Bitcoin turned $10,000 into $870,000 in a decade where 87% of active stock funds failed to beat passive rivals

Bitcoin returned 87 times over a decade, while only 13% of actively managed US large-cap equity funds beat comparable passive funds' benchmarks through June 30, according to Morningstar data reported by The Wall Street Journal.

That rate rose to 27% over the latest 12 months, and Wall Street has argued that AI-driven dispersion and higher interest rates should give stock pickers more room to outperform.

Bitcoin closed at $673.34 on June 30, 2016, and closed at $58,558.86 on June 30, 2026. This means a $10,000 position in the top crypto will grow to about $869,677.

That equals roughly 87 times the original capital and an 8,597% total return, resulting in Bitcoin compounding at about 56.3% a year over the period.

State Street lists SPY’s 10-year annualized total return at 15.35% through June 30, with distributions reinvested. A $10,000 investment compounded at that rate reached about $41,704, and Bitcoin finished with about 20.9 times the final wealth.

Fund mandates kept most active large-cap managers inside equities, since US spot Bitcoin ETFs arrived only in 2024. Investors made the broader comparison at the portfolio level, where capital could move across asset classes.

Investors spent years deciding whether professional stock selection could earn enough excess return to justify its fees. A separate allocation to Bitcoin generated a far larger dollar outcome for holders who endured its volatility.