The Bitcoin price can be found on this page. Bitcoin’s price is followed globally in dollars. You will also find other useful information about Bitcoin, its value, and the historical development of the price.
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The Bitcoin price in dollars
Bitcoin price in USD can be found below. This price is the global Bitcoin price and is always up-to-date. If you follow Bitcoin’s price regularly, bookmark this page!
Next, we will go through the historical development of Bitcoin’s price. You will also receive other useful information about Bitcoin’s price formation and the market in general.
The historical development of the BTC price
Bitcoin’s price history stretches back further than any other cryptocurrency. The history of Bitcoin already begins in 2009, which means it has had a globally determined value for more than 10 years.
Next, we’ll analyze Bitcoin’s price movements since 2013. This period can also be called the modern era of Bitcoin. In the graphic below, you can find the Bitcoin price development from 2013 to 2022.
Bitcoin’s price has moved historically in four-year cycles. The end of 2013 was when Bitcoin’s price exceeded $1000 for the first time. Investors had to wait more than three years for the price to rise above that number again.
The 2017 rally ended at $20,000. This resulted in another long bear market, which didn’t bottom until a year later. Investors had to wait another three years before the old ATH was breached. This took place in December 2020.
Many expected histories to repeat themselves at the end of 2021. The $69,000 breach at the beginning of November seemed to be the first step towards $100,000 price and the climax of the bull market. However, the opposite happened.
Bitcoin’s price turned down unexpectedly, and the end of 2021 broke the so-called predictions of halving cycles in many ways.
The price of Bitcoin made new historical moves in 2022. In the summer of 2022, the value of Bitcoin fell below the peak of the previous cycle for the first time. In December 2022, we also saw a situation where the Bitcoin price was lower than five years earlier on the same day.
Investors are eagerly waiting to see if Bitcoin’s price will again rise to a new bull market in 2023 and 2024. We will go through this in more detail in the last paragraph.
If you want to know more about the history of Bitcoin and its technological development, read this article: Satoshi Nakamoto and the History of Bitcoin.
How is the Bitcoin price formed in the market?
The price of Bitcoin is formed in the market as a weighted average of the prices of the largest Bitcoin exchanges. When you look at the Bitcoin price on this page in kroner or dollars, it is an average, not a quote from any individual exchange.
Why does the market work this way? Bitcoins’ price must be built as a weighted average due to the global and decentralized nature of the Bitcoin market. The situation is different with traditional stock exchanges. Each stock is often quoted on one exchange.
A stock can also be listed on several different exchanges. In this case, the market participants make sure that arbitrages are eliminated. The global Bitcoin market also works with the same idea. Even though Bitcoin can be bought from thousands of different services, there are very few differences in their prices.
The image below shows the Bitcoin price on the largest exchanges. As you can see, the differences are only a tenth of a percent.
The largest arbitrages are often generated in a bull market on locally operating exchanges. For example, in Japan and South Korea, there are substantial Bitcoin exchanges that foreigners do not use. It isn’t easy to eliminate arbitrage in such markets. Bitcoin price may have been up to 10-15 percent higher than the global market in the above countries.
So, the global Bitcoin price on this page is a weighted average of the largest exchanges. The bigger the trading volume of an exchange, the more weight it gets.
However, no one can buy Bitcoin at the global rate. You buy bitcoins at the rate at the exchange you use. It can be momentarily higher or lower than the global market price. The price is also affected by the costs charged by the exchange.
In addition, the exchange may have small differences depending on the trading pair. If you buy bitcoins with euros, dollars, or, e.g., USDT stablecoins, the Bitcoin price will probably differ slightly for each pair. However, the differences are marginal, and the ordinary investor should not worry about them.
Bitcoin price follows the stock market
Bitcoin price follows the stock market more than many people think. Bitcoin has often been seen as an asset detached from the rest of the market, but its price has been correlated with stock market movements for several years.
In the early years of the 2010s, the Bitcoin price still lived a life of its own. Bitcoin was a very small class that was difficult for professional investors to buy. Mostly, amateurs and tech geeks bought bitcoins. The price fluctuated up and down regardless of the rest of the market.
Bitcoin entered the mainstream as an asset class during the 2017 rally. At the same time, it became easier to buy. Various derivatives and other instruments have also entered the market in recent years. Wall Street has taken its share of Bitcoin and entered the market.
This has resulted in Bitcoin behaving much more like traditional asset classes. It is still seen as a high-risk asset, which means a high correlation with technology stocks.
In 2021, the narrative that Bitcoin is digital gold and inflation protection was still strong. However, the crashes of 2018, 2020, and 2022 have proven that the price of Bitcoin does not follow gold but technology stocks. It is a high-risk asset.
The Bitcoin price will, therefore, rise in tandem with other high-risk assets. This requires liquidity, cheap money, and a positive mentality of investors in the market. This has been enjoyed for the most part for the previous ten years.
How has the price of Bitcoin evolved as the market conditions have worsened? At the end of 2018, its value collapsed by 50 percent, following the stock market. In the Covid dip of 2020, the value of Bitcoin also fell with stocks, just like in 2022.
When the market started to recover from the Covid dip in 2020, the price of Bitcoin mooned faster than the rest and continued to go up in 2021. It’s safe to say that Bitcoin and the stock market have been walking hand in hand for five years now.
Why is Bitcoin so valuable?
The value of Bitcoin is so high due to its narrow supply, long history, and popularity as an investment. Bitcoin’s unit price is the highest on the market, and its market value is also completely in a class of its own.
