If I Bought Bitcoin Calculator
See what a past Bitcoin purchase is worth today.
Planning for the future instead? Try our Bitcoin Future Prediction DCA Calculator.
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Methodology
We verify every formula against primary sources, run it on live data, and document each model's assumptions and limits.
Learn about our methodology →
Built and reviewed by Fabio Arcieri
Fabio Arcieri
Founder, Orange Abacus
Bitcoin researcher with a background in economics and a decade in digital marketing. He builds and reviews every calculator on this site against primary sources.
Read full profile →Last reviewed: July 2026
How to use this calculator
- Amount — the US dollar amount of the purchase.
- Date — the day the purchase happened.
How to read the output
- Current value — what that purchase is worth at the live Bitcoin price today.
- Gain or loss — the dollar and percentage change between the purchase price and today’s price.
- Multiple — how many times over the original amount is worth today.
- Bitcoin bought — the amount of BTC the purchase would have acquired.
- Price on that date — the historical closing price used for the calculation.
The best and worst days to have bought Bitcoin
The single best day to buy Bitcoin gets cheaper the further back the window stretches, while the worst day stays fixed at one recent date. Bitcoin’s highest closing price on record, reached in October 2025, is the worst possible purchase across every window below.
| Scenario | Date | Price then | $100 today | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best day, last 5 years | November 21, 2022 | $15,760 | $407 | +307% |
| Best day, last 10 years | August 2, 2016 | $513.43 | $12,479 | +12,379% |
| Best day, all-time | July 17, 2010 | $0.05 | $128,144,598 | +128,144,498% |
| Worst day, all-time high | October 6, 2025 | $124,723 | $51 | -49% |
Bitcoin’s cheapest recorded day, July 17, 2010, is also the first day this calculator has price data for. Every other best day in the table is a genuine low relative to nearby prices, while the July 2010 entry marks a data boundary more than a market low. The worst day needs no such caveat. It’s Bitcoin’s actual all-time high, reached less than a year before this calculator’s most recent price update.
Buying $100 in Bitcoin, year by year
Buying $100 in Bitcoin on January 1 of any year since 2011 produces a different outcome for every year, from a loss to a return measured in the millions. The table below prices each of those 16 hypothetical purchases against today’s Bitcoin price.
| Year | Price then | $100 today | Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | $0.30 | $21,357,433 | +21,357,333% |
| 2012 | $5.27 | $1,215,793 | +1,215,693% |
| 2013 | $13.30 | $481,747 | +481,647% |
| 2014 | $815.94 | $7,853 | +7,753% |
| 2015 | $314.89 | $20,348 | +20,248% |
| 2016 | $433.99 | $14,764 | +14,664% |
| 2017 | $995.44 | $6,437 | +6,337% |
| 2018 | $13,445 | $477 | +377% |
| 2019 | $3,880 | $1,651 | +1,551% |
| 2020 | $7,190 | $891 | +791% |
| 2021 | $29,389 | $218 | +118% |
| 2022 | $47,737 | $134 | +34% |
| 2023 | $16,614 | $386 | +286% |
| 2024 | $44,198 | $145 | +45% |
| 2025 | $94,393 | $68 | -32% |
| 2026 | $88,743 | $72 | -28% |
Every one of these 16 purchases used a different starting price, and today’s value swings from a few dollars short of $100 to more than $21 million depending on the year. The purchase date matters more than almost any other variable in this calculator. Recent years show modest, sometimes negative returns, since Bitcoin’s price has grown from fractions of a cent into a multi-trillion dollar asset over a decade and a half.
Frequently asked questions
What if I invested $1,000 in Bitcoin 5 years ago?
Investing $1,000 in Bitcoin exactly 5 years ago, on July 6, 2021, would be worth about $1,871 today, a gain of roughly 87%. The exact figure changes with the day, since Bitcoin traded near $34,000 in mid-2021 and moved substantially within that year alone. Enter $1,000 and a date 5 years back into the calculator above for the precise value at any date, based on CryptoCompare's daily closing prices.What if I invested $20 in Bitcoin in 2009?
Investing in Bitcoin in 2009 falls outside what this calculator supports, since Bitcoin had no established market price until exchanges began operating in mid-2010. The daily price data behind this calculator starts July 17, 2010, when Bitcoin traded at $0.05. A $20 purchase on that earliest available date would have bought 400 BTC, worth about $25.6 million at today's price, but nothing earlier than July 2010 is available to calculate.Does this calculator account for fees, taxes, or inflation?
This calculator doesn't account for fees, taxes, or inflation. It compares a historical closing price against today's live price and shows the raw dollar difference. It doesn't adjust for exchange fees paid at purchase, capital gains tax owed on a sale, or the eroding effect of inflation on the original dollar amount. Treat the result as a before-costs snapshot, not a net return.How much will $10,000 worth of Bitcoin be worth in 2030?
How much Bitcoin will be worth in 2030 isn't something this calculator answers, since it only looks backward at confirmed historical prices. Projecting a purchase forward under different growth scenarios is a separate question, covered by Orange Abacus's Bitcoin future prediction calculator. This calculator's job is the opposite: showing what a past purchase, at a known price, is worth at today's known price.Can I use a specific date, or does this only work with 'X years ago'?
This calculator works with a specific date, entered directly, rather than a relative phrase like '5 years ago' or '10 years ago.' Pick any date from July 17, 2010 through today in the date field above, and the calculator looks up that day's actual closing price. Relative phrases like '5 years ago' are just a starting point. Convert them to a specific date before entering.