How much is one bitcoin worth in cash today?The price of bitcoin today is $18,747.30. The price of bitcoin has a wide range of fluctuations, up and down, so what is the historical price of bitcoin? Now let's take a look at the historical price of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin price

Bitcoin's price is known for being highly volatile, but despite this, it has become the best-performing asset in any category (including stocks, commodities and bonds) over the past decade -- climbing a staggering 9,000,000 percent between 2010 and 2020.

When the cryptocurrency launched in early 2009, 50 BTC entered circulation at $0.00 when Satoshi Nakamoto mined the Bitcoin Genesis block, the first block on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Each block continued to have 50 bitcoins in circulation (created every 10 minutes) until the first halving event occurred in November 2012 (see below). Halving refers to Bitcoin's issuance system, which Nakamoto programmed into Bitcoin's code. It essentially involves automatically halving the number of new BTC entering circulation per 210,000 blocks.

In February 2011, the price of BTC reached parity with the dollar for the first time. That milestone encouraged new investors to enter the market, and over the next four months, Bitcoin's price continued to rise - peaking above $30.

By early 2013, the leading cryptocurrency had recovered from a long bearish episode and risen above $1,000, albeit briefly. But following the infamous Mt Gox hack, China's announcement of its first ban on encryption and other circumstances, it took another four years for BTC prices to climb back above $1,000 again. Once above that level, however, Bitcoin's price continued to surge dramatically throughout 2017 until BTC reached its previous long-term all-time high of $19,850.

In 2018, the entire cryptocurrency market was caught up in a year-long bear market now known as "cryptocurrency winter." It wasn't until December 2020, when Bitcoin retested its previous all-time high, that it finally surpassed that all-time level and rallied a further 239% to a new all-time high of $64,799 over the next 119 days.

Historical price of Bitcoin, from 2010 to 2022

Historical price of Bitcoin

With the market valuation of the total stock of bitcoin approaching $1 billion, some commentators have called the price a bubble. In early April 2013, the price of a single bitcoin fell from $266 to about $50 before rising to about $100. For two weeks starting in late June 2013, the price dropped steadily to $70. Prices began to recover, peaking again at $140 on October 1. On Oct. 2, Silk Road was seized by the FBI. The seizure caused a flash crash to $110. The price quickly rebounded, returning to $200 a few weeks later. It last rose from $200 on Nov. 3 to $900 on Nov. 18. Bitcoin crossed $1,000 on Mt. Gox on November 28, 2013.

What affects the price of Bitcoin?

One factor is supply and demand.

Like any other currency, product or service within a country or economy, the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies depends on perceived value and supply and demand.

If people think Bitcoin is worth a certain amount, they will buy it, especially if they think it will appreciate in value.

By design, only 21 million Bitcoins will ever be created. 21 The closer Bitcoin gets to its limit, the higher its price will be as long as demand remains constant or increases.

Bitcoins are created by mining software and hardware at a specified rate. The ratio splits in half every four years, slowing down the number of coins created.

As long as Bitcoin's popularity continues to grow and its supply fails to meet demand, its price should continue to rise. However, if sentiment falls and demand falls, supply exceeds demand. The price of Bitcoin should then fall, unless it retains its value for other reasons.

The above content introduces the historical price of bitcoin and the factors that affect the price of bitcoin. The price of bitcoin fluctuates greatly, which will be affected by other cryptocurrencies and the policies issued by various countries. So be cautious about investing in bitcoin.