A $100 monthly investment in Tron's TRX token from January 2022 through August 2026 would have grown to $16,521 — a 195% gain on the $5,600 total invested. The same dollar-cost averaging strategy into Ethereum or Cardano would have lost money, with Ethereum ending at roughly $4,898 (down 12.5%) and Cardano at $2,616 (down 53.3%). The data, based on monthly purchases over four and a half years, shows how timing and asset selection shaped outcomes across the latest crypto cycle.
Where the money went
Bitcoin, XRP, and Solana each returned more than 40% under the same monthly-buying approach. A Bitcoin portfolio reached about $8,660, XRP hit $8,465, and Solana ended at $8,025. Tron's TRX stood out as the clear winner, with the portfolio climbing every single year: $1,000 in 2022, $3,679 in 2023, $11,032 in 2024, $13,723 in 2025, and $16,521 by August 2026.
The 2024 rally drove most of those gains. By the end of that year, a Solana portfolio was worth $17,728, XRP had reached $14,345, Bitcoin sat at $10,193, and even Cardano had climbed to $7,251.
What 2024 changed
The market's turning point came in January 2024, when the SEC approved spot Bitcoin ETFs, followed by spot Ethereum ETFs in May. Donald Trump's November 2024 election victory added fuel — he campaigned on making the US a global crypto hub, building a national Bitcoin stockpile, and replacing SEC Chair Gary Gensler. Bitcoin hit repeated record highs afterward as traders bet on friendlier regulation.
The Trump administration followed through on parts of that agenda. It established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a US Digital Asset Stockpile, and signed the GENIUS Act, which created a federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins.
The case for DCA
Dollar-cost averaging smoothed out the damage in the downturn that followed. Ethereum's price fell about 50% from roughly $3,770 to $1,900, but the DCA portfolio lost only 12.5% because later purchases were made at lower prices. Cardano dropped about 85% from $1.38 to $0.20, yet the DCA portfolio's loss was a milder 53.3%.
Solana tells the clearest story. The token remained roughly 59% below its early-2022 price of $170, but the DCA portfolio was up 43.3% — thanks to accumulation during the post-FTX collapse, when SOL traded below $10.
Where the market stands now
The broader downturn has been harsh. US crypto ETF assets fell from over $123 billion to roughly $92 billion. Bitcoin ETFs now hold about $78.3 billion, while Ethereum products hold about $10.6 billion.
The numbers leave an open question: whether the next leg of the cycle will favor the assets that held up best under DCA — Tron, Bitcoin, XRP, Solana — or whether the laggards like Ethereum and Cardano regain ground. For now, the monthly-investor scoreboard is clear.
