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The price history of Bitcoin

In the early stages, an entire Bitcoin was worth only a few dollars. In the years since, this price has risen sharply and reached its peak in November 2021, with a price of almost €57,000 per Bitcoin. Bitcoin has endured several bull runs and bear markets in the past but has seen tremendous growth so far since its launch. Bitcoin is therefore also seen as 'The mother of all cryptos'.

The first commercial transaction

The first commercial transaction took place in 2010 by Laszlo Hanyecz, an American software developer. On May 22, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 BTC. If we convert those 10,000 BTC's to euros, we would (at the time of writing this article) receive a decent amount of about 190 million euros. Now it's not about the decent amount he would have received today, but the fact that Laszlo has taken an important first step for Bitcoin as a means of payment.

Historic ROI
1 year
137.29%
3 years
23.06%
5 years
1,623.67%
Price (Month)
Lowest
€46,934
Highest
€66,866
Bitcoin Market
Marketcap
€1.2 Trillion
Circulation
19.7 Million
Volume 24h
€39.6 Billion
Dominance
49.66%

Since 2009

Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency and was launched in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto.

Mining

Miners monitor all transactions within the Bitcoin network. 6.25 Bitcoins are mined every 10 minutes.

21 million

The number of Bitcoin is limited to 21 million. So no new Bitcoins will ever be created.

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More about the price of Bitcoin

The breakthrough year

Over time, Bitcoin got more and more publicity. Transitioning from an incredibly nerdy niche to a technological phenomenon. Retailers started using Bitcoin, magazines started getting interested in blockchain technology and the first cryptocurrency brokers were starting to pop up (with of course Anycoin Direct in 2013). The year 2013, can be dubbed as the breakthrough year of the coin. At the start of 2013, the price of one Bitcoin was $22. At the end of 2013, Bitcoin was worth $1,000 USD.

Bankruptcy Mt. Gox

Unfortunately, the Bitcoin price was hit hard by the bankruptcy of Mt. Gox in 2014. Mt. Gox was the biggest Bitcoin exchange during that time. So what happened? The exchange, originally known for Magic the Gathering cards, got hacked and approximately 850,000 bitcoins got stolen. You can imagine that the impact of this event was enormous. This event triggered a wave of hacks that targeted cryptocurrency exchanges. Subsequently, the confidence in cryptocurrencies decreased, causing the price of Bitcoin to decrease as well. Following these events, the price of Bitcoin dropped 32% between the 4th of February and the 16th of February. As a result, the price was drawn back to a value of $300 in January 2015. It took some time for Bitcoin to recover.

All time high price of Bitcoin

In 2017, Bitcoin reached its (at that time) all-time high. At the beginning of 2017, Bitcoin was worth $1,000. A milestone for the crypto world. More retailers started to accept Bitcoin as a way of payment, giving Bitcoin more attention. This was the start of an insanely eventful year. Not only Bitcoin was ready for a rocket fueled launch, the entire crypto market was harvesting enormous amounts of attention. Once the ball started rolling, there was no stopping it. More people wanted in on the ‘hype-train’, resulting in a growing demand. Bitcoin’s rise started getting the on 8'o clock news. Bitcoin was becoming mainstream. The result? A staggering all time high of €20.000 USD.

After the 2017 bull market

After that enormous amount of mainstream interest, the hype became to big. After the price began to dip, people got scared. A snowball effect was created and the price dropped dramatically. In November 2018, the price had dropped from $20.000 to $4.000 and the interest subdued due to so many people making significant losses. It took some time, but in the summer of 2019 the price had crawled back to $10.000. March 2020, on the other hand so another big dip tanking the price to $5.000. You can start to see why Bitcoin has been called ‘extremely volatile’ on numerous occasions. During the autumn of 2020, a resurge had begun pushing the price to $17.000, nearing that all time high of 20k.

A new all time high in 2022

After two relatively calm years, the entire crypto market had a resurgence and it all started (once again) with Bitcoin. In the month of November, the number one climbed and climbed from 14k to 20k. After two years of calm, one exciting November month broke the old 2017 record. A new ATH was set. The months December and the beginning of 2021 were nothing short of amazing for the Bitcoin (and crypto) community. 25k, 30k, 35k, 40k, record after record got broken and the new year has only just begun.

