What is the price of Bitcoin today?
As of 8 a.m. ET, the price of Bitcoin (1 BTC) was $58,845.51. The cryptocurrency’s highest intraday price over the past year was $73,750.07 on March 14, 2024.
Bitcoin Chart
The chart above pulls data as of 8am ET each day and does not show intraday highs or lows.
Bitcoin Price
Bitcoin’s all-time high was on March 14, 2024, when it traded at $73,750.07 per Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency’s lowest daily price over the past year was $24,930.30 on September 11, 2023. The original cryptocurrency is up 100% year-over-year.
BTC had very humble beginnings when it was launched in January 2009. Since then, the world’s first cryptocurrency has completely transformed the global financial markets, reaching a global market capitalization of $1.16 trillion.
Cryptocurrencies are also becoming a popular alternative to government-backed fiat currencies such as the U.S. dollar, which tend to lose value over time due to inflation.
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What is Bitcoin and how does it work?
Bitcoin launched the world’s first blockchain-based network for conducting financial transactions, which is supported by millions of users around the world. Anyone with internet access can conduct financial transactions without the need for a bank or government intermediary.
Every transaction on the blockchain is verified by miners, who use powerful computers to solve complex mathematical problems and create new blocks within the chain. Miners are rewarded with newly created BTC for their work in maintaining the network.
In the years since Bitcoin was launched, thousands of cryptocurrencies have attempted to replicate its success, and while some have grown rapidly, none have come close to matching Bitcoin’s value or popularity.
How is the price of Bitcoin determined?
Bitcoin does not represent ownership of tangible assets and does not generate revenue, income or cash flows, so its price is determined solely by supply and demand.
The Bitcoin network automatically releases new Bitcoins to miners every time they validate and add a new block of transactions to the blockchain. Bitcoin’s total supply is limited to 21 million BTC.
Bitcoin’s supply is fixed, so demand is the main variable that determines its price, which fluctuates primarily based on investor sentiment.
Bitcoin starting price
The first recorded price of Bitcoin was when a user on the BitcoinTalk online forum exchanged 5,050 BTC for $5.02 via PayPal in late 2009. In this transaction, Bitcoin was valued at approximately $0.00099 per BTC, or roughly one-tenth of a cent.
Bitcoin Halving Date
The Bitcoin network undergoes a process called halving after 210,000 transaction blocks are added to the blockchain.
Miners receive a certain amount of BTC reward for validating new blocks. This process is called the halving because the reward is reduced by half. The halving is very important because it limits the supply of BTC and maintains its price over time.
Will Bitcoin Halving Increase BTC Price?
Fewer new Bitcoins should ostensibly lead to higher prices, but that’s not necessarily the case.
Halvings do not necessarily serve as a bullish catalyst, as they do not directly affect the price. In the past, BTC prices have bottomed out about a year before the next halving, then rallied for over a year after the halving. However, this pattern does not necessarily repeat.
Bitcoin Price History
2010 – 2019
The first Bitcoin exchange opened in 2010. By 2011, BTC had surpassed $1.
The next 1000x increase took another 2 years, with the price of BTC reaching over $1,000 by late 2013.
Prices continued to soar from there, surpassing $10,000 in November 2017. The following month, CME Group announced the first bitcoin futures contract, and prices surged past $20,000.
However, in 2018, the price reversed and fell below $4,000.
2020 – 2024
Cryptocurrencies have soared during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. A combination of government stimulus funds and low interest rates have fueled Bitcoin’s rise.
However, interest rates began to rise in 2022, causing prices to fall. This fall exposed some cracks in the cryptocurrency industry, such as companies that overextended themselves, which resulted in a series of layoffs and bankruptcies, likely contributing to the price decline.
The price rose again in 2023. On March 14, 2024, BTC hit a new intraday high of $73,750.07.
How to Buy Bitcoin
Many investors use popular cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken to purchase BTC.
To buy Bitcoin directly, you will need a digital wallet, which will allow you to store your Bitcoin and access it using a private key unique to your wallet.
Hardware wallets are similar to USB drives, and software wallet apps store your BTC on your smartphone or other device.
Wallets are either hot or cold: hot wallets are connected to the internet for convenience, while cold wallets are not connected to the internet for added security.
Read more: How to buy Bitcoin
Bitcoin ETFs
Investors can speculate using Bitcoin exchange-traded funds without investing in BTC directly.
The Securities and Exchange Commission approved these ETFs in January 2024. They will hold Bitcoin rather than futures contracts and will be traded on U.S. exchanges.
Many interpreted this approval as a significant endorsement of cryptocurrencies.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What was the highest price for Bitcoin?
Bitcoin’s all-time high was $73,750.07, reached on March 14, 2024.
What was the lowest price for Bitcoin?
According to CoinMarketCap, the lowest price a BTC has ever seen since Bitcoin exchanges launched in 2010 was $0.04865 on July 14, 2010. That said, in 2009, online forums reported that Bitcoin was trading for just $0.00099 per BTC.