Bitcoin in 2022: $47,686.81 Per Coin
The year of reckoning. Bitcoin started near $48,000 and ended below $17,000. Luna collapsed, Three Arrows Capital imploded, and FTX turned out to be a fraud. The Fed raised rates at the fastest pace in decades. Inflation hit 9.1%. War broke out in Ukraine. It was a brutal year, but Bitcoin's network never stopped running.
On January 1, 2022, one Bitcoin cost $47,686.81. At today's price of $73,071, that represents a 2x return. Here is what different investments would be worth.
The Math: $100, $500, and $1,000 Invested
$100 invested would have bought 0.0021 BTC, worth $153 today.
$500 invested would have bought 0.0105 BTC, worth $766 today.
$1,000 invested would have bought 0.0210 BTC, worth $1,532 today.
BTC price then: $47,686.81
BTC price now: $73,071
Return multiple: 2x
What This Actually Means for You
A 1.5x return in 4 years is solid, especially compared to a savings account losing purchasing power to inflation every year. But the real insight is not about this specific entry point. It is about the trajectory. Bitcoin has been the best-performing asset of the last 15 years, and its fundamental properties — fixed supply, decentralization, censorship resistance — have not changed.
The strategy that works is dollar cost averaging. Buy a fixed amount regularly. Do not try to time the market. Every four-year DCA window in Bitcoin's history has been profitable. Even people who bought near previous all-time highs and kept buying ended up well ahead.
Want to protect your savings from inflation? Bitcoin's fixed supply of 21 million coins means no central bank can dilute your holdings. That alone makes it worth understanding.
Run Your Own Numbers
Want to see what a custom amount would be worth? Use the What If calculator to plug in any amount and any date. Or try the DCA calculator to see what regular weekly or monthly purchases would have grown to. If you are new to all of this, start here.