Beginners should generally allocate 1% to 5% of their total investment portfolio to Bitcoin, starting with small, manageable amounts ($50–$100) to understand market volatility. Because Bitcoin is highly speculative, only invest money you can afford to lose, using dollar-cost averaging (buying at regular intervals) to reduce risk.
Most people assume they need thousands of dollars to start investing in crypto. That's false. Even $50 or $100 can be enough to take your first real step into the digital asset world. Starting small helps you learn instead of chasing profits.
It's important to remember that investing a small amount of money in BTC means that your returns will likely be relatively small. For example, if you invest $20 in BTC and the price triples, you will have $60 worth of BTC. However, someone who invests $2,000 will have $6,000 of BTC.
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.
Bitcoin still has potential to grow, but don't expect the same returns as the past few years. Buying and selling Bitcoin (BTC 2.01%) has made some investors rich, considering that its value has surged 1,200% during the past six years. That means a previous $20,000 investment would be worth $260,000 now.
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.
Bitcoin is a risky investment with obvious high volatility, and generally should be considered only if you have a high risk tolerance, are in a strong financial position already and can afford to lose some or all of your investment.
To buy Bitcoin as a beginner, sign up for a reputable crypto exchange like Coinbase or Binance, complete the identity verification (KYC), link a bank account or debit card, deposit funds, and then place a "buy" order for Bitcoin, choosing between instant market orders or setting a specific price with limit orders, and consider moving it to a personal wallet for greater control.
Several potential drawbacks of Bitcoin include include:
Each sale can result in a capital gain or loss for U.S. taxpayers. Bitcoin comes with high transaction costs, and the transactions can take several minutes to complete.
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.
"We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions," Musk explained in a tweet, "especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel."
Ramsey's Simple Three-Investment Rule
In a 2024 video, Ramsey said, "I have three investments — that's all I have: my business, paid-for real estate and mutual funds. I don't play single stocks. I don't screw around with gold. I don't mess with Bitcoin."