How Long Has Bitcoin Been Around

Bitcoin started 2022 nearly twice as valuable as information technology was in Jan 2021, capping a twelvemonth that saw cryptocurrency explode in mainstream interest and curiosity. Just before the first calendar month of 2022 had concluded, bitcoin had nearly lost all of the previous yr’s gains, dropping into the $33,000 range in January.

As more than everyday investors wonder how cryptocurrency might fit into their portfolio, financial advisors accept found themselves incorporating crypto into their guidance. “A lot of people bought cryptocurrency for the first time this twelvemonth,” says Brittney Castro, a Los Angeles-based certified financial planner with Mint and founder of the media company Financially Wise.

Along with institutional adoption and government regulatory involvement, these crypto newcomers are influencing the once-fringe crypto landscape and moving the needle toward mainstream adoption. “Fifty-one percent of Americans who own cryptocurrency bought it in the last 12 months,” says Lisa Lewis, a certified public accountant at TurboTax, citing data from a survey her company did before this twelvemonth.

In virtually cases, and every bit many experts recommend, crypto newbies buy bitcoin or the most popular altcoin (alternative money), ethereum. Bitcoin (BTC) reached an all-time high of over $68,000 in November 2021 afterward starting the year at just under $30,000, and the crypto industry as a whole grew to a total market cap of more than $2 trillion. Meanwhile, Ether (ETH), has shot upward from about $737 to around $3,000, depending on the day.

Merely here’southward the matter near crypto: These prices tin drop by 15% or more overnight or in a matter of hours. In fact, they unremarkably do. Volatility is a trademark feature of cryptocurrency, with a few exceptions similar stablecoins. Bitcoin and ethereum haven’t come close to concluding year’s highs in 2022, amid a broader market selloff of risky assets and an uncertain macroeconomic outlook with no stop in sight.

That’s why experts recommend investors proceed cryptocurrency investments to less than 5% of your total portfolio, and never invest in cryptocurrency at the expense of saving for emergencies and paying down high-interest debt.

We asked crypto experts and industry professionals about bitcoin’south toll over the years, and what that might tell us well-nigh its future. Here’s a wait at bitcoin’s price history — from its 2009 origins until now.

Bitcoin Price History

Bitcoin has a much more all-encompassing track record compared to other cryptos, though it’s still in its relative infancy compared to the 200+ year history of the U.S. stock marketplace.

Here’s a quick rundown of bitcoin’due south by, which is total of the aforementioned ups, downs, and big swings that we saw throughout 2021:

2009: Bitcoin’s Origin

The invention of the Bitcoin currency (BTC) was simultaneous to the invention of bitcoin as a blockchain, and it was the first of its kind in history.

“The unit of value (BTC) wouldn’t take been possible without blockchain technology, only there was never a bitcoin blockchain without the currency either,” says Robert Konsdorf, CEO of Facings, a Michigan-based company that creates user-friendly blockchain publishing tools.

Bitcoin’south first price was $0. The founder, known pseudonymously as Satoshi Nakaomoto, famously released the bitcoin white paper to explain how the new engineering science would piece of work.

2010: The First ‘Jump’

Bitcoin’s start “big” jump happened in summer 2010. The price rose from a fraction of a cent in the leap to $0.09 past July. Very few people, except for very niche tech experts and finance enthusiasts, knew plenty near bitcoin to purchase the currency. Past October, 2010 the price was nearly $0.10.

2011: Bitcoin Breaks $1

Bitcoin bankrupt $1 in April 2011, entering its starting time mini “bull run.” It rose by roughly three,000% over the adjacent 3 months and peaked between $29 and $32 (depending on the source) by June 2011. By November 2011, the price bottomed out once more at $2.

The post-obit year was uneventful. Bitcoin didn’t bounce back in 2012, finishing the twelvemonth between $13 and $14.

2013: Bitcoin Breaks $100, Then $1,000 — So Falls

Bitcoin began 2013 around $13.28. It rose to the $30 range in the first quarter of the twelvemonth, then quickly accelerated in the last week of March. By Apr i, bitcoin broke $100. Online forums on Reddit became a hub for curious money enthusiasts and tech professionals wondering why this new nugget class — unlinked from any physical commodity — could actually accept value.

Past November 2013, bitcoin broke $1,000 — and so the cost dropped dramatically by December to around $530.

2014 to 2016: Bitcoin Stalls

