What is the current price of bitcoin?
Bitcoin, or 1 BTC, traded at $58,415.33 as of 8 a.m. ET. The highest intraday price the 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
| 1-DAY RETURN | 5-DAY RETURN | YEAR-TO-DATE RETURN | 1-YEAR RETURN |
|---|---|---|---|
0.32% | -2.54% | 28.84% | 125.20% |
*The return comparisons are as of 8 a.m. ET.
Bitcoin’s all-time high was on March 14, 2024, trading at $73,750.07 per bitcoin. The lowest intraday price that the crypto traded in the past year was $24,930.30 on Sep. 11, 2023. The original crypto is up by 125% year over year.
BTC had very humble beginnings when it was launched in January 2009. Since then, the world’s first cryptocurrency has completely shifted global financial markets and amassed a global market capitalization of $1.15 trillion.
The crypto is also becoming a popular alternative to government-backed fiat currencies, such as the U.S. dollar, which tend to lose value over time due to inflation.
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What is bitcoin? And how does bitcoin work?
Bitcoin runs on a groundbreaking blockchain-based network powered by a collection of global users. It allows anyone with internet access worldwide to make financial transactions that completely circumvent banks or other financial or government intermediaries.
Bitcoin’s security system is centered on its cryptography. All bitcoin transactions are validated by miners, who use high-powered computers to solve complex mathematical puzzles and create new blocks of verified transactions on the blockchain.
Since its launch, bitcoin has inspired thousands of other cryptocurrencies. While many additional cryptocurrencies have become successful, bitcoin remains the most valuable and popular globally.
How is bitcoin’s price determined?
Because bitcoin does not represent ownership of tangible assets and does not generate earnings, revenue, or cash flow, its price is determined exclusively by supply and demand.
Bitcoin’s network automatically releases new bitcoins to miners each time they verify and add a new block of transactions to the blockchain. The total supply of bitcoin is capped at 21 million BTC.
Given bitcoin’s fixed supply, demand is the primary variable determining its price. This demand fluctuates mainly based on investor sentiment.
Bitcoin’s starting price
The first recorded bitcoin price came in late 2009 when users in the BitcoinTalk online forum exchanged 5,050 BTC for $5.02 via PayPal. This transaction valued bitcoin at about $0.00099 per BTC, or about one-tenth of a cent.
Bitcoin halving dates
The reward miners receive for validating new blocks is reduced by half every 210,000 blocks. It’s a process known as halving.
This built-in pay cut limits bitcoin’s supply and supports its price.
| HALVING EVENT | DATE | BLOCK NUMBER | REWARD BEFORE HALVING | REWARD AFTER HALVING |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1st halving | Nov. 28, 2012 | 210,000 | 50 BTC | 25 BTC |
2nd halving | July 9, 2016 | 420,000 | 25 BTC | 12.5 BTC |
3rd halving | May 11, 2020 | 630,000 | 12.5 BTC | 6.25 BTC |
4th halving | April 19, 2024 | 840,000 | 6.25 BTC | 3.125 BTC |
5th halving (expected) | Expected in 2028 | 1,050,000 | 3.125 BTC | 1.5625 BTC |
6th halving (expected) | Expected in 2032 | 1,260,000 | 1.5625 BTC | 0.78125 BTC |
7th halving (expected) | Expected in 2036 | 1,470,000 | 0.78125 BTC | 0.390625 BTC |
Does bitcoin halving increase BTC’s price?
Less new bitcoin should ostensibly push up prices. But that doesn’t always happen.
A halving doesn’t directly impact prices, so it isn’t a guaranteed bullish catalyst. In the past, BTC prices hit a bottom about a year before the next halving. They then rose for more than a year after the halving. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the pattern will repeat.
A history of bitcoin prices
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
Many investors rely on popular crypto exchanges, such as Binance, Coinbase and Kraken to buy BTC.
To buy bitcoin directly, you need a digital wallet. This allows you to store bitcoin and access it with a private key specific to your wallet.
Hardware wallets resemble USB drives. Software wallet apps store BTC on smartphones or other devices.
Wallets can also be hot or cold. Hot wallets are connected to the internet for convenience, while cold wallets are unconnected for greater security.
Read more: How to buy bitcoin
Bitcoin ETFs
Investors can use bitcoin exchange-traded funds to speculate without investing directly in BTC.
The Securities and Exchange Commission approved these ETFs in January 2024. They hold bitcoin, not futures contracts, and trade on U.S. exchanges.
Many interpreted this approval as a significant validation of the cryptocurrency.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Bitcoin is identified with a ticker just like a stock. Traders use BTC to identify bitcoin on exchanges. One BTC equals one bitcoin.
One BTC represents one bitcoin. It was valued at $58,415.33 as of 8 a.m. ET.
