If you had invested $500 in Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) five years ago, you'd have about $5,238 today. In other words, you would have more than 10x returns.
In mid-2025, it hit an all-time high around $122,000. At today's price near $115,000, that same 0.43 BTC from your $100 investment in 2015 would be worth almost $50,000. That's a gain most traditional investments could never match in such a short span. And yet, this growth was never in a straight line.
Investing $100 in Bitcoin about 10 years ago (around late 2015/early 2016) would have turned that initial amount into tens of thousands of dollars, potentially over $30,000, given Bitcoin's massive growth from roughly $300-$400 per coin to over $100,000 by late 2025/early 2026, though exact value depends on the specific purchase price and current market fluctuations, representing an astronomical return but also highlighting Bitcoin's extreme volatility.
Bitcoin has been a high-performing asset
Despite extreme volatility, Bitcoin's price has skyrocketed 1,060% in the past five years as I write this. This monster gain would've turned a $10,000 initial capital outlay in October 2020 to a whopping $115,700 on Oct. 6.
The crypto reality check
Theoretically, A$1,000 invested when Bitcoin traded around 37 Australian cents in late 2010 could have grown to approximately $466.8 million by now. That's a whopping 46,682,249% return. However, cryptocurrency investors faced immense challenges over this period.
If you had invested $500 in Bitcoin (BTC 0.49%) five years ago, you'd have about $5,238 today. In other words, you would have more than 10x returns. Image source: Getty Images.
Laszlo Hanyecz, a programmer and early Bitcoin miner, famously traded 10,000 Bitcoin for two Papa John's pizzas on May 22, 2010, marking the first documented commercial transaction for physical goods with cryptocurrency, a day now celebrated as "Bitcoin Pizza Day". At the time, the Bitcoins were worth only about $41, but the value of those coins would later grow to be worth hundreds of millions, even over a billion dollars, making it one of history's most expensive pizzas.
As of Dec. 17, 2025, 19.96 million Bitcoins have been mined, leaving approximately 1.1 million Bitcoins to be released. 9 The total Bitcoin supply is capped at 21 million.
For example, a $100 Bitcoin investment five years ago would be worth $370 today.
Bitcoin's volatility demands a conservative, disciplined entry. Most beginners should start with 1–2% of their investable assets, using dollar-cost averaging (DCA) to spread out timing risk. Start with $100–$500 monthly and only increase allocation after gaining confidence, market knowledge, and a solid long-term plan.
If you had the foresight, or simply the good luck, to have invested $1,000 in Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) a decade ago, and never sold, you would have more than $398,000 today. And keep in mind that this was after an already remarkable run that saw Bitcoin rise from a fraction of a cent in 2010 to about $300 per coin.
Key Points. Michael Saylor's base case puts Bitcoin at $13 million per coin by 2045, which would turn a $100 investment today into $15,115 in 20 years. Even Saylor's most conservative (or least preposterous) $3 million target would deliver a 3,388% return, beating the S&P 500's historical averages by a healthy margin.
I bought Bitcoin in 2010 and forgot — is it still recoverable? Only if you still have access to the wallet file or private key. If not, the Bitcoin is likely lost permanently.
Key Takeaways. The IRS treats cryptocurrency as property, meaning that when you buy, sell or exchange it, this counts as a taxable event and typically results in either a capital gain or loss. When you earn income from cryptocurrency activities, this is taxed as ordinary income.
2011 – 2012: $1 to $13.50
In 2011, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) accepted BTC for donations for a few months, but quickly backtracked due to a lack of a legal framework for virtual currencies. In February of 2011, BTC reached $1.00 for the first time, achieving parity with the U.S. dollar.
Bitcoin first made its debut for trading at the beginning of July 2010 at a price of $0.0008 per token. That's just eight-hundredths of a penny. If we make the hypothetical assumption that there were no transaction fees, a $100 investment on its debut day could have purchased 125,000 Bitcoin.