Research hub
The holding-period explorer
2010-2025Source: Coinbase Exchange daily candles; Bitstamp and CoinDesk historical series for 2010-2014Each entry measures the return from the close of one calendar year to the close of the year a fixed number of years later, using the curated year-end close series. Periods are non-overlapping within each holding length, so the entries for a given length are independent of one another. The one-year series covers 2010-2025, the four-year series covers 2010-2024, and the eight-year series covers 2010-2020. The early periods rest on the thinly traded 2010-2014 market and should be read as reference points rather than tradable outcomes; the one-year entries for 2010, 2011 and 2013 carry the corrected full-year returns of the canonical table, about 385, 1,437 and 5,463 per cent respectively.
Choose a holding length
The canonical record measures a fixed set of holding windows between year-end closing prices. Pick one to see what that length of holding returned over the published period.
Holding length
1 year
2010 to 2011
Total return
+1467%
$0 to $5
Annualised
+14666.0%
Compound annual growth rate over the window
| Window | Start price | End price | Total return | Annualised |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 to 2011 | $0 | $5 | +1467% | +14666.0% |
2010-2025Source: Coinbase Exchange daily candles; Bitstamp and CoinDesk historical series for 2010-2014
How the window is built. The window runs from one 31 December close to the close 1 year later. The total return is the change across the whole window; the annualised figure restates it as a steady yearly rate. A window that returned several hundred per cent in total may have compounded at a far more modest annual rate, and the two columns answer different questions.
Reading the window
A holding period is not a promise. The record measures a small set of windows anchored on year ends, and each one is a distinct period with its own market conditions rather than a repeated trial of the same process. The start date matters at least as much as the length: a long window that begins at a peak looks very different from a long window that begins at a trough.
The honest summary is that holding length is one variable among several. The published windows show what actually happened over the periods the record covers, and they should be read as a set of outcomes rather than as a forecast.
Related reading
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- DCA Against a Lump SumA single purchase at one date against a steady schedule across the same window.
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