- A $500 monthly investment in each asset over the past five years would have turned $90,000 in total contributions into roughly $294,000 based on historical prices.
Putting $500 a month into an investment can look modest at first, but five years of consistent contributions can produce a substantial portfolio when the underlying asset appreciates significantly. If an investor had put $500 every month into Bitcoin, Nvidia, and Meta over the past five years, they would have contributed $30,000 to each investment, or $90,000 combined.
Bitcoin: About 0.72 BTC from $30,000 of Contributions
A $500 monthly Bitcoin investment over the five-year period would have required $30,000 in total contributions. The historical DCA calculation puts the portfolio's value at $60,509 as of Sept. 23, 2026, representing a gain of $30,509, or about 101.7%.
More importantly, the investor would not simply have $60,509 in cash. They would own approximately 0.72 BTC based on the portfolio's value and Bitcoin's roughly $84,400 closing price on Sept. 23. Bitcoin closed that day at $84,383 according to CoinGecko, while Binance data showed a close of about $84,398.
That means the investor's Bitcoin position would be roughly:
Total invested: $30,000 Bitcoin owned: ~0.72 BTC Value: ~$60,509 Gain: ~$30,509
The exact BTC balance can vary slightly depending on the exchange price and execution time used for each monthly purchase.
Nvidia: About 719 Shares Worth More Than $162,000
Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) produced the largest dollar gain of the three investments. Putting $500 into Nvidia at the end of each month from September 2021 through August 2026 would have resulted in approximately 719.11 Nvidia shares after $30,000 in contributions.
Using Nvidia's Sept. 23, 2026 adjusted closing price of about $225.51, that position would be worth approximately $162,167. The resulting gain would be about $132,167, giving the investment a return of roughly 440.6%.
The calculation is particularly sensitive to Nvidia's enormous rise during the period. Shares that traded at much lower split-adjusted prices during the 2022 semiconductor downturn allowed the monthly investment to accumulate substantially more shares before the subsequent AI-driven rally.
Total invested: $30,000 Nvidia shares owned: ~719.11 Value: ~$162,167 Gain: ~$132,167
Meta: About 96 Shares Worth Nearly $72,000
Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META) also generated a substantial return, although its performance was below Nvidia's over this particular five-year period.
The same $500 monthly strategy would have accumulated approximately 96.31 Meta shares from September 2021 through August 2026.
At Meta's Sept. 23, 2026 closing price of $744.10, those shares would be worth approximately $71,664. This represents a gain of about $41,664, or roughly 138.9% on the $30,000 invested.
Meta's path was considerably more volatile than the final figure suggests. The stock fell sharply during 2022, with its monthly closing price dropping from $333.42 at the end of 2021 to $119.29 by December 2022. It subsequently recovered, closing 2024 at $582.17 and 2025 at $658.91.
The monthly investment strategy meant the investor continued accumulating shares during that decline rather than investing the entire $30,000 at the beginning of the period.
Total invested: $30,000 Meta shares owned: ~96.31 Value: ~$71,664 Gain: ~$41,664
Using monthly closing prices for the stocks and the historical Bitcoin DCA calculation, the three investments would now be worth approximately $294,340.
The calculation assumes fractional ownership, no trading fees or taxes, and monthly purchases. The Bitcoin calculation covers Sept. 23, 2021 through Sept. 23, 2026, with 60 monthly purchases of $500.
The results are historical rather than a forecast. They also do not account for taxes, trading fees, or other investment costs. For Bitcoin, the DCA source uses its own historical execution methodology, while the stock calculations use monthly closing prices, so the figures should be viewed as a historical illustration rather than an exact replication of one brokerage account.