Around 8 years after crypto’s most brutal sell-off, holders of either asset from that bottom are sitting on roughly the same extraordinary return.
What the Chart Shows
The comparison chart attached below tracks percentage returns for both assets from the December 2018 bear market low, with Bitcoin in orange and Ethereum in blue. Both lines start at the same zero baseline, making the comparison straightforward.
The two assets moved in near lockstep for most of the period. Through the 2019 recovery, the 2020 accumulation phase, and the 2021 bull run, both lines surged together before collapsing sharply in the 2022 bear market. Neither asset held a decisive lead for long at any point across the full seven years.
The current reading puts ETH at 2,269% and BTC at 2,006% from that shared December 2018 starting point. The gap between them is 263 percentage points. Against a backdrop of 2,000% total returns, that difference is narrow.
Why the Starting Point Changes Everything
The chart is a reminder that entry point dominates the conversation. Both assets have spent significant time this cycle trading well below their 2021 peaks. The current ETH underperformance narrative covered earlier this week, with Ethereum struggling against Bitcoin on the ETH/BTC ratio, looks different when the measurement window extends back to 2018.
From that low, ETH has marginally outperformed. From the 2021 peak, ETH has significantly underperformed. Both statements are true simultaneously. They just describe different time horizons.
A $10,000 position in Bitcoin at the December 2018 low would be worth roughly $210,600 today. The same position in Ethereum would be worth approximately $236,900. The $26,000 difference on a seven-year hold is real but modest relative to the scale of the return either way.
The 2018 bottom was a generational entry for both. That much the chart settles clearly.
