A short to-the-moon anthology: BTC price predictions over the years
Some call it the prime catalyst of the fourth industrial revolution, others look at it with suspicion and try to avoid it, and others yet believe it to be the fraud of the century. Created by an anonymous coder with the purpose of anonymizing payments, Bitcoin entered the economy through the back door and without much fanfare — yet, just a few years later, it got the entire global community talking about it.
A brief history of Bitcoin over the past decade
2008 — An anonymous individual or group of people hiding under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto publishes the document “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” and conducts open beta tests of Bitcoin.
2009 — Bitcoin’s genesis block is mined while Satoshi Nakamoto creates the first-ever wallet and sends the first transaction. The New Liberty Standard exchange starts trading BTC at the initial price of BTC1,309.03 for $1.
2010 — The first service for purchasing Bitcoins — Bitcoin Market — is launched. The first online purchase takes place: a certain Laszlo buys pizza for BTC 10,000 (worth $25 at the time). By the end of the year, the USD/BTC exchange rate reaches $0.5 for one Bitcoin.
2011 — Wikileaks starts accepting donations in BTC, and the founder of the Swedish Pirate Party Rick Falkvinge invests all his savings in Bitcoin. Time Magazine publishes its first-ever article about Bitcoin. After a series of hacker attacks, Bitcoin’s price falls to just one cent for one BTC, but it starts growing again after the first Bitcoin conferences in New York and Prague.
2012 — The turnover of Silk Road — an anonymous website for selling drugs, weapons, and passports — reaches $15 million. Bitcoin’s price oscillates around the $1 mark.
2013 — The FBI closes down Silk Road, Germany legalizes BTC, and China and Norway ban the use of the first cryptocurrency in their countries. The USD/BTC exchange rate reaches a record $1242 for 1 BTC after a Senate hearing.
2014 — The documentary The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin is released. The first secure Bitcoin storage opens in London, but the price falls to $700 and keeps going down.
2015 — Coinbase raises $75 million in its third investment round. The price of BTC keeps falling and reaches $200 for 1 BTC.
2016 — Japan acknowledges virtual currencies, including Bitcoin, as a valid means of payment alongside fiat money. Gaming platform Steam starts accepting payments in BTC. Hackers steal BTC 120,000 from BitFinex. The price exceeds $1000 once again.
2017 — The number of Bitcoin-related projects on GitHub exceeds 10,000. Cboe Global Markets launches BTC futures contracts. The price of Bitcoin reaches its historical high of $20,000.
2018 — The SEC introduces stricter regulations. Google, Facebook, and Twitter ban cryptocurrency ads. Only 20% of Bitcoins still remain to be mined. The price falls to $4000.
2019 — The total crypto market cap reaches $247 billion.
“Bitcoin at $1 million by the end of 2020”
Predictions about Bitcoin’s price and its future position in the global economy vary wildly. One thing is certain: It’s impossible to ignore an asset with a market cap of $160 billion. Blockchain enthusiasts such as John McAfee, Tim Draper, and Tom Lee keep assuring us that we’re about to see new record highs. Others proclaim that the crypto industry is doomed and advise not to invest in Bitcoin.
“The fair value of Bitcoin is significantly higher than the current price. In fact, working backwards to solve for the current price of Bitcoin, this implies crypto wallets should fall to 17 million from 50 million currently.”
Tom Lee,
analyst at Fundstat
“After its spectacular peak in 2018, Bitcoin crashes and limps into 2019 close to its fundamental ‘production cost’ of $1,000.”
Steen Jakobsen,
