Bitcoin vs Ethereum: $1,000 invested since 2020
BTC-USD vs ETH-USD · Data through 2026-07-01
$1,000 invested in 2020 would be worth
Bitcoin
$6,239+523.9%
EthereumWinner
$8,687+768.7%
The same $1,000 in the S&P 500 would be worth $2,540(+154%)
Growth of $1,000
Bitcoin vs. Ethereum vs. S&P 500, 2020 to present
Year-by-year comparison
Bitcoin vs. Ethereum, 2020 to present
| Year | Bitcoin | Ethereum |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| 2021 | $3,541 | $7,299 |
| 2022 | $4,116 | $14,922 |
| 2023 | $2,475 | $8,806 |
| 2024 | $4,554 | $12,670 |
| 2025 | $10,952 | $18,307 |
| 2026 | $8,408 | $13,572 |
Which came out ahead
Ethereum (ETH-USD) outpaced Bitcoin (BTC-USD) over this stretch from 2020. That $1,000 grew to $8,687 in ETH-USD versus $6,239 in BTC-USD as of 2026-07-01, roughly $2,447 more in the end.
The headline returns line up with the dollar figures. Ethereum returned +768.7% against Bitcoin at +523.9%, a gap of about 244.8 percentage points over the 6.6-year window. Compounded, that is about 38.9% a year for ETH-USD against 32.1% for BTC-USD.
Both holdings beat a plain S&P 500 fund over the same span, which would have turned that $1,000 into about $2,540 at roughly 15.2% a year. Volatility was not shared evenly. Ethereum moved across a far wider band of yearly returns than Bitcoin did. All figures use split-adjusted closing prices and exclude dividends, taxes, fees, and inflation, so a real after-tax result would differ.
Treat this as history rather than advice about either company. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
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For informational and educational purposes only. Not financial advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All calculations are based on split-adjusted closing prices from Yahoo Finance and do not account for dividends, taxes, or trading fees. See our methodology and full disclaimer.