Stocks, gold or crypto? The last 3 years’ returns have a surprising answer

Ethereum returned 72.69% over the same period, outperforming both equity benchmarks but trailing Bitcoin and the precious metals.

The rankings, however, change across shorter time frames, with silver and gold outperforming cryptocurrencies over the past year even as Bitcoin leads on a three-year basis.

Silver gained 42.18% over the past year, followed by gold at 20.92%. Bitcoin declined 28.67%, while Ethereum fell 40.93%.

The six-month performance presents a different picture. Bitcoin gained 18.63% and Ethereum rose 17.09%, while silver fell 11.04% and gold declined 2.30%. The Sensex and Nifty 50 lost 7.70% and 7.36%, respectively.

Over the past month, Bitcoin gained 3.65%, while Ethereum slipped 0.80%. Gold fell 3.55%, silver declined 7.15%, the Sensex lost 5.27% and the Nifty 50 dropped 5.94%.

Minal Thukral, executive vice-president, growth and crypto business head at CoinDCX, said Bitcoin’s contrasting one-year and three-year returns highlight the importance of assessing the asset across different investment horizons rather than drawing conclusions from a single period.

The differences in returns across asset classes also reflect how market cycles can influence performance, underscoring the importance of disciplined investing and informed decision-making, he said.

Bitcoin tops 1-year SIP returns

A hypothetical monthly systematic investment plan (SIP) of Rs 10,000 over one year would have delivered the highest reported value in Bitcoin among the assets compared by CoinDCX.

With total contributions of Rs 1.2 lakh, the Bitcoin SIP would have grown to Rs 1,31,598, a gain of Rs 11,598, or 9.67% of the amount invested.

An equivalent SIP in Ethereum would have reached Rs 1,30,491, while gold would have grown to Rs 1,24,483 and silver to Rs 1,21,516.

Equity benchmarks trailed the other assets in the comparison. The Nifty 50 SIP would have been valued at Rs 1,08,405, while the Sensex SIP would have stood at Rs 1,08,161, both below the total contribution of Rs 1.2 lakh.

He added that investors should determine their exposure based on their financial goals, investment horizon and ability to absorb losses, while maintaining emergency savings, diversifying across asset classes and periodically reviewing portfolio allocations.

Disclosure: This article has been written by Kumar Gaurav, who is not a Sebi-registered Research Analyst or an Investment Adviser. Gaurav and their ‘relative(s)’ (as defined under Section 2(77) of the Companies Act, 2013) do not hold any financial interest in the companies mentioned in this article as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective Sebi-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of The Economic Times Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment. Brokerage disclaimers here