A decentralized digital currency with a fixed set of rules enforced by code, not by any government or central bank. Hard cap of 21 million coins. No entity can print more. No single point of failure or control.
Bitcoin is digital money with a fixed supply of 21 million coins, enforced by code, not by any bank or government. Nobody can make more. Nobody can freeze yours. You can send it anywhere in the world in minutes without asking permission. Think of it as internet-native cash that can't be inflated away, because the rules are written in math, not policy.
Post-halving returns (12โ18mo): +9,000% (2012), +2,900% (2016), +600% (2020). Each cycle compresses as the market cap grows.
Pick any dollar amount and any past date. We'll show you what that money would be worth today in Bitcoin vs. the S&P 500.
Prices are quarterly closing approximations from CoinGecko and Yahoo Finance for SPY. The calculator looks up the nearest quarter to your selected date. Past performance is past performance โ it does not mean tomorrow will look the same.
โ Bitcoin's CAGR varies by start date. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Bitcoin has experienced drawdowns of 50โ85% multiple times.
Bitcoin is no longer a fringe asset held only by cypherpunks. The largest institutions in finance, and sovereign governments, are now accumulating.
In January 2024, the SEC approved spot Bitcoin ETFs. Within 12 months, they attracted over $50 billion in net inflows, making them the most successful ETF launch in history. BlackRock, Fidelity, and Invesco don't add Bitcoin to their product lineup because they think it's a fad. They add it because their clients demanded it.
El Salvador made Bitcoin legal tender in September 2021, the first country in history to do so.
Holds roughly 550,000+ BTC as of Q1 2026 โ the largest corporate Bitcoin treasury in the world.
IBIT became the fastest ETF to reach $10 billion AUM in history, doing it in 20 days.
The U.S. government holds 200,000+ BTC seized from criminal proceedings, and has discussed a strategic Bitcoin reserve.
"Bitcoin is increasingly viewed as a legitimate asset class, not by retail speculators, but by the most sophisticated institutional investors in the world."
BlackRock Global Macro Commentary, 2024Trying to time the market is a losing game. Even professional fund managers fail at it more often than not. DCA removes the guesswork: you buy the same dollar amount on the same schedule, every week or month, regardless of price. You buy more when it's cheap, less when it's expensive, and you never have to stress about whether "now is the right time."
Research consistently shows that lump-sum investing outperforms DCA about 2/3 of the time in traditional markets. But for Bitcoin's volatility, DCA removes emotional decisions, prevents buying at the worst possible moment, and lets you start immediately with any amount. The best strategy is the one you'll actually stick to.
How much should you DCA? A common starting point: 1-5% of your take-home pay. $20/week is roughly $1,000/year. The amount matters less than consistency. Pick a number small enough that you'll never skip a week, even in a crash. If it changes your daily spending habits, it's too much. You can always increase later.
Active traders underperform passive holders over any significant horizon. Bitcoin's best single days frequently come without warning; missing the top 10 trading days in any given year devastates returns. Most people who "trade Bitcoin" are really just paying taxes and fees to underperform buying and holding. Stack and walk away.
Automate a fixed weekly or monthly purchase through River or Swan. Set it, forget it, and withdraw to cold storage quarterly. No charts. No emotions. No watching price. The biggest risk isn't not buying; it's panic-selling during drawdowns.
The IRS classifies Bitcoin as property, not currency. This means every sale, trade, or purchase using Bitcoin is a taxable event. Capital gains rules apply:
Key facts for U.S. holders:
Bitcoin has outperformed every major asset class in 10 of the last 12 years. Even people who bought at the absolute worst time are sitting on gains. Here's the data, unvarnished.
Bitcoin's price rises over time for a simple reason: there are only 21 million, the new supply gets cut in half every 4 years, and the number of people who want it keeps growing. You don't need to time the market. Buying any amount and holding has historically beaten waiting for a better price.
Assumes $1,000 invested at January price for each year, held to present.
10-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Bitcoin's ~55% annualized return dwarfs every traditional asset class.
Every ~4 years, the amount of new Bitcoin created per block is cut in half. Historically, this supply shock triggers substantial price appreciation in the 12โ18 months that follow.
Bitcoin has crashed hard. Multiple times. If you can't stomach a 70%+ temporary decline, size your position accordingly. Every crash has fully recovered.
No matter when you bought Bitcoin, if you held for 4+ years, you made money. The volatility is real. The direction is clear.
Last updated 2026-04-14. Not financial advice. Do your own research.