Could You Retire Rich Off 1 Bitcoin Invested in 2010?

December 23, 2025

Martin Dasko

5 min read

Cathie Wood recently revised her $1.5 million prediction for Bitcoin in an interview with CNBC, citing that stablecoins could capture some of the market share. However, it’s worth noting that the digital asset hit an all-time high of $126,000 in October despite being worth only pennies just 15 years ago.

It’s impossible to predict what direction the price of Bitcoin will go in, but it can be amusing to look at what previous investments in cryptocurrency could be worth if you held on.

For this article, we will examine what would’ve happened if someone had purchased Bitcoin in 2010 at the listed price and held the digital assets until now. Would this be enough money to retire on?

Let’s say that you wanted to take a risk and put some money into cryptocurrency as an early adopter. While we can trace the origins of Bitcoin back to 2009, it didn’t have a clear price until around 2010. According to Coin Codex, Bitcoin was trading at just 5 cents per coin in July 2010. It reached a high of $0.39 in November and then finished the year off at $0.30.

While cryptocurrency prices tend to fluctuate with rapid swings, as of the morning of Nov. 7, Bitcoin was worth $100,063. This number fluctuates throughout the day, but your investment of $0.30 in 2010 would be worth over $100,000. Even if you purchased Bitcoin at $0.39, you would have made a six-figure return on your money since the asset has surpassed $100,000 in 2025.

If you put $100 into the digital asset and bought it at $0.30, you would’ve had 333.33 units of Bitcoin, which would be worth $33,354,333.3 today.

Find Out: 13 Cheap Cryptocurrencies With the Highest Potential Upside for You

According to a study from Northwestern Mutual, Americans believe they’ll need $1.26 million saved for retirement, down from the $1.46 million figure in 2024. While the amount someone should set aside for their golden years will depend on their personal goals and other assets, it serves as a starting point worth considering for this discussion.

If, for some reason, you only purchased one Bitcoin in 2010, you wouldn’t be able to retire on the $100,063. Assuming that this was your only retirement investment, you would still have to work because you couldn’t live off this amount. If you spent $100 on Bitcoin in 2010, you would have over $33 million and could clearly live a lavish retirement, assuming you never sold the digital asset.

Many members of the crypto community refer to May 22, 2010, as “Bitcoin Pizza Day” because a software developer used 10,000 Bitcoins to pay for two pizzas to be delivered to his home, according to Fortune. This is the first real-world cryptocurrency transaction, and the 10,000 units covered a $41 pizza order. If this person still had 10,000 Bitcoins, then the investment would be worth around $1.001 billion, which is definitely enough to retire on.

Chances are that if you purchased Bitcoin in 2010, you were likely testing the space and didn’t expect it to become your retirement plan. You likely have other retirement investments and assets set aside for your golden years. This means that by investing a small amount in digital currency when it first emerged, you would have at least $100,000 in additional savings to put towards your retirement.

While the price of Bitcoin has gone from pennies to the six-figure mark, it’s still worth considering if it’s worth investing in digital assets for your retirement portfolio. Here’s what the experts had to say.

Robert R. Johnson, PhD, certified financial advisor, (CFA), CAIA, and professor of finance at the Heider College of Business, Creighton University, believes that the risk associated with Bitcoin is extremely high because it can’t be valued using traditional fundamental financial tools.

“The crypto market has never been a good place to invest. At times, it has been an extremely profitable place for some to speculate,” he added.

While it can be entertaining to look at the returns in the cryptocurrency space, one has to remember that it’s still speculation, and you don’t want to bank your retirement on this.

“Due to the volatility that we see with cryptocurrency markets, it would be wise to limit your exposure to this asset class to only a small fraction of your disposable income, as declines of 70% or more are relatively common,” said Joe Braier, the president and CEO of Lake Country Advisors.

“By planning your exit strategy prior to even investing, you can set price targets at which to begin selling off portions of your investment in order to achieve your desired level of diversification.”

If you missed the opportunity to invest in Bitcoin in its early days, consider setting aside a small amount to experiment with this space.

Braier believes that discipline will continue to produce better results than emotional decisions in this market. It’s also worth mentioning that many digital assets have collapsed over the years, and it would’ve been impossible to know if allocating your money to Bitcoin in 2010 even made sense, since the process of doing so was confusing.

You can amuse yourself by looking into what investing a few dollars in Bitcoin in 2010 would’ve led to, but you can’t plan your retirement on hypotheticals.

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