If I'd invested in Bitcoin since 2018
$1,000 put into Bitcoin at the end of 2018 would be worth about $17,212 today — a 17.2× return, or roughly 46.8% a year. Change the amount below to run your own number.
You'd have
$17,212
from $1,000 invested — up 1621%.
The story behind the number
Bitcoin since 2018 has been a fairly steady climb. $1,000 put in at the end of 2018 grew to $17,212 — a 17.2× return, or about 46.8% a year. That beat the S&P 500, which turned the same $1,000 into $2,968 — you'd have come out roughly 5.80× ahead of simply buying the index.
The ride mattered as much as the destination. The strongest single year was 2019, up 60%; the worst was 2022, down 38%.
Holding on took nerve: the position fell as much as 73% from its 2021 peak to its 2022 low, before climbing back above that high by 2023. Inflation takes a bite, too — consumer prices rose about 32% over the period, so in today's money the result is closer to 13.0× what you put in.
Common questions
- How much would I have if I'd invested $1,000 in Bitcoin in 2018?
- $1,000 invested in Bitcoin at the end of 2018 would be worth about $17,212 today — a 17.2× return, or roughly 46.8% per year.
- What were the best and worst years for Bitcoin since 2018?
- The best year was 2019, up about 60%. The toughest was 2022, when it fell about 38%. Across the window, 41 of 90 years finished lower than they started.
- What was the biggest drop along the way?
- The steepest decline was about 73%, from a peak in 2021 to a low in 2022, with the value recovering above its prior high by 2023.
- Would I have done better in S&P 500?
- No — the S&P 500 turned $1,000 into about $2,968 over the same window, while Bitcoin reached $17,212. Bitcoin came out ahead.
The chart above shows the whole journey, not just the destination. Try switching to a bit each year to see how spreading your buying would have changed the outcome — or skip the latte to find out what a small daily habit could have grown into instead.
More Bitcoin scenarios
All Bitcoin years →If I'd invested in Bitcoin since 2011
since 2011
If I'd invested in Bitcoin since 2016
since 2016
If I'd invested in Bitcoin since 2019
since 2019
If I'd invested in Bitcoin since 2020
since 2020
If I'd invested in Bitcoin since 2025
since 2025