Ethereum
Here’s how much a $1,000 crypto investment in Ethereum would be worth now when it launches
reception-bg / Getty Images
I invest a little “play money” in cryptocurrencies. And 2024 has been a great year for them.
Read next: 10 valuable stocks that could be the next Apple or Amazon
Learn more: 6 Awesome Things All Rich People Do With Their Money
In fact, I sometimes share the story of how I I tried to invest in Bitcoin when the coin was worth less than $1,000, but I couldn’t get the transfer to the cryptocurrency exchange. Eventually, I gave up and lived to regret it in the years to come.
On a related note, how would you have succeeded if you had joined Ethereum in its early days? How much would you have today if you had invested $1,000 when the second most popular cryptocurrency launched?
Ethereum, yesterday and today
In July 2014, Ethereum held an initial coin offering (ICO), raising funds for the project through Bitcoin. It functioned as a crowdfunding project, in which investors purchased (paying with Bitcoin) for early access.
A year later, Ether (ETH) blockchain coins began trading live at $0.31 per coin.
As of mid-April 2024, ETH was trading at $3,157 per coin. This represents an increase in value of approximately 10,000%.
If you had invested $1,000 at $0.31 per coin, you would have owned 3,225.81 ETH coins. At current prices, that would be worth $10,183,871.
Today’s price doesn’t even represent Ether’s peak. On November 9, 2021, ETH reached a dizzying $4,815. If you had cashed out your ETH coins at its peak, you would have walked away with a cool $15,532,258.
Crypto Halving
Since cryptocurrencies exist in the form of ones and zeroes, rather than, say, physical gold and all the supply limitations associated with it, cryptocurrency creators must incorporate some form of rarity.
For Bitcoin, this means halving the coins paid to miners for each block, every 210,000 blocks. In fact, the next halving will likely have occurred by the time this article is published in mid-April.
Like Bitcoin, Ether must add scarcity and limit production over time. But unlike Bitcoin, it does so with much more complexity. This is done through a “triple halving” process including: fee burning, staking, and token issuance rate reduction. Read on the Ether triple halving process for all the nerdy details.
This happens continually, unlike the highly publicized halving events for Bitcoin. However, this produces the same result: slowing down the arrival of new offers on the market, to increase values.
The story continues
Speculation vs investment
I started by saying that I “invest” some money in cryptocurrencies. The simple truth, however, is that I consider this to be speculation, not investing.
What is the difference?
Investments have intrinsic value. This value could come from its use, such as a house. Or it could come from revenue, in the case of a business or apartment building. You can measure the value of the investment based on these earnings or based on comparable assets in the same market.
Cryptocurrencies do not generate income and have no tangible use. They’re only worth where someone else is willing to pay for them, like collectibles like baseball cards or, dare I say it, non-fungible tokens (NFTs). To me, that makes them speculative.
Is there inherent value in a decentralized currency? I imagine it – but I have no idea what it could be, because there is nothing concrete to measure.
Of course, play with the money you can afford to lose in speculative assets like cryptocurrencies. Don’t bet the farm on something that produces no income or measurable value.
More from GOBankingRates
This article was originally published on GOBankingRates.com: Here’s how much a $1,000 crypto investment in Ethereum would be worth now when it launches