$1,000 in Bitcoin or S&P 500 in 2021? Stocks Payout More Today

The article compares a $1,000 investment in Bitcoin versus the S&P 500 from July 2021 to June/July 2026 and finds that stocks narrowly outperformed crypto. Bitcoin rose about 68% over the period, while the S&P 500 gained about 74%, turning $1,000 into roughly $1,676 and $1,736, respectively. The piece emphasizes that Bitcoin’s much higher volatility did not translate into higher returns in this window, including a 75% crash during the 2022 crypto winter and a peak above $69,000 in 2021 followed by large swings. By contrast, the S&P 500 experienced a much smoother path, with a worst drawdown of around 25% in 2022. The market takeaway is that, over this specific five-year stretch, traditional equities delivered slightly better risk-adjusted performance than Bitcoin despite crypto’s larger rallies.