What is the current price of bitcoin?
The price of bitcoin, or 1 BTC, traded at $63,416.97, as of 8 a.m. ET. The highest intraday price that the original crypto reached in the past year was $73,750.07 on March 14, 2024.
Bitcoin price chart
The chart above is pulling data as of 8 a.m. ET daily and doesn’t display intraday highs or lows.
Bitcoin price history
*The return comparisons are as of 8 a.m. ET.
Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $73,750.07 on March 14, 2024. The lowest intraday price it traded in the past year was $26,011.47 on Sep. 25, 2023. Bitcoin is up 138% year over year.
The original cryptocurrency debuted in January 2009. It’s now a major asset with a market cap of $1.25 trillion.
Bitcoin has become a popular alternative to government-backed fiat currencies, which tend to lose value over time due to inflation.
What is bitcoin? And how does bitcoin work?
Bitcoin is known for its blockchain network and decentralized ledger that tracks transactions. The crypto has been used throughout the financial industry. Its network allows users to make transactions without a major bank or government intermediary.
Transactions are recorded on the blockchain and visible to everyone. Miners maintain the blockchain by solving complex math problems to validate transactions. This creates new blocks on the blockchain. Miners receive BTC payments for their work.
Bitcoin became a proof-of-concept mechanism that led to thousands of imitators. Since its launch, thousands of cryptos have come onto the scene.
What determines bitcoin’s price?
No underlying assets are associated with bitcoin, making it unique. The crypto doesn’t represent ownership of a company or pay a dividend. As a result, its price is entirely at the mercy of supply and demand.
Miners receive new bitcoin when they verify and add a block of transactions to the blockchain. The total supply is capped at 21 million BTC.
Prices fluctuate based on demand. This makes investor sentiment the lone factor determining bitcoin’s price.
Bitcoin’s starting price
Bitcoin prices started very low. The first recorded transaction in late 2009 saw 5,050 BTC change hands for $5.02. That comes to $0.00099 per BTC, or less than a tenth of a cent.
Bitcoin halvings
Each time 210,000 blocks of transactions are added to the bitcoin blockchain, the network automatically undergoes a process known as halving.
Bitcoin miners receive a set amount of BTC as a reward for their services to validate a block. But that reward is cut in half each time a halving occurs. In other words, about once every four years, bitcoin miners get a 50% pay cut.
Bitcoin halving is essential in limiting bitcoin’s supply and theoretically supporting its price.
Does bitcoin halving increase BTC’s price?
Slowing the rate at which miners draw bitcoin should drive prices higher. But there’s no guarantee it will play out that way in the markets.
Historically, BTC prices have followed certain cycles around halving events. Prices have typically bottomed about a year before a halving. Then they rise for more than a year after a halving. But these patterns aren’t set in stone.
Bitcoin price history
2010 – 2019
The earliest bitcoin exchanges launched in 2010. The crypto cleared the $1 threshold in 2011.
From there, BTC prices shot up. They reached $1,000 in late 2013 and kept growing.
By November 2017, prices had cleared $10,000. They doubled to over $20,000 a month later. CME Group’s decision to start offering bitcoin futures contracts in December 2017 was likely a factor.
Enthusiasm for the crypto declined in 2018. BTC prices dipped under $4,000 that year.
2020 – 2024
The COVID-19 pandemic sparked another major boom in 2020. Markets likely benefited from government stimulus money pouring into the economy while interest rates remained low.
As interest rates rose in 2022, many investors pivoted away from risky assets like crypto.
Falling crypto prices revealed overextended institutions. The industry was hit by a string of layoffs amid bitcoin’s decline.
But 2023 saw yet another price rally. On March 14, 2024, bitcoin set a new intraday high of $73,750.07.
How to buy bitcoin online
Binance, Coinbase and Kraken are popular cryptocurrency exchanges for buying BTC.
You need a digital wallet to store your crypto. Private keys lock these wallets. Only people with the keys can use them to trade or store crypto.
Some bitcoin wallets are hardware wallets that look like USB drives. Others are software wallets that use apps on smartphones or other devices to store BTC.
Wallets are also divided into hot and cold options. Hot wallets are connected to the internet, which makes them more convenient but less safe. Cold wallets aren’t connected to the internet, offering more security but less convenience.
Read more: How to buy bitcoin
Bitcoin ETFs
Bitcoin exchange-traded funds offer a way to speculate on bitcoin prices without buying bitcoin directly.
In January 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved several bitcoin spot ETFs. They trade on exchanges like stocks and hold actual bitcoin.
These ETFs signal the increasing acceptance of crypto in the financial world.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Bitcoin’s ticker symbol is BTC. Traders use tickers to distinguish one cryptocurrency from another.
One BTC represents one bitcoin. It was valued at $63,416.97 as of 8 a.m. ET.
Read More: Bitcoin price today: BTC is up 1.01%