In brief: For the purpose of this discussion, we’re looking at a single individual that received the maximum stimulus payment in each round, or $1,200 + $600 + $1,400 = $3,200, and received them in the first issued waves. We’re also assuming that the recipient didn’t need the money to offset a job loss or increased expenses during the pandemic. Instead, they invested the money into various cryptocurrencies.
The US government in an attempt to curb the economic impact brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic has issued a series of three stimulus checks to date. The first started rolling out in April 2020 to the tune of up to $1,200 for eligible tax-paying adults who earned less than $75,000.
Round two came several months later. Starting in December, eligible recipients received a one-time payment of $600 under the same earnings guidelines as before. Shortly after Biden entered office earlier this year, a third stimulus check was issued, providing eligible taxpayers with up to $1,400.
Using Coindesk, we’ll look back to see what some of the most popular cryptocurrencies were trading at when the checks were released and how much someone could have made through various investments.
First up is Bitcoin. On April 12, 2020, Bitcoin was worth $6,905.48. By December 29, 2020, the price had climbed to $27,371.80, and on March 12, 2021, a single Bitcoin was trading for $57.240.14. Assuming you’d invested each of your three stimulus checks into Bitcoin the moment you received them, your holdings would be worth roughly $9,486 today. Minus the initial $3,200 investment, you’d be left with a profit of $6,286.
Let’s run the same scenario, but with Ethereum this time. On April 12, 2020, Ethereum was trading for $158.76. As of December 29, 2020, the price of Ethereum had jumped to $731.84 per and on March 12, 2021, it was at $1,767.38. Based on today’s price of $3,048.62, your initial $3,200 investment would now be worth roughly $27,957. Subtract the investment and you’re left with a profit of about $24,757. Not bad.
Looking at Litecoin, we see that it was trading at $42.60 on April 11, 2020, $128.80 on December 29, 2020 and $220.69 on March 12, 2021. Had you invested all of your stimmy money into Litecoin and held it, it’d be worth $5,876 today. Subtract the initial $3,200 investment and you’re left with a profit of $2,676.
What about Dogecoin, you ask? A quick check reveals that Dogecoin was going for $0.001979 on April 12, 2020, $0.004421 on December 29, 2020, and $0.055461 on March 12, 2021. Had you invested your full stimulus checks at each of these three intervals and held it, your stash would be worth roughly $156,392 today. Minus the initial investment, that’s a solid profit of $153,192.
Image credit Rodnae Productions, Tima