Bear market

A bear market is a period of falling stock prices, usually lasting longer than two months. In the case of the Bitcoin price, this has had a major impact on its price. Bitcoin is a decentralised digital asset that uses blockchain technology to facilitate payments and transactions without the need for intermediaries or banks. The value of the Bitcoin exchange rate is partly based on its utility as an alternative currency and its ability to securely store large amounts of value with minimal transaction costs.

The average duration of a bear market can range from a few weeks to several months. While there is no predetermined amount of time for how long a bear market will last, they are usually shorter than bull markets, which can last up to several years. The current bear market started in January 2022 with the Bitcoin price fluctuating around €40,000.

When the Bitcoin price enters a bear market, it can have a drastic effect on the Bitcoin price because of traders' expectations and sentiment about future price movements. During these periods, the Bitcoin price usually experiences high volatility, with sharp price drops.

However, the Bitcoin price can be affected by many factors other than a bear market. These include news events, changes in the Bitcoin network and technological advances, as well as investor sentiment. Bitcoin investors should pay close attention to these factors when trying to make predictions about Bitcoin's future price. In addition, it is important for Bitcoin traders to understand how bear markets affect the Bitcoin price and take steps to protect their investments during these periods of increased volatility. By understanding how a bear market works and what strategies are available during these periods, Bitcoin traders can minimise their losses while maximising potential gains.

A bear market is a period characterised by falling prices and investor pessimism. Bitcoin, like other markets, follows the trends of a bear market when the price of Bitcoin price drops below trend lines or shows signs of prolonged declines. The responsiveness of Bitcoin price to a bear market can be seen in its volatile nature with sharp price declines within short time frames. During these periods, Bitcoin investors are more likely to sell their coins and take profits as they expect further losses or stagnation in value. This cycle creates an environment where Bitcoin values move lower than average until confidence is restored by buying activity or news developments.

Terra Luna

The rise of the Terra Luna coins has had a profound impact on the cryptocurrency market. It was one of the first coins to bring stability and security to digital assets like the Bitcoin exchange rate, attracting many investors looking for safe havens in volatile markets. Luna's success helped establish confidence in blockchain technology and opened the door for other projects with similar features. Moreover, Luna's success encouraged other projects to introduce stablecoins, making the cryptocurrency market more resilient to economic setbacks. Also, Luna's proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism encouraged further development of PoS networks and helped bring scalability to the blockchain sector.

Luna was the counterpart to the stable coin Terra, which was pegged to a US dollar. When Terra became worth more as a dollar, Luna investors could burn their coins and get 1 UST in its place. However, this also went the other way around when Terra became worth less as a dollar. 

The demise of Terra Luna Classic (LUNC) was therefore a major event in the cryptocurrency world. LUNC ran into trouble when its creators started struggling to maintain control of the stable coin and keep up with the increasing demand for it. As too much of Luna was created, this brought the Terra coin out of balance.

The result was a dramatic drop in LUNC's market value, leading to its eventual collapse. To protect investors, many exchanges chose to remove LUNC from their platforms and require users who still owned coins to convert them to another currency before they could be traded. Despite these efforts, many investors lost money due to the large losses associated with holding on to their LUNC investments.

The collapse of Luna Classic had a falling effect throughout the cryptocurrency sector, with many other coins also experiencing losses in value and liquidity. Even the BTC exchange rate was not immune to this downturn, as its price fell significantly in the aftermath of LUNC's crash. For instance, the Bitcoin price fell from €28,000 euros to €18,000 euros Many investors were understandably reluctant to invest in digital assets after such a significant loss, so the price of Bitcoin BTC remained low for some time afterwards. However, the Luna team did manage to release a replacement coin Luna 2.0. The new coins were distributed to the then Luna Classic holders to compensate them.

Over time, however, Bitcoin BTC managed to partially recover and regain much of its pre-crash value. This is how Bitcoin's price reached €24,000. The coin's resilience can partly be attributed to the fact that it is the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation and widely accepted as a store of value. However, a drop in value soon followed due to rising inflation worldwide.

FTX bankruptcy

The Bitcoin community received a major shock recently when FTX (one of the leading Bitcoin BTC exchanges) went bankrupt and closed its doors. This news came as a surprise to many Bitcoin investors who had entrusted the company with their money. FTX's fall highlights the precarious nature of Bitcoin trading and investing and serves as an important reminder for all Bitcoin investors to be aware of the risks involved in trading crypto.

