What If You Bought $100K of BTC vs ETH in 2017? The Results Are Brutal for ETH Holders - Lookonchain

What If You Bought $100K of BTC vs ETH in 2017? The Results Are Brutal for ETH Holders

Alec Bakhouch

/2025.04.11 00:19:19

If you invested $100K in BTC vs ETH in 2017, BTC would now be worth $2M, while ETH just $375K—a 7x difference. While Bitcoin stayed true to its vision, Ethereum pivoted multiple times and faced deeper drawdowns. The conclusion? BTC delivered higher returns, less drama, and stronger long-term certainty.

You bought $100k of Bitcoin or Ethereum in Sept 2017.
It’s now 2025.
How bad was the decision to buy ETH instead?
I ran the real numbers.... and it's rough for ETH holders 🧵👇

The setup:
• Bitcoin (BTC) price in Sept 2017 = $4,000
• Ethereum (ETH) price in Sept 2017 = $400

Your $100k investment would have bought:
• 25 BTC
• 250 ETH

Pretty even math. But the outcomes?
Wildly different.

Today’s prices:
• BTC ≈ $80,000
• ETH ≈ $1,500

So today your stack would be worth:
• 25 BTC × $80,000 = $2,000,000
• 250 ETH × $1,500 = $375,000

Bitcoin turned $100k into $2M.
Ethereum turned $100k into $375k.

Simple ROI:
• Bitcoin = +1,900%
• Ethereum = +275%

In other words:
Bitcoin outperformed Ethereum by 7x.
And that’s before considering risk.
Let’s talk about that…

• Bitcoin = 1 chain, 1 mission, 1 monetary policy.
• Ethereum = hard forks, experiments, pivots.

Ethereum went from:
• PoW → PoS
• “World Computer” → “Settlement Layer” → “Everything Chain” → “Restaking Casino”
If you bought ETH in 2017, you’re not holding the same asset anymore.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin has done exactly what it promised:
• Stayed decentralized
• Stayed predictable
• Stayed unstoppable

No pivots.
No drama. (Only on Twitter 😂)
No Hard Forks. (Blocksize Wars)
That’s the whole point.

Volatility hits differently too:
• Bitcoin had -84% drawdowns
• Ethereum had -95% drawdowns

Bitcoin punished weak hands.
Ethereum obliterated them.
Almost nobody rode ETH from 2017 → 2025 without getting wrecked along the way.

Today’s momentum:
• Bitcoin = Clear regulatory approval, ETFs, sovereign accumulation, global money narrative, corporate adoption.
• Ethereum = Fighting for relevance vs alt-L1s, regulatory scrutiny, endless scaling issues.

Bitcoin keeps winning bigger battles.
Ethereum keeps trying to reinvent itself.

The real conclusion:
In 2017, Bitcoin looked "boring" and "old."
In 2025, Bitcoin looks inevitable.
Meanwhile, Ethereum looks more and more like Silicon Valley tech — trendy, fragile, replaceable.
You don’t build generational wealth chasing experiments.
You build it by owning certainty.

Summary:
• $100k BTC in 2017 → $2M
• $100k ETH in 2017 → $375k

It’s not even close.
Bitcoin didn’t just protect your wealth better.
It multiplied it better.
And the best part?
The next 10 years will be even bigger.
Stack accordingly. 🧠

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