Bitcoin v Bonusbank: Which is the better investment?

Cryptocurrencies are the hottest topic in the world right now. Everyone wants to be part of the new Gold Rush. Companies that didn’t exist a couple of months ago are suddenly worth billions of dollars, and the biggest exchanges can’t cope with the volume of new customers.

It isn’t really a surprise that people want to get involved.

There are plenty of stories of Bitcoin millionaires who got in early and have seen returns of 1,000,000%+. That kind of money would be tempting to anyone. However, unless you get extremely lucky with a long-term investment in one of the 1000+ alt-coins available, it’s not something that can be replicated.

Instead, what most new crypto investors are looking for is a quick buck. They are hoping that the market will provide the kind of returns that it did at the end of 2017, when Bitcoin rose by about 500% in 3 months and many alt-coins rose by much more.

Unfortunately for them, past performance is no guarantee of future success. From it’s peak at nearly AU$27,000, Bitcoin has dropped 50% to AU$13,000. Many of the alts that rose so quickly have also came back down to Earth with a bang.

Is Bitcoin a better investment than Matched Betting?

That’s not to say that they won’t rise again. Cryptocurrencies appear to be here to stay, but who really knows what will happen to the price of them? Some newer investors have definitely learned that it’s not as easy as buying some coins and waiting for the profits to roll in.

So, what is the alternative?

The chart below shows the returns that you could have made from a hypothetical Bitcoin investment of $1000 on January 1st 2018 versus the returns from following the Bonusbank daily plays. These plays are ‘value bets’ where we take advantage of bookmaker promotions to turn the odds in our favour. This doesn’t guarantee a profit from every single bet but, since our launch in April 2017, we have yet to have a losing week.

Matched Betting profit v Cryptocurrency in January 2018

As you can see, it has been a great start to the year for Bonusbank. After only 22 days the plays are showing a profit of $1283.91, more than a 100% return on a $1000 investment.

Perhaps more importantly, the Bonusbank returns are consistent. There hasn’t been a single losing day.

Bitcoin, on the other hand, has had a turbulent January. The first week would have seemed great to a new investor, with a 25% increase, but it has been pretty much all downhill from there. That initial investment of $1000 would now only be worth $735 and, considering how sharply the markets fell, there is a good chance that any new investor would have cut their losses and ran.

That’s not to say that Bitcoin won’t shoot back up again and far surpass the returns that Bonusbank offers. There is a good chance that it will…although it might drop another 50% first. We really are in uncharted territory with cryptocurrencies, so no-one knows for sure.

What we do know is that matched betting can provide a reliable, steady stream of long-term profits. You can choose to take those profits and invest them in crypto (some of our members already do), or you use them to pay off debt, book a holiday, or put down a deposit on a house. It’s entirely up to you.

Whatever you choose to do with the profits though, with matched betting your initial investment is always safe.

Anyone who has been tracking the markets for the last couple of weeks will tell you that that is definitely not the case with crypto.