Cryptocurrencies have been on a tear since late last year, as buying interest perked up in anticipation of a regulatory nod for spot Bitcoin BTC/USD exchange-traded funds. Although the rally stalled after the SEC approval came through in early January, it resumed after the lull.
Which of the widely owned and popular cryptos generated better returns for investors?
Stratospheric Climb: After a forgettable 2022, most cryptocurrencies began to take off in 2023, with most of the upside taking place toward the back half of the year. The upside is in part due to bargain hunting as investors looked past scandals and general risk aversion improved. But much of the buoyancy came on the back of optimism over the spot Bitcoin ETF approval and the impact it would have on the space.
A spot Bitcoin ETF was perceived as a way for investors to gain more exposure to digital assets without having to directly own them, which could encourage wider adoption of cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin ended 2022 with a loss of over 64% at $16,547.50. The crypto began a slow and steady recovery in 2023, and the rally began to accelerate only after the apex crypto broke above a key resistance around $30,000 in late-October. After moving sideways for much of January, the Bitcoin rally reaccelerated in February.
Despite warnings from skeptics about a potential correction, crypto investors appear to have thrown caution to the winds and continued buying.
See Also: Best Online Cryptocurrency Brokers
Returns From Investment: Bitcoin is trading just shy of the $70,000 mark after pushing past the level last week. The performance of Ethereum ETH/USD, the second-biggest crypto, has been a silent performer.
Meme coin Shiba Inu SHIB/USD, though late to the party, has made strong gains this year. Dogecoin DOGE/USD, another favorite, has also gained traction.
Assuming a hypothetical scenario in which an investor made a $1,000 bet on each of these cryptos, here’s how much return it would have generated now.
- $1,000 invested in Bitcoin at the end of October would have fetched 0.029 Bitcoin. It would be worth $1,975.87 now (based on Saturday’s closing price). This translates to a return of about 98% in little over three months.
- The same $1,000 invested in Ethereum at the end of October would have fetched 0.55 of the crypto. This would be worth about $2,150, a return of about 115%.
- If the investor had put in the dollars in SHIB, the $1,000 would have got him 125,000,000 SHIBs. The same would be worth $4,250, a 325% return.
- If the investor had opted to plow in $1,000 in DOGE at the end of October, he would have received 14,646 of the meme coin. At Saturday’s closing, the holding would be worth $2,623, a gain of 162%.
At last check, Bitcoin rose 1.61% at $69,472.43, Ethereum was up a modest 0.31% at $3,906.97, while SHIB fell 4.61% to $0.000034 and Doge slipped 3.25% to $0.174072, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Photo: Shutterstock
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
