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XMR$637.03Bitcoin annual returns by year: 2011–2026 table and drawdowns
Bitcoin annual returns by year since 2011: 11 of 15 years up, median +121%, worst years down 74%. Peak-to-trough drawdowns, 5- and 10-year CAGR, 2026 so far.
Contents
Bitcoin's annual return is the change in BTC's price from one December 31 close to the next. From 2011 through 2025, bitcoin finished 11 of 15 calendar years higher, with a median annual return of about +121%, while its worst years lost 56% to 74%. Even in its best years, the price typically fell 30–50% from a local high at some point along the way. Below is the full 2011–2026 table of bitcoin returns by year, the drawdowns behind them, 5- and 10-year averages, and how 2026 looks as of November 5.
Bitcoin annual returns by year since 2011
Prices are daily closes from Coin Metrics' free community data. This is a composite reference rate across a vetted set of exchanges rather than a single venue, and the daily value is the price as of the end of the UTC day. Returns and drawdowns are our own calculations. "Worst intra-year drawdown" is the deepest fall from a high within the year (counting the prior year's close) to a subsequent low.
| Year | Dec 31 close | Annual return | Worst intra-year drawdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | $4.71 | +1,471% | −93% |
| 2012 | $13.55 | +187% | −42% |
| 2013 | $730 | +5,286% | −71% |
| 2014 | $321 | −56% | −66% |
| 2015 | $430 | +34% | −45% |
| 2016 | $969 | +126% | −31% |
| 2017 | $13,921 | +1,337% | −36% |
| 2018 | $3,687 | −74% | −81% |
| 2019 | $7,167 | +94% | −49% |
| 2020 | $29,023 | +305% | −52% |
| 2021 | $46,355 | +60% | −53% |
| 2022 | $16,524 | −64% | −67% |
| 2023 | $42,217 | +156% | −20% |
| 2024 | $93,390 | +121% | −26% |
| 2025 | $87,517 | −6% | −32% |
| 2026 (through Nov 4) | $80,488 | −8% | −40% |
You will see slightly different numbers elsewhere. Bitcoin has no single official close: it trades 24/7 on hundreds of exchanges, so the price source and cut-off time move the result by a few points. Look Into Bitcoin's table, for example, shows −58% for 2014, +1,300% for 2017 and −65% for 2022. The order of magnitude is the same everywhere.
What the yearly returns tell you
Up years outnumber down years, but they are wildly uneven. Of 15 full years (2011–2025), 11 closed higher and four closed lower: 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2025. The median is about +121%. The arithmetic mean is meaningless here, because a single +5,286% year in 2013 drags it above +500%.
Returns shrink with every cycle. The best years went +5,286% (2013), +1,337% (2017), +305% (2020) and +156% (2023). Each new peak year is a fraction of the one before. Bitcoin is now a trillion-dollar asset, and doubling that is far harder than doubling a $100 million market.
Down years used to come one at a time. Until 2025, every losing year was followed by a gain: −56% in 2014 then +34%, −74% in 2018 then +94%, −64% in 2022 then +156%. 2025 closed down 6%, and as of November 4, 2026, bitcoin is down again year to date (−8%). If that holds through December 31, it would be the first back-to-back pair of negative years in this data set.
The post-halving year is no longer a sure thing. 2013, 2017 and 2021 followed the 2012, 2016 and 2020 halvings and all closed higher. 2025, the year after the April 2024 halving, was the first such year to end in the red, as CCN noted in early January 2026. For the bigger picture, see our breakdown of the bitcoin four-year cycle.
Average bitcoin return over 5 and 10 years
Yearly figures are easier to compare as a compound annual growth rate (CAGR): the steady yearly rate that would have produced the same end result.
| Period (Dec 31 to Dec 31) | Price change | CAGR |
|---|---|---|
| 2013–2025 (12 years) | ×120 | ≈ 49% a year |
| 2015–2025 (10 years) | ×204 | ≈ 70% a year |
| 2020–2025 (5 years) | ×3.0 | ≈ 25% a year |
| 2022–2025 (3 years) | ×5.3 | ≈ 74% a year |
The starting point decides almost everything. The five years from 2020 begin near the end of a strong run and compound at about a quarter a year; the three years from the 2022 bottom compound at three times that. Any "average bitcoin return" quoted without a period attached tells you very little.
