Invested
$5,000
What $5,000 in Bitcoin in 2018 became
The crypto winter. After the 2017 mania, Bitcoin spent the entire year grinding down — from ~$14,000 to roughly $3,200 by December. Buying here meant catching a falling knife, but at historically cheap prices.
If you had put $5,000 into Bitcoin at the start of 2018 — buying around $13,380 per BTC on January 01, 2018 — you would have acquired roughly 0.3737 BTC. At today's price of $65,750, that position is worth about $24,570, a return of +391% (4.9x your money).
Lump sum vs dollar-cost averaging
The figure above assumes a single lump-sum buy at the start of 2018. If you had instead spread that same $5,000 into equal weekly purchases from 2018 until today, it would be worth about $20,833. Lump sum usually wins when you happen to buy near a market low, while dollar-cost averaging lowers your risk of buying right before a crash. There's no single right answer — it depends on the entry point and your risk tolerance.
Check any amount, coin, or date
These numbers are real, but they're just one scenario. Use the free DCA calculator to test any investment amount, any cryptocurrency, and any start date — with a live chart, ROI breakdown, and a side-by-side DCA vs lump-sum verdict.