A Detailed Overview of Bitcoin’s Price History
Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency launched in 2009 by the enigmatic Satoshi Nakamoto, has seen a rapid rise in value, increasing to an all-time high of $68,789.63 in November 2021. Over the years, cryptocurrency has undergone several rallies and crashes since it became available.
Volatility is a trademark feature of a cryptocurrency, and while many experts recommend crypto newbies buy Bitcoin or the most popular altcoin, it’s essential to understand their price history. Understanding the price histories gives any trader a broader market overview. As such, this guide will highlight notable price histories and how they can be analyzed to make informed trading decisions.
Bitcoin Price History
Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer currency and transaction system based on a decentralized consensus-based public ledger called blockchain that records all transactions.
Bitcoin was envisaged in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto, but it was a product of many decades of research into cryptography and blockchain and not just one person’s work. It was the utopian dream of cryptographers and free trade advocates to have a borderless, decentralized currency based on the blockchain. Their dream is now a reality with the growing popularity of Bitcoin and other altcoins worldwide.
2010–2017
First deployed on a consensus-based blockchain in 2009. And in July 2010, Bitcoins were traded for the first time at just 8 cents with a few miners and nodes.
Upon trading at around 9 cents in July, Bitcoin’s price rose to $1 the following year (July 2011), and it was already gaining attention. At this time, mining was pretty easy. Fast forward to November 2011, the cryptocurrency had doubled again to $2.
While the price of Bitcoin experienced erratic ups and down at one point — moving from $31 back to $2, it saw a healthy increase to $13 in December 2012. And surprisingly, within four months till April 2013, the price had increased to $266.
It corrected itself back to about $100 in late 2013, and by December 2013, it experienced a. astronomical increase in price to about $1,200 and then dropped to $685 a few days later. At this point, many people started discussing real-world use cases with Bitcoin.
Big companies including Microsoft, etc. started accepting Bitcoin, and blockchain became a popular subject for Computer Science programs. Bitcoin ATMs were also introduced, and Ethereum started its own network as well.
Bitcoin’s price slumped towards the end of 2014 and started the year 2015 with a $315.21 price value.
In 2017, the magical $1,000 figure was breached; since then, it has done a 4x increase ‘till September. 2017 was a pretty remarkable year of Bitcoin as it also survived a hard fork on August 1, 2017.
Bitcoin’s price moved laterally in 2018 and 2019 after setting an all-time high price of $19,345.49 in late 2017. It traded at around $10000 in June 2019 and later fell to $6,635.84.
In 2020, the upswing in the global economy affected Bitcoin and burst into action in 2021. Bitcoin exploded in 2021 and started trading at $40,000 by January 7 of the same month. By mid-April, Bitcoin prices set a new all-time high of over $60,000 and also closed at $68,789.63 in late November 2021.
What Affects the Price of Bitcoin?
Several factors, including supply and demand, compliance and regulations etc., affect the prices of Bitcoin.
- Supply and Demand
Similar to the conventional financial economy, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency prices depend on market forces such as the perceived value and supply and demand. For example, the demand decreases and the price increases.
A good example of this was Bitcoin’s halving when the supply of Bitcoin decreased, and demand increased.
- Regulations
Another significant factor affecting the prices of Bitcoin is regulation. Crypto regulation is not stable compared to the friendly acceptance in countries like El Salvador to Nigeria and other countries banning cryptocurrency. As a result, regulations create uncertainty, which often reflects in the price movements.
Wrapping Up
Overall, Bitcoin has only been around for a decade, and a few years, so we can confidently say it’s still young. This means that prices will continue to fluctuate as traders, investors, users, and governments get involved. So it’s important to understand the concept of Bitcoin’s volatility before risking your funds.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the writer and not of this platform.
