user12274: Seems that my poor and rich bitcoin holding friends don't seem to even know the answer to this  :/  
Say I used coinbase and transfer BTC to an exchange like bittrex and exchanged BTC for some alt coin lets call it  XYZ.   
If say Bitcoin was at the time (months ago)  $5,000 USD, and then say the value of this alt coin called XYZ was valued at $100 USD  ( via the BTC estimation) 
If we ignore fees... 

XYZ goes up 300%   from $100 to $300  ,  but at the same time period , BTC also went up 300% and goes from $5000 to $15,000  
Exchange XYZ for BTC , 
Send BTC to coinbase  ... send to bank account   ( ignoring fees )  

Ignoring fees,  did I just break even????   serious question as it seems like I did, right?    
Example say monero went up from $30 to $300 ,  and BTC did a 10x increase ... well then on one hand I was about to say I didn't make any money ,... but now that doesn't make any sense    Ugh   Help

user65907: Of course you profited, because your market value just increased by 300%.  
In your case:
You had 1BTC (worth $5000) on Monday.
You sell 1 BTC and buy 50 XYZ( 50 * $100 = $5000).
Then comes Tuesday, both XYZ and BTC goes up 300%.
Now your 50 XYZ is worth $15000, you exchange 50 XYZ for 1 BTC.
You see, your total market value increased from $5000 to $15000.

12274: <p>Seems that my poor and rich bitcoin holding friends don't seem to even know the answer to this  :/  </p>

<p>Say I used coinbase and transfer BTC to an exchange like bittrex and exchanged BTC for some alt coin lets call it  XYZ.   </p>

<p>If say Bitcoin was at the time (months ago)  $5,000 USD, and then say the value of this alt coin called XYZ was valued at $100 USD  ( via the BTC estimation) </p>

<p>If we ignore fees... </p>

<ol>
<li><p>XYZ goes up 300%   from $100 to $300  ,  but at the same time period , BTC also went up 300% and goes from $5000 to $15,000  </p></li>
<li><p>Exchange XYZ for BTC , </p></li>
<li><p>Send BTC to coinbase  ... send to bank account   ( ignoring fees )  </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Ignoring fees,  did I just break even????   serious question as it seems like I did, right?    </p>

<p>Example say monero went up from $30 to $300 ,  and BTC did a 10x increase ... well then on one hand I was about to say I didn't make any money ,... but now that doesn't make any sense    Ugh   Help</p>
 65907: <p>Of course you profited, because your market value just increased by 300%.  </p>

<p>In your case:<br>
You had 1BTC (worth $5000) on Monday.<br>
You sell 1 BTC and buy 50 XYZ( 50 * $100 = $5000).<br>
Then comes Tuesday, both XYZ and BTC goes up 300%.<br>
Now your 50 XYZ is worth $15000, you exchange 50 XYZ for 1 BTC.<br>
You see, your total market value increased from $5000 to $15000.</p>
