Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin is the first example of decentralized digital money founded in 2009 by a group known as Satoshi Nakamoto, the value of Bitcoin as of June,
2009 was (BTC value $0.0001) per.
The cryptocurrency’s first big price increase occurred in 2010 when the value of a single bitcoin jumped from just a fraction of a penny to $0.09.
Prices slowly climbed through 2016 to over $900 by the end of the year.9 In 2017, Bitcoin's price hovered around $1,000 until it broke $2,000 in mid-May and then skyrocketed to $19,345.49 on Dec. 15.10 Mainstream investors, governments, economists, and scientists took notice, and other entities began developing cryptocurrencies to compete with Bitcoin.
Bitcoin's price moved sideways for the next two years with small bursts of activity. For example, there was a resurgence in price and trading volume in June 2019, with prices surpassing $10,000. However, it fell to $6,635.84 by mid-December.
In 2020 the economy shut down due to the COIVD-19 pandemic—Bitcoin's price burst into activity once again. The cryptocurrency started the year at $6,965.72. The pandemic shutdown and subsequent government policy fed investors' fears about the global economy and accelerated Bitcoin's rise. At close on Nov. 23, Bitcoin was trading for $19,157.16. Bitcoin's price reached just under $29,000 in December 2020, increasing 416% from the start of that year.
Bitcoin took less than a month in 2021 to smash its 2020 price record, surpassing $40,000 by Jan. 7, 2021. By mid-April, Bitcoin prices reached new all-time highs of over $60,000 as Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, went public.13 Institutional interest further propelled its price upward, and Bitcoin reached a peak of more than $63,000 on April 12, 2021.
By the summer of 2021, prices were down by 50%, hitting $29,795.55 at the lowest on July 19. Autumn saw another bull run in September, with prices scraping $52,693.32, but a large drawdown took it to $40,709.59 about two weeks later.
Conservative predictions of Bitcoin say the cryptocurrency will reach $100,000 by 2023. Some experts are more bullish. “The most knowledgeable educators in the space are predicting $100,000 Bitcoin in Q1 2022 or sooner,” says Kate Waltman, a New York-based certified public accountant who specializes in crypto.
Bitcoin Price History
2009–2015
Bitcoin had a price of zero when it was introduced in 2009. On July 17, 2010, its price jumped to $.09.2 Bitcoin's price rose again on April 13,
2011, from $1 to a peak of $29.60 by June 7, 2021, a gain of 2,960% within three months.3 A sharp recession in cryptocurrency markets followed,
and Bitcoin's price bottomed out at $2.05 by mid-November.4
The following year, its price rose from $4.85 on May 9 to $13.50 by Aug. 15.
2012 proved to be a generally uneventful year for Bitcoin, but 2013 witnessed strong gains in price.
It began the year trading at $13.28 and reached $230 on April 8; an equally rapid deceleration in its price followed,
bringing its price down to $68.50 a few weeks later on July 4.
In early October, Bitcoin was trading at $123.00; by December,
it had spiked to $1,237.55 and fell to $687.02 three days later.7 Bitcoin's prices slumped through 2014 and touched $315.21 at the start of 2015.
2016–2020
Prices slowly climbed through 2016 to over $900 by the end of the year.9 In 2017, Bitcoin's price hovered around $1,000 until it broke $2,000 in mid-May and then skyrocketed to $19,345.49 on Dec. 15.10 Mainstream investors, governments, economists, and scientists took notice, and other entities began developing cryptocurrencies to compete with Bitcoin.
Bitcoin's price moved sideways for the next two years with small bursts of activity. For example, there was a resurgence in price and trading volume in June 2019, with prices surpassing $10,000. However, it fell to $6,635.84 by mid-December.
In 2020 the economy shut down due to the COIVD-19 pandemic—Bitcoin's price burst into activity once again. The cryptocurrency started the year at $6,965.72. The pandemic shutdown and subsequent government policy fed investors' fears about the global economy and accelerated Bitcoin's rise. At close on Nov. 23, Bitcoin was trading for $19,157.16. Bitcoin's price reached just under $29,000 in December 2020, increasing 416% from the start of that year.
2021–Present
Bitcoin took less than a month in 2021 to smash its 2020 price record, surpassing $40,000 by Jan. 7, 2021. By mid-April, Bitcoin prices reached new all-time highs of over $60,000 as Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, went public.13 Institutional interest further propelled its price upward, and Bitcoin reached a peak of more than $63,000 on April 12, 2021.
By the summer of 2021, prices were down by 50%, hitting $29,795.55 at the lowest on July 19. Autumn saw another bull run in September, with prices scraping $52,693.32, but a large drawdown took it to $40,709.59 about two weeks later.
Bitcoin Price Predictions
Conservative predictions of Bitcoin say the cryptocurrency will reach $100,000 by 2023. Some experts are more bullish. “The most knowledgeable educators in the space are predicting $100,000 Bitcoin in Q1 2022 or sooner,” says Kate Waltman, a New York-based certified public accountant who specializes in crypto.