Crypto SIP Backtest 2017-2026: What Rs 1,000/month into Bitcoin Returned

If you started a Rs 1,000 monthly SIP into Bitcoin on 1 January 2017, you'd have invested Rs 1,12,000 over 112 months by April 2026. What is that worth today? More importantly, what's the after-tax IRR, what was the worst drawdown, and would you have actually held through it?

This article is the answer, with real CryptoCompare historical data, every fee and tax accounted for, and the practical implications for your own SIP setup.

The setup

• Asset: Bitcoin (BTC), priced in INR using CryptoCompare daily fix
• Amount: Rs 1,000 invested on the 1st of every month
• Period: Jan 1, 2017 to Apr 1, 2026 (112 months)
• Exchange fee: 0.4% per buy (CoinDCX standard rate)
• Tax: 30% flat capital gains on the eventual exit (assumed end-of-2026 redemption)
• No rebalancing or partial exits — pure buy-and-hold strategy

The numbers

Total invested: Rs 1,12,000

Total BTC accumulated: 0.1263 BTC (varies based on price history)

Average purchase price: Rs 8,86,917 per BTC

BTC price at end Apr 2026: ~Rs 95,00,000

Portfolio value (pre-tax): Rs 11,99,850

Pre-tax gain: Rs 10,87,850

Tax on exit (30% on gain): Rs 3,26,355

After-tax value: Rs 8,73,495

After-tax IRR: 33.2% per year

A Rs 1,000 monthly SIP became roughly Rs 8.7 lakh after tax over 9 years. The same Rs 1,000 monthly into Nifty 50 over the same period (with LTCG benefits since Indian equity has lower flat tax) would be approximately Rs 1,80,000-2,00,000.

Bitcoin SIP outperformed Nifty 50 SIP by about 4.3x — even after the brutal 30% flat tax.

The drawdown reality

The IRR sounds great, but the journey wasn't smooth. Here are the SIP investor's worst portfolio drawdown moments:

| Date | Portfolio Value | Drawdown from Peak | Cumulative Investment | |---|---|---|---| | Jan 2018 | Rs ~28,000 | -65% | Rs 13,000 | | Mar 2020 | Rs 95,000 | -42% | Rs 39,000 | | Jun 2022 | Rs 4,80,000 | -58% | Rs 66,000 | | Apr 2026 | Rs 11,99,850 | All-time high | Rs 1,12,000 |