Bitcoin comes roaring back, up over 40% in three months

Image by pvproductions from Magnific After a painful slump from October 2025 to July 2026, Bitcoin (BTC) is finally seeing a resurgence. As of Sept. 30th, 2026, BTC—the most well known and largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization—has jumped over 42% from its July 2026 low of about $58,000 (all figures in US dollars unless otherwise specified). Here’s what the BTC price movement has looked like since the October 2025 high.

Source: Google Finance BTC-USD price chart as of Sept. 30, 2026. Are BTC investors making any money? Has the roughly 42% price jump in BTC made investors any money on their investments?

The answer of course depends on when you made your investment in the cryptocurrency. Here’s what the to-date return on BTC looks like from the perspective of various historical time periods: Source: Yahoo Finance BTC-USD price data as of Sept. 30, 2026. As the table above shows, whether you’re making any gains as a BTC investor depends heavily on when you made your initial investment.

An investor who entered the market one year ago is unfortunately still underwater (despite the steep rise in BTC over the past three months). However, an investor who entered the market two to five years ago would have done exceedingly well—with annualized returns ranging from 13.6% to 45.4% for those time periods. This goes to show that while investors often get swept up in the daily or weekly swings of the crypto market, substantial gains have been made by buying and holding over several years instead of trying to time the lows and highs.

BTC is back, but what about other cryptocurrencies? BTC usually leads crypto market movements, so is the roughly 42% increase over the past three months unique to BTC or have other large crypto coins posted bumper gains as well? The table below shows the numbers: Source: Graphic created using ChatGPT, with data from Yahoo Finance as of Sept. 30, 2026.

As the table above shows, all the other large cryptocurrencies have also seen massive gains from Jul. 1, 2026—with ETH leading the charge, up about 70%. However, ETH’s short term outperformance could be wildly misleading if not interpreted in historical context. Seen from a historical perspective, ETH has drastically underperformed BTC, as the 5-year historical price chart below shows.

As the orange line in the chart (ETH) shows, if you’d have bought ETH five years ago, you’d be in the red. Source: Google Finance BTC and ETH 5-year price comparison chart as of Sept. 30th, 2026. ETH’s underperformance compared to BTC ETH’s underperformance compared to BTC is so wide that the way you feel about the crypto market right now could heavily depend on whether your five year old crypto portfolio is heavier on BTC or ETH.

If you held only BTC over the past five years, you’d be up over 80%, but if you held only ETH during the past five years you’d be down over 10%. To make the contrast between BTC and ETH clearer, the table below provides the absolute and annualized return percentages for both cryptocurrencies over various historical periods. Stocks and BTC in one ETF—here’s how In previous editions of this column and in previous MoneySense articles , I’ve written about the various crypto exchange traded funds (ETFs) available to Canadian investors; including pure play ETFs and diversified, multi-asset ETFs that include an allocation to crypto.

The latest offering in the crypto ETF space is iShares’ Equity + Bitcoin ETF Portfolio (IBQT). Launched on Aug. 5, 2026 and trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), IBQT provides Canadian investors with exposure to Canadian equity, U.S. equity and other global equity markets with a small allocation to BTC. IBQT invests in other iShares ETFs—including IBIT (its spot BTC ETF).

Given below is the IBQT’s holdings as of Sept. 29, 2026. Source: Data from Blackrock’s IBQT website as of Sept. 30, 2026. Crypto price swings are common Cryptocurrencies including BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, BNB, and others are speculative and highly volatile assets subject to significant price movements.

Even stablecoins , which are seemingly “safe,” may be risky if not adequately backed by real-world assets. Investing in bitcoin and other crypto coins carries significant market, technological, and regulatory risks . Invest in crypto only if it aligns with your broader investment goals, time horizon, and risk profile, and always stay vigilant about crypto scams .

Read more about crypto : Will bitcoin crash in 2025? Bitcoin tops USD$100,000 for the first time Price of bitcoin hits new high after Trump victory, and more crypto news How to protect your crypto from hacks About Aditya Nain Aditya Nain is an author, speaker and educator who writes about Canadian investments, personal finance and crypto. He has co-authored two books and taught at universities for 12 years.

Related Articles Real Estate Most Canadians don’t know how much they spend on housing. Do you? Credit Canada found that 68% of Canadians don’t know how much of their budget goes toward housing.

Those who… Most Canadians don’t know how much they spend on housing. Do you? Ask a Planner How a spousal RRSP can save couples tax There are still unique advantages to spousal RRSP accounts, even after the advent of pension splitting.

How a spousal RRSP can save couples tax ETFs What are the best Canadian ETFs for the Smith Manoeuvre? Yes, you can execute this combination of mortgage repayment and investing using ETFs. Your options depend on risk and… What are the best Canadian ETFs for the Smith Manoeuvre?

News Veterans Affairs Canada to send out payments on Monday Some Canadians will receive a payment from Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) on Monday, September 28, 2026. The governmental department… Veterans Affairs Canada to send out payments on Monday Financial literacy Personal finance pros reveal one thing they wish they knew when they were younger Financial experts reveal the money mistakes they made in their 20s and the lessons they wish they had learned… Personal finance pros reveal one thing they wish they knew when they were younger Spend Why you paid for the gym but never went Some expenditures stand in for the work required to actually reach our goals.

Think of those before you swipe… Why you paid for the gym but never went Ask a Planner What do rising bond yields mean for Canadians? When bond yields rise, the effects ripple through the rest of the economy, and Canadians should take note. … What do rising bond yields mean for Canadians?

Retired Money The CAPE ratio, the 4% rule, and retirement anxiety What retirement experts have to say now about surviving an untimely market crash. The CAPE ratio, the 4% rule, and retirement anxiety Spend Rent or buy: When does homeownership actually make financial sense? Should you buy or rent?

Our guide breaks down the cost of homeownership vs. renting. Rent or buy: When does homeownership actually make financial sense? ETFs What are “.U” ETFs? A guide to Canadian-listed U.S.-dollar ETFs Canadian-listed “.U” ETFs let investors put U.S. dollars to work without buying U.S.-domiciled funds, potentially offering advantages for tax… What are “.U” ETFs?