Bitcoin (100%) vs Bitcoin Stock (3,831%): Which Would You Rather?

There are a few bitcoiners out there who are in it for the liberty.

By that I mean it’s the freedom of what bitcoin offers that’s so appealing. Free from centralised control, free from restriction, freedom from traditional finance.

That is a noble and admirable approach. And these few will probably never sell their bitcoin.

However the harsh reality of our world, at least at this moment in time, is that most people don’t care about any of that. They just want to see number go up and make profits from their crypto holdings.

This too is a fair and realistic goal. After all when arguably the greatest wealth creation event is standing on your doorstep, you best welcome it in.

I advocate that everyone should have some bitcoin in their portfolio. It should be a long-term part of all investors’ wealth. And yes, I do fall into that category of hold forever and pass it on through the generations… at least in most part.

The other part of this is that if you can invest in something else, not bitcoin directly, but bitcoin-related investments and make 20x, 30x, 50x more than you can make just buying bitcoin, wouldn’t you want to know about it?

Let’s dive in…

Bitcoin stocks in 2021

In January 2020 you could have bought bitcoin at a price around $7,200. By the November 2021 peak of $68,000 you’d have banked an 844% gain.

However did you know that in January 2020 you could have bought Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) stock for around $1.15. It hit a peak of $79 in January 2021, but as a fair comparison, by November 2021 at bitcoin hit its peak, Riot was at $46.

$7,200 into Riot in January 2020 would have been $288,000 by November or the equivalent of 4.23 bitcoin.

It’s a similar story with HIVE Digital Technologies (NADSAQ:HIVE). You could pick up stock for 40 cents in January 2020. By the November peaks, of $28, you’d have made a 6,900% gain.

$7,200 into HIVE in January 2020 would have been $504,000 by November or the equivalent of 7.41 bitcoin.

Bitcoin stocks in 2025

But what about today? The bitcoin mining stocks surely aren’t going to repeat that kind of rise.

Well, the miners exploded in price in 2017 and then crashed back down to pennies in 2018. The ride was over then, apparently. Then they delivered eye-watering returns in 2021.

Maybe they’ll do it again. Albeit many have already risen higher in the last year.

You could have picked up IREN (NASDAQ:IREN) (formerly Iris Energy) in January 2023 for about $1.20. Today it’s trading at $13. That 983% gain outstrips bitcoin’s 485% gain over the same period by some margin.

However in this cycle there are other companies that aren’t bitcoin miners but with similar 2021-style blue sky potential. These aren’t miners, they’re bitcoin strategy companies.

One such example is Metaplanet (TSE:3350). Michael Saylor posted on X.com about this this week.

Its performance over the last year since adopting a bitcoin strategy has seen a 3,831% rise in price. That knocks bitcoin’s return clean out of the park.

Source: Yahoo! Finance

What’s clear is that if you want bitcoin for its values of freedom and liberty, then do that.

But if you want to make money (to buy more bitcoin) then don’t neglect the traditional markets either.

Trust in crypto (and sometimes stocks)

Adam Atlantic