Which was the better investment since 2020, Bitcoin or S&P 500 (SPY)?

Bitcoin was the better investment. $1,000 invested in Bitcoin in 2020 would be worth $6,239 today, compared to $2,540 for S&P 500 (SPY).

What would $1,000 in Bitcoin vs S&P 500 (SPY) be worth today?

$1,000 invested in Bitcoin in 2020 would be worth $6,239 today (+523.9%). The same $1,000 in S&P 500 (SPY) would be worth $2,540 (+154.0%).

How do Bitcoin and S&P 500 (SPY) compare to the S&P 500 since 2020?

The same $1,000 invested in the S&P 500 in 2020 would be worth $2,540 today (+154%). Bitcoin returned $6,239 and S&P 500 (SPY) returned $2,540 over the same period.

Bitcoin vs S&P 500 (SPY): $1,000 invested since 2020

BTC-USD vs SPY · Data through 2026-07-01

Investment amount

$1,000 invested in 2020 would be worth

BitcoinWinner

$6,239

+523.9%

S&P 500 (SPY)

$2,540

+154.0%

The same $1,000 in the S&P 500 would be worth $2,540(+154%)

Growth of $1,000

Bitcoin vs. S&P 500 (SPY) vs. S&P 500, 2020 to present

Year-by-year comparison

Bitcoin vs. S&P 500 (SPY), 2020 to present

Year	Bitcoin	Return	S&P 500 (SPY)	Return	S&P 500
2020	$1,000	-	$1,000	-	$1,000
2021	$3,541	+254.1%	$1,172	+17.2%	$1,172
2022	$4,116	+16.2%	$1,444	+23.2%	$1,444
2023	$2,475	-39.9%	$1,325	-8.2%	$1,325
2024	$4,554	+84.0%	$1,598	+20.6%	$1,598
2025	$10,952	+140.5%	$2,018	+26.2%	$2,018
2026	$8,408	-23.2%	$2,347	+16.3%	$2,347

Which came out ahead

Starting in 2020, Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was the better of the two against S&P 500 (SPY). That $1,000 grew to $6,239 in BTC-USD versus $2,540 in SPY as of 2026-07-01, roughly $3,699 more in the end.

The headline returns line up with the dollar figures. Bitcoin returned +523.9% against S&P 500 (SPY) at +154.0%, a gap of about 369.9 percentage points over the 6.6-year window. Compounded, that is about 32.1% a year for BTC-USD against 15.2% for SPY.

Because S&P 500 (SPY) is itself a broad index fund, this matchup measures a single position against the market rather than against another single stock. The two paths differed in how rough they were. Bitcoin moved across a far wider band of yearly returns than S&P 500 (SPY) 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.

Other start years

Bitcoin vs S&P 500 (SPY) from a different starting point

Since 2015 Since 2023

Individual stock pages

Bitcoin since 2020+523.9%S&P 500 (SPY) since 2020+154.0%

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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.