FTX was founded in 2017 by Sam Bankman-Fried, a former employee at Goldman Sachs. The company quickly grew into one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges in the world, offering users access to more than 140 different digital currencies and tokens, making it one of the most popular among traders. With strong backing from Goldman Sachs and other major players in the crypto space, FTX was seen as a reliable exchange by many. The company also had a robust platform with features like margin trading and derivatives, allowing traders to maximise their returns on their investments.

FTX had become one of the most prestigious exchanges in the world, with a daily volume of over $3 billion per day at its peak. Its popularity among cryptocurrency enthusiasts was driven by its low fees and excellent customer service. However, despite its popularity among traders, recent reports suggest that FTX struggled to stay afloat due to financial mismanagement and lack of liquidity.

FTX's sudden closure has put Bitcoin investors in a difficult position, as the company was holding tens of millions of dollars of Bitcoin BTC for its customers. While some Bitcoin holders were able to withdraw their funds before the exchange closed, many others are figuring out what happened and how to retrieve their funds. The situation is still unfolding.

The Bitcoin share price reacted to the FTX crash for several ``reasons. First, the FTX crash led to a sell-off of assets in the cryptocurrency market, causing downward pressure on prices. Second, the crash also caused confusion and uncertainty about the future of the cryptocurrency market, leading to further sell-offs. Finally, the FTX exchange is one of the largest and most popular exchanges in the world, so the problems had a ripple effect on the entire market. All these factors combined caused the Bitcoin price to fall in response to the FTX crash.

In the aftermath of Sam Bankman-fried's FTX, other companies collapsed. Among them is Circle, a crypto startup once valued at $3 billion. The company has now been sold for just $60 million. Circle was founded in 2013 with the aim of making it easy for people to use cryptocurrencies. However, the company has struggled to find a way to make money and has been hit hard by the bears. Another company that has been hit by FTX is Binance. The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange was forced to suspend trading for two hours after a sudden sell-off. This also had an impact on the Bitcoin price, causing it to fall even longer to the €15,000 mark.

Bitcoin halving (2024)

The Bitcoin halving is an event that occurs about every four years and marks an important step in Bitcoin's evolution. Every 210,000 blocks mined on Bitcoin's blockchain, or about every four years, while Bitcoin currently sees about 1,800 new blocks every day, the reward for miners who successfully mine new Bitcoin halves. This halving reduces the supply of new Bitcoin coming into circulation and can have a dramatic effect on the Bitcoin price, as demand exceeds supply.

The halving of Bitcoin will take place in 2024, and it is expected to have an even greater impact on the price of Bitcoin than previous halves. If more investors become interested in Bitcoin and Bitcoin is also more likely to rise in the future, the demand and thus the price of Bitcoin is likely to rise dramatically. This Bitcoin halving has already created a lot of hype around Bitcoin, as many believe it will cause a bull run reminiscent of the 2017 surge. This increased demand should push up the price of Bitcoin, but also increase transaction costs, as miners will be incentivised to prioritise higher-cost Bitcoin transactions.

The halving of Bitcoin could have a very significant effect on the Bitcoin market and its prices. If Bitcoin supply decreases and demand increases, we could see Bitcoin's value reach new record highs. This could create an investment opportunity for those who are able to capitalise on it in time. Moreover, Bitcoin could become even more attractive to investors looking for long-term appreciation as new Bitcoin does not enter into circulation in large numbers and scarcity increases. But only time will tell what effects this event will really have on the prices and market movement of the Bitcoin price. We can only speculate on what the Bitcoin halving will do to the price and the Bitcoin market, but it is certain that it will cause some major impact at the value of Bitcoin.

The Bitcoin halving is an event that has the potential to cause major changes in the value of Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency markets as a whole. It is important that investors recognise these events and stay abreast of news about Bitcoin halves so they can plan their investments accordingly. While we cannot predict exactly how Bitcoin will react to this upcoming halving, we can use past data and trends to anticipate what might happen when it happens. Whatever comes of it, one thing is certain: the 2024 Bitcoin halving could be a defining moment for Bitcoin.

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