and enabled dividend reinvestments, that investment would be worth $2,038 today.

A double in five years? That's a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.3%. Not too shabby!

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

Image source: Getty Images.

The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ: QQQ) would have served you slightly better. The index fund, which tracks the performance of the Nasdaq-100 market index, showed a total return of $2,097 over the same period.

However, both wealth-building stock market trackers look sleepy next to the skyrocketing cryptocurrency Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC). A $1,000 Bitcoin investment in the summer of coronavirus lockdowns would be worth $9,784 today:

Bitcoin Price data by YCharts

How Bitcoin earned its returns

Bitcoin's path to these market-crushing returns wasn't smooth. The digital currency soared in 2020 and 2021, fell back a hair-raising 75% by the end of 2022, and found a second wind after that trough.

These days, Bitcoin is exploring fresh all-time highs on a weekly basis, but in a nerve-wrackingly volatile way. Last year's halving event almost disappears in the ruckus of market-moving Bitcoin news. The introduction of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) had a calming effect on the underlying cryptocurrency, and recent support from the U.S. government also helped.

All told, Bitcoin ETFs sport a beta value of 2.8. That makes Bitcoin about three times as volatile as the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) stock market index, which underpins Vanguard's VOO fund.

Can Bitcoin keep beating Wall Street?

My time machine is in for repairs, so I can only speculate about the next five years.

However, Bitcoin's anti-inflationary design should combine with rising cryptocurrency usage, adding bullish weight to the supply and-demand balance. So the next half-decade probably won't see another ninefold price gain, but Bitcoin's squiggly chart should generally trend higher again.

Should you invest $1,000 in Bitcoin right now?

Before you buy stock in Bitcoin, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Bitcoin wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $654,624!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,075,117!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,052% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of August 18, 2025

Anders Bylund has positions in Bitcoin and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin and Vanguard S&P 500 ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.