What If You Had Put $1,000 Into Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and Solana 5 Years Ago?
Buying crypto at the peak of a massive rally sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, but the results across Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and Solana over the past five years tell a far more complicated story than you might expect.
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If you had invested $1,000 in Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC), Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH), XRP (CRYPTO:XRP), or Solana (CRYPTO:SOL) five years ago, you bought in close to the peak of a major market rally. Bitcoin closed October 2021 at $61,340 and hit a high of $68,770 in November 2021, shortly before the market began to decline. As a result, investors bought all four cryptocurrencies near their highs.
Over the past 90 days, all four coins have recovered some ground, with Bitcoin up 25.6% and Solana up 37.6%. However, they are all still significantly down compared to a year ago.
We examined a $1,000 investment in each coin made on October 27, 2021, and evaluated their worth recently. Of the four cryptocurrencies, two gained value while two lost almost half their value.
Bitcoin and XRP Profited While Ethereum and Solana Experienced Losses
| Coin | Price on Oct. 27, 2021 | Price on Oct. 26, 2026 | 5-Year Change | $1,000 Is Now Worth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | $58,681 | $80,168 | +36.6% | $1,366 |
| Ethereum | $3,954 | $2,329 | -41.1% | $589 |
| XRP | $1.00 | $1.30 | +29.5% | $1,295 |
| Solana | $185 | $101 | -45.1% | $549 |
Bitcoin turned a $1,000 investment into about $1,366, a 36.6% increase over five years. XRP closely followed with a value of approximately $1,295 after a 29.5% gain.
On the other hand, Ethereum fell 41.1%, reducing $1,000 to about $589, while Solana fell 45.1%, leaving about $549.
If you had split your $1,000 investment equally among the four coins, with $250 in each, your total would be about $950 based on today’s price. The two gainers absorbed most of the losses from the two decliners, but the overall investment still lost money over five years.
Bitcoin and Solana Holders Experienced Wild Fluctuations
Bitcoin’s journey was turbulent. At its June 2022 monthly low, Bitcoin fell to $17,698, dropping the initial $1,000 investment to about $302, a 69.8% decline. It then surged to its all-time high in October 2025, making that stake worth around $2,150.
Solana had an even more dramatic ride. It plummeted to a low of $8.12 in December 2022, cutting the initial investment down to about $44, a staggering 95.6% loss. However, it rebounded to $295 in January 2025, bringing that stake back up to about $1,597.
Even Ethereum and XRP investors faced significant losses after experiencing gains. In late October 2025, XRP was priced at $2.65, and Ethereum hit $4,159, both above their prices from October 2021. Unfortunately, both coins saw declines of 51.0% for XRP and 44.0% for Ethereum in the following year.
Stocks and Steady Investment Outperformed a One-Time Crypto Investment
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) tracks large U.S. companies and closed at $459 in October 2021. By October 23, 2026, it climbed to $760. With dividends reinvested, a $1,000 investment would have grown to about $1,770, for a total return of 77.0%—better than any of the cryptocurrencies mentioned.
The ETF also had a smoother ride. Its lowest monthly price during this period was $348 in October 2022, a 24% dip—much less severe than Bitcoin’s or Solana’s drops.
A dollar-cost averaging strategy—investing a fixed amount regularly regardless of price—would have helped as well. If you had invested $200 in Bitcoin at the end of each October from 2021 through 2025, you would have paid $61,340, $20,504, $34,650, $70,347, and $109,555 per coin.
Overall, those five investments would be worth about $1,880 based on recent prices, outperforming the one-time investment of $1,366 made in October 2021. The 2022 purchase played a crucial role because it bought Bitcoin near its market low.
Which Coin Performed Best with a $1,000 Investment 5 Years Ago?
Bitcoin emerged as the top performer, yielding a 36.6% gain over five years, while XRP followed closely with a 29.5% increase. In contrast, Ethereum and Solana are still trading significantly below their prices from October 2021. To break even, Ethereum would need to surpass $3,954, an increase of about 70%, and Solana would need to rise above $185, about 83% higher.
Meanwhile, an S&P 500 index fund outperformed all four cryptocurrencies, and the strategy of investing in Bitcoin over five years yielded the best result of the group. Bitcoin may maintain its leading position as it has gained the most of these coins since 2021. If Bitcoin stays above $79,107 (its low in October 2026), the initial $1,000 investment keeps showing a solid profit. However, if it falls below $58,681, that gain could disappear entirely.
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Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst and the editor of 24/7 Wall St.'s Crypto Desk, where he covers Bitcoin, XRP, Ethereum, Solana and the altcoins investors search for most. His work focuses on price levels, spot ETF flows, on-chain data and the regulatory decisions that move crypto markets, written so a first-time buyer and a seasoned trader can both use it.
Sam has written about crypto professionally since 2019 and has published more than 2,000 articles. Before joining 24/7 Wall St., he wrote for crypto media outlets and Web3 companies and ghostwrote for crypto founders and token launches. His analysis is syndicated on Yahoo Finance, MSN and AOL and has been cited by other crypto news sites. He also founded MacLabs Marketing, a content and personal branding agency for crypto founders and executives.
When he isn't reading charts, Sam is usually at the gym or watching One Piece, a series he maintains has better tokenomics than most altcoins.