A cap of 21 million coins was set for Bitcoin by Satoshi Nakamoto. No more Bitcoins will ever be created. An estimated 3-4 million bitcoins have also disappeared over the years, i.e., left the market.
At first glance, it might seem that 21 million units are a large number. Perhaps it was in the early years of Bitcoin when there were only a couple of thousand investors. Hundreds of millions of people are now investing in Bitcoin. At its best, its market value has exceeded a trillion dollars.
When an asset of this size is divided into only 21 million units, it is no wonder that the Bitcoin price has risen to tens of thousands of dollars.
The supply of many competing coins is hundreds of millions or even billions. Certain meme coins intentionally create an extremely large supply for a low unit price. This attracts newbie buyers.
The list below shows the value of Bitcoin and other major cryptos on the market. There are huge differences in unit prices.
The second perspective is broader, i.e., why Bitcoin has a value – either a lot or a little. You can also find a comprehensive article on Bitcoin’s value creation at AboutBitcoin.io. Let’s take a summary in the following.
Bitcoin’s value is so high because it is a historically exceptional invention. Bitcoin is the first globally successful decentralized digital currency. It has also gained enormous popularity and network effect.
Bitcoin has over 100 million users, and its network is maintained by tens of thousands of nodes worldwide. Any such large network of actors would be valuable.
For investors, Bitcoin is also a globally known and immeasurably valuable brand. It is no wonder that the Bitcoin price is tens of thousands of dollars, and the market value of Bitcoin is almost as big as that of other currencies combined.
Does Bitcoin mining have an impact on the price?
Bitcoin mining influences the price of Bitcoin, but less than before. Mining is nowadays a very professional activity, and mined coins are not sold immediately. This reduces the negative pressure on the Bitcoin price.
The price of Bitcoin also affects miners. The bear market of 2022 has been a good example of this. Many publicly listed mining companies have gone bankrupt due to the Bitcoin price crash and investments made with debt during the boom.
In the early years of Bitcoin, miners were smaller entities and immediately sold the mined bitcoins on the market. Today, mining farms are hundreds of millions or billions of dollars in size and can hold their coins for years.
Will the Bitcoin price rise if the hash rate of the network increases? This is an often-repeated claim. Bitcoin’s mining power, or hash rate, has been on the rise for years, even though the price of Bitcoin has gone in the other direction. Will the mining power ultimately drive the rate or vice versa? Time will tell.
Bitcoin mining impacts the price of Bitcoin, but the impact also works in the other direction. If the price of Bitcoin falls too much and for too long, it will force miners to sell more and more bitcoins… which will make the price fall even more.
An investor should look at Bitcoin’s hash rate development and be happy if it increases. This shows that many investors believe in the success of Bitcoin in the long run and have invested billions of dollars in the infrastructure of the network.
The Bitcoin price forecast for 2023 and 2024
The Bitcoin price forecast for the years 2023 and 2024 is positive. We predict that the market will recover from a long period of decline at the end of 2023. The Bitcoin halving of 2024 should also give a boost to the price.
Many Bitcoin investors still believe in Bitcoin’s four-year cycles. This is even though Bitcoin’s price crashed in 2021 earlier than expected.
These four-year cycles have traditionally been fueled by Bitcoin halving events, i.e., block rewards halving. The previous one was seen in May 2020, and the next one will happen in the spring of 2024. Many Bitcoin predictions are based on these events.
Bitcoinsentralen does not believe that halving events are significant anymore. This is because well over 90 percent of Bitcoin is already on the market, so the number of new bitcoins is tiny compared to the entire supply.
To read more about the topic, check out this article: Bitcoin Halving 2024.
We believe the Bitcoin forecast for 2023-2024 must be based on the stock market movements. Bitcoin price follows stocks more than halvings, as we previously reported. The central banks’ monetary policy will probably begin to loosen, and interest rates will decrease in 2023-2024.
If you want weekly insights on Bitcoin’s price development, follow our news and market review!
Where is Bitcoin’s price in 10 years?
Speculating on the future price of Bitcoin in 10 years involves various factors such as adoption, price, legal acceptance, and user adoption. While making such long-term predictions is challenging, we can try to make some educated speculations.
The adoption of Bitcoin is likely to increase significantly over the next decade. As more individuals, institutions, and even governments become familiar with blockchain technology and its benefits, the usage of Bitcoin could grow exponentially.
The adoption of Bitcoin grows in two directions:
- Investors and financial institutions
- People in developing countries
More and more professional investors want Bitcoin in their portfolios. It is the best-performing asset of the past decade and could also be one of the next decade’s best performers. On the other hand, people in developing countries seek refuge in Bitcoin against inflationary fiat currencies. These people will also use Bitcoin for payments.
As for legal tender status, El Salvador recognized Bitcoin as a legal tender in 2021. It is conceivable that other countries, particularly those with progressive regulatory frameworks and weak currencies, may follow suit. Seeing dozens of developing countries with Bitcoin as legal tender wouldn’t be surprising.
Regarding the possibility of a ban, it’s important to note that cryptocurrency regulations vary from country to country. While some governments may impose restrictions or bans, a complete global ban on Bitcoin is unlikely. As cryptocurrencies become more mainstream and integrated into financial systems, governments are more inclined to regulate rather than ban them outright. The MiCa regulatory framework of the EU is a good example.
So, where is Bitcoin’s price in 10 years? Bitcoin has historically experienced periods of volatility, but its long-term trend has been upward. Assuming this trend continues, it is possible that Bitcoin’s price could reach millions of dollars over the next decade. Increased demand, limited supply, and increased adoption will all contribute to the price rise. Not to forget the inflationary nature of fiat currencies.