Bitcoin is the first blockchain project, and its coin is BTC. Other blockchains directly or indirectly depend on the Bitcoin blockchain or its price action. As a crypto trader, you need to at least know the price action or price history of BTC. The knowledge of the price action of Bitcoin will help you make good decisions and future price prediction of BTC and altcoins. Also, it will help increase your trust in the blockchain technology and its potentials, especially during bear seasons. Finally, the knowledge of the price history of BTC will give you an idea of what to expect from the market at any point in time (or any quarter of the year).
Brief History of Bitcoin
The whole idea of Bitcoin came into limelight in 2009. The founder of Bitcoin blockchain network is Satoshi Nakamoto (a pseudonym). There are many myths and beliefs about the true identity of founder of Bitcoin. Some believed that Bitcoin has more than one founder, other attributed the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto to some of the early adopters and investors of Bitcoin.
In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto wrote the Bitcoin whitepaper entitled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”. The whitepaper explains all about the Bitcoin network, and how it works. In 9 January 2009, the first open source Bitcoin client was released. The Bitcoin protocol was considered as a breakthrough innovation in the cryptography field. You can learn more about the history of Bitcoin here.
Price History of Bitcoin (BTC) from 2009 to 2012
Here are some of the notable price actions and price history of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin started at a floor price of $0 in 2009. After few months, in 2010, BTC experienced its first jump in price. This took the price of BTC to from a fraction of cent to $0.09. By October that same year, the price of BTC was around $0.1.
In 2011, BTC broke the $1 mark for the first time, by April 2011. This $1 price break sent a frenzy atmosphere and ushered it into its first Bull Run. That same year, BTC was able rally up to about 3000% within 3 months of breaking the $1 price mark, and then peaked around $29 to $32 in June that same year (2011). The price of BTC bottomed that same year at $2.
The following year, which was 2012 was an uneventful year because there no bounce back to the All Time High (ATH) of around $29 to $32. At the end of the year 2012, the price of BTC was around $13 to $14.
NOTE: The Q4 of every year in BTC price history is very important and remarkable.
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Price History of Bitcoin (BTC) from 2013 to 2016
In April 2013, BTC broke the $100 price mark for the first time and rose to $250. BTC started the year 2013 around $13.28 and rose to $30 in Q1, and by April 2013, it broke the $100 price mark, and went as high as $250. This is to show how volatile the price of Bitcoin is. In December 2013, BTC went as high as $1,000.
Many popular Bitcoin investors came to know about Bitcoin in 2013. One of the prominent investors that learnt about Bitcoin in 2013 was Changpeng Zhao, popularly known as CZ (CEO of Binance).
NOTE: BTC hit the $1,000 price mark for the first time in Q4 of 2013 (December). Also note that the price of BTC moved sideways from $250 for more than 6 months before hitting the $1,000 price mark in December 2013. Also, the Market Capitalization (Market Cap.) of Bitcoin rose to 1 billion dollars for the first time in Q4 of 2013, when its unit price touched $1,000 for the first time.
The years 2014, 2015 and 2016 were virtually uneventful in the price history of Bitcoin because within these years, the price was trending downwards and sideways (no new ATH was recorded).
It took BTC another 3 years after hitting the $1,000 price mark in 2013 before it reached $1,000 again. It was in 2017 that the price of BTC was able to reach $1,000 again
NOTE: The BTC price surge in 2013, all the way to 2013 bottomed out at around 85% from its ATH of $1,000. That is, it bottomed out at around $150.
Price History of Bitcoin (BTC) from 2017 to 2019
In 2017, BTC broke the $1000 price mark and got a new ATH of $19,976. It was also in 2017 that many Bitcoin forks came out. Some of the BItcoin forks that came out in 2017 include: Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, Bitcoin Diamond, Bitcore, Bitcoin God, Bitcoin Clashic, Super Bitcoin, Bitcoin Hot, Bitcoin X, Oil Bitcoin, Bitcoin World, Lightning Bitcoin, etc.
Also as at 2017, there were just few crypto exchanges available then. Binance was founded in 2017, but it was not as popular then as it is now. Some of the popular exchanges as at 2017 were: Poloniex, Bittrex and Yobit. Other tier 2 and tier 3 exchanges available as at 2017 were: Huobi, Bitfinex, etc.
As at Q4 of 2017 again after the Bitcoin fork, the price of BTC rose by about 20X within 12 months, and touched $19,975, as recorded by Binance Bitcoin price chart history, after breaking the $1,100 price mark earlier in 2017. This BTC price rally also occurred within 12 months, just like the BTC price rally of 2013. The 2017 BTC price rally entered the media outlets, which helped to spread the news about Bitcoin. As a result, many new investors were attracted.
The years 2018, 2019 and 2020 were also virtually uneventful, as there were no new ATH recorded within those years. BTC price moved downwards and sideways, to as low as $3,500. The peak price of BTC recorded within those years was $17,527 in January 2018. Then in December 2018, BTC swept a low of $3,236.
By the end of 2019, BTC price was around $7,200. After sweeping the low of December 2018, as at the end of 2019, the price of BTC was higher than its end of year price of the previous year (2018).
NOTE: Every Bull Run is followed by a massive several months of sell-offs or bear trends, which may likely peak and bottom out around Q4 of that same year. But not the same can be said of the prices of altcoins.
Price History of Bitcoin (BTC) from 2021 to 2022
By the year 2020, after the price of BTC rose to $7,200 as at December 2019, the corona virus pandemic caused a black sea that swept across virtually all countries in the world, shutting down global economy and stirred up a fear of inflation pressure on the US dollar. This plunged the price of BTC to the $3K region again.
After sweeping the mid $3K region again, there was a sharp increase in BTC buy volume that sent BTC price from that $3k low, and the price increased by over 300% after the corona virus crash. As at the end of the year 2020, the price of BTC was $29,374.
Following the halving year in the previous year of 2020, BTC price rallied to around $64K in the first half of the year 2021. Just as BTC price rose quickly, it also fell back to below $30K within the first half of the year. BTC price hit another ATH around November 2021, and touched $68K. This also happened in Q4 of 2021.
By January 2022, BTC price dumped to around $35K, and started moving downwards and sideways to around the $20K region, as at the end of August 2022.
NOTE: The Bull year comes after BTC halving.
Bitcoin Live Price Chart
Below is Bitcoin live chart showing the latest daily price of BTC, with its 24 hour highest and lowest price.
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Conclusion
You have learnt the brief history of Bitcoin blockchain network, its key price history and memorable price actions from 2009 till date. The main aim of this article is to give you a base that will help you make BTC price predictions with high level of accuracy. The price history of Bitcoin will also help to assure you that Bitcoin and the blockchain technology still have powerful potentials, even though the price of BTC is very volatile.
Article Disclaimer: This article is not in any form a financial advice. The information contained in this article is for educational purpose. Do well to contact your financial advisor before you invest in Bitcoin or any cryptocurrency.
About the Author
Andrew Ameh is a lecturer, blockchain tech enthusiast and altcoin trader. He is the founder of 15% Trade Crew – a reliable and unique crypto trading community. He is popularly known as Mr. Stash or Wolf of AltStreet.
