$10K Experiment Yields Shocking Results Across Crypto, Stocks, and Collectibles
A hypothetical $10,000 investment in various assets from January 2021 to April 2026 reveals wide-ranging returns across crypto, stocks, ETFs, and collectibles. Solana turned $10,000 into $357,628 (+3,476%) over five years, starting at just $2.49 in January 2021.
A sealed Pokémon card box beat every crypto except Solana, outperforming Dogecoin (+919%), Bitcoin (+141%), and Ethereum (+133%). Silver (+190%) exceeded gold (+145%), Bitcoin (+141%), and the S&P 500 (+107%) from the same starting point in January 2021.
Three of the most-followed AI and innovation ETFs (ARKK, BOTZ, AIQ) returned just +28% in five years, underperforming the S&P 500 (+107%) by 79 percentage points. Dogecoin timing made a $100,000 difference: January 2021 buyers have $101,920, while May 2021 peak buyers have just $1,454.
The investment outcomes varied wildly from meme stocks, with GameStop rising +469% and AMC plummeting -91%. AI ETFs underperformed the S&P 500 by a significant margin, despite being touted as one of the top investment themes in recent years.