If You Bought $10 Worth of Ethereum 5 Years Ago, Here’s How Much You’d Have Today
Feeling a twinge of regret for ignoring the crypto market until now? These numbers aren’t going to make you feel any better.
Cryptocurrency is booming right now, and it seems to be all anyone in finance wants to talk about.
Those of us who are just starting to pay attention now are probably kicking ourselves for ignoring the opportunity years ago – when it would have been much cheaper to dip our toes in the water.
How much was ETH worth 5 years ago?
Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain (a database of cryptocurrency transactions). It supports thousands of cryptocurrencies and NFTs, including its native coin, Ether (ETH). It’s the second-largest cryptocurrency, after Bitcoin.
According to Coindesk historical data, the price of ETH five years ago (on April 12, 2016) was $7.10 for one coin. If you bought $10 worth of the currency, you’d have 1.4 ETH. ($10 divided by $7.10 is 1.4.)
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How much is ETH worth today?
The price of Ether as of April 12, 2021 is $2,144.42 for one coin. That’s 302 times the price five years ago – about 30,000% growth!
If you bought $10 of ETH 5 years ago, here’s how much you’d have today
Growth like that is too phenomenal for most of us to fathom, so we’ll do the math for you. If you bought $10 worth of Ethereum five years ago, you’d have about $3,020 today ($10 x 302). That’s not exactly retirement money, but it’s not bad for a $10 buy-in.
For anyone who saw the potential in cryptocurrency back then and did want to bet an early retirement on it, they could probably have reached that goal with an investment of about $4,100. Five years ago, $4,139 worth of Ethereum, left untouched, would be about $1.25 million today, enough to support $50,000 in annual living expenses for the next 25 years.
Is Ethereum a good investment now?
Like many other cryptocurrencies, Ethereum is having a moment right now. Its value is soaring – up 1,224% from a year ago, and almost constantly rising in value since fall of 2020.
So does that make it a good investment?
If your reason for investing in cryptocurrency is to get rich quickly, it’s not a good investment – no investment is if that’s your motivation. No investment comes with guaranteed returns, and crypto is more volatile than any other market.
All of cryptocurrency is just over a decade old, and Ethereum has been around for less than six years. Even though we’ve seen phenomenal jumps in value in that time, we’ve also seen significant drops. And the market doesn’t have enough history – like the traditional stock market – to figure out whether it stands to stabilize and yield positive returns in the long run.
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Folks who’ve earned thousands or millions of dollars in returns with the currency made big bets years ago and got lucky. Crypto investment is best for money you’re willing and able to lose – because your financial future can’t depend on luck.
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Ethereum closing in on $3,000 as Bitcoin eases off the throttle - CityAM
The biggest challenger to Bitcoin’s claim to the throne of cryptocurrency – Ethereum (ETH) – set yet another all-time high today as it charged towards $3,000.
Stopping just $50 short of the hugely psychological landmark figure, Ether continues to steamroller its way towards flattening Bitcoin’s market dominance of cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin, currently levelling off after an impressive return above $57,000, appears to have temporarily lost momentum after climbing sharply away from yesterday’s low of $52,740.
Instead, it’s Ethereum’s sails which are catching the wind as digital entrepreneur Vitalik Buterin’s brainchild steers a course towards $3k.
Ethereum – along with Binance’s native BNB coin – has been one of the stand-out success stories of 2021 after almost quadrupling its value since the start of the year.
Just two months shy of toasting its sixth birthday, Ether’s trajectory over the last few months has been nothing short of remarkable.
While cryptocurrencies across the board have enjoyed their most prosperous spell throughout their history since being incepted with the launch of Bitcoin (BTC) 12 years ago, only Ethereum’s native Ether has shown enough pedigree to prove that it may, one day, match the power of the original crypto.
And this weekend is starting to showcase just how far ETH has come since the days when $300 – let alone $3,000 – were something of a fanciful dream.
Gritty impetus
The main European session of Saturday had enough trading volume to carry it beyond the $2,800 mark, and that gritty impetus seamlessly overlapped into a waking Asian market which seemed hellbent on a serious breach of $3k.
Many analysts, though, appear concerned that Ethereum may overheat – much like Bitcoin did last month when a massive surge towards $60,000 sent it spinning out of control before repeatedly dipping below the $50,000 safety net.
However, for every cautious Capulet, there is a menagerie of motivated Montagues willing Ether on. Not simply to see yet another all-time high get painted on to the side of Vitalik Buterin’s cockpit, but rather to see Bitcoin’s dominance diluted even further in what is shaping up to be an exalted alt season.
Although often the bridesmaid and never the bride, Ethereum isn’t flying solo in its attempt to take ground from the flagship BTC.
BNB – Binance’s own coin – has been quietly eating more than its fair share of the crypto cake and is currently stuffing its face with gusto at $620.
The running joke among cryptocurrency enthusiasts – Dogecoin – has also done a decent job of eating up the crumbs as its Elon Musk-fuelled Twitter party celebrates another approach on $40 a portion.
More thoughtful projects are also making serious waves across the crypto and blockchain world. Things like the Charles Hoskinson-driven Cardano and its native ADA coin are taking massive strides across Africa, and potentially solidifying an as-yet-untapped market for digital assets and the underpinning technology.
Earlier this week, Cardano announced it was teaming up with Save The Children at its ‘Africa Special’ to assist with the world-renowned charity’s humanitarian efforts in East Africa.
Although not yet ranked close to BNB or ETH, ADA has set the marker down for how much of a big player it intends to become as it builds on the African market.
READ MORE: Ethiopia overhauls its education system with IOHK blockchain partnership
Elsewhere, it’s hard to ignore the remarkable achievements of the usual suspects – Litecoin, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash et al – as they set out their stalls for the world to see beyond the dominance of Bitcoin.
That sovereignty, certainly during this cycle, is definitely slipping. How far it retreats or recovers is anyone’s guess.
Move over, Bitcoin. Ethereum is at an all-time high
New York (CNN Business) Bitcoin prices continued their rebound Saturday, rising about 6% to nearly $58,000. But the world’s largest cryptocurrency has been overshadowed lately by its younger sibling, Ethereum.
Ethereum, or ether for short, hit a new record high Saturday of just over $2,900. Ether prices have nearly quadrupled in 2021, soaring 290%. Bitcoin has had a great run too this year, doubling in value.
Bitcoin’s XBT The total value of all Ethereum in circulation is now about $333 billion, according to CoinMarketCap market value is nearly $1.1 trillion.
Tesla TSLA MicroStrategy MSTR Square SQ PayPal PYPL Bitcoin has soared this year in part due to increased adoption from corporate America. Musk’sand software firmhave bought bitcoin to hold on their balance sheets. Digital payments giantsandare letting users buy, sell and hold crypto, too.