Bitcoin vs Ethereum: A History of Returns
Since Ethereum's launch in July 2015, both Bitcoin and Ethereumhave delivered extraordinary returns for early investors. Bitcoin's price journey began in 2009 at effectively $0, reaching its first notable milestone of $1 in February 2011. Ethereum launched via an ICO at approximately $0.30 per coin.
Bull Market Performance
During the 2017 bull market, Ethereum outperformed Bitcoin dramatically — rising from ~$8 to nearly $1,400 (a 17,000% gain) while Bitcoin rose from ~$1,000 to ~$20,000 (a 1,900% gain). The 2020-2021 cycle showed a similar pattern: ETH rose from ~$130 to ~$4,878, while BTC rose from ~$7,200 to ~$69,000. However, Ethereum also experienced sharper drawdowns in subsequent bear markets.
Risk-Adjusted Returns
On a risk-adjusted basis, the comparison is more nuanced. Bitcoin has demonstrated lower volatility over multi-year periods and has maintained higher lows relative to previous cycle peaks. Ethereum's higher beta means it tends to amplify both upward and downward moves relative to Bitcoin. Many analysts track the ETH/BTC ratio as a key indicator of altcoin market sentiment.
The chart above normalizes both assets to percentage returns from a common starting date, making it easy to compare BTC vs ETH performance over any time period from 7 days to 1 year.