Bitcoin drawdowns: peak-to-trough history
The annual table hides the ride. Measured from each all-time high to the following low (same Coin Metrics daily closes):
| Peak | Price at peak | Trough | Decline |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 8, 2011 | $29 | Nov 18, 2011 | −93% |
| Dec 4, 2013 | $1,135 | Jan 14, 2015 | −85% |
| Dec 16, 2017 | $19,641 | Dec 15, 2018 | −84% |
| Nov 8, 2021 | $67,542 | Nov 9, 2022 | −77% |
| Oct 6, 2025 | $124,824 | June 30, 2026 (so far) | −53% |
Bear markets are getting shallower, but they are still brutal. Halvings in price also happen mid-bull: between April 13 and July 20, 2021, bitcoin fell from $63,446 to $29,767, then set a new record in November.
Two more numbers from the same data, counting from January 1, 2016:
- On 96% of days, bitcoin closed below a previously reached high. New records are brief episodes; the rest of the time a holder is under water from the peak.
- On 64% of days, the price sat more than 30% below its all-time high.
Returns vs. risk: how bitcoin compares with stocks
Those returns come with volatility. Fidelity Digital Assets found in May 2024 that from 2020 to 2024 bitcoin was three to nearly four times as volatile as major equity indices. Over 2020 to early 2024, though, its Sharpe ratio (return per unit of risk) was 0.96 versus 0.65 for the S&P 500. In that window bitcoin paid more for the risk taken than stocks did, but that is a feature of one period, not a permanent property of the asset.
For how bitcoin tends to move against the dollar, see our piece on the DXY and bitcoin correlation.
What 2026 looks like as of November 5
As of 3:00 AM ET on November 5, 2026, bitcoin traded near $80,359 (our live data). That puts it:
- Down 8% year to date, from the December 31, 2025 close of $87,517.
- About 36% below its record, the $124,824 daily close on October 6, 2025.
- Up 37% from the 2026 low, the $58,525 close on June 30, 2026 (Coin Metrics).
The path through the year shows why a single annual number says little about what holders lived through: the price slid to $68,215 by March 31 and $58,525 by June 30, then recovered to $83,580 by September 30. The modest −8% headline hides a 40% fall from the year's January high ($97,044 on January 14).
Our market temperature gauge, which combines MVRV, the Mayer multiple, the 200-week moving average, the fear and greed index and funding, read 36 out of 100 on November 5 — closer to cold than overheated — with MVRV at 1.42. We explain these readings in our guide to MVRV, the Mayer multiple and Pi Cycle. Live numbers are in the CoinLab dashboard and on the bitcoin page.
Common mistakes when reading bitcoin returns by year
- Mixing up calendar-year and trailing 12-month returns. On the same date, year-to-date and last-12-months figures can differ enormously.
- Using the simple average. One +5,000% year makes the arithmetic mean useless. Use the median, or a CAGR over a stated period.
- Extrapolating the past. The best years keep getting smaller, and 2025 broke the "post-halving year is always green" pattern.
- Ignoring drawdowns. A year's final number says nothing about whether you could have sat through a 50% drop on the way. Since 2016, holders spent most days below a prior peak.
- Comparing sites without checking the price source. A single exchange versus a composite rate, and the closing time used, shift results by a few points.
FAQ
What was bitcoin's best year? In percentage terms, 2013: +5,286% on Coin Metrics data. Among years when bitcoin was already a sizable asset, 2017 (+1,337%) and 2020 (+305%) stand out.
How many years has bitcoin closed down? Four out of 15 full years: 2014 (−56%), 2018 (−74%), 2022 (−64%) and 2025 (−6%). 2026 is also negative as of November 4 (−8%).
What is bitcoin's average annual return? It depends on the period: roughly 70% a year for 2015–2025 and roughly 25% a year for 2020–2025. The median calendar year from 2011 to 2025 returned about +121%.
Will bitcoin keep delivering these returns? No one knows. Each cycle's gains have been smaller than the last, and the people who compile these tables stress that past results do not guarantee future ones.
This is not investment advice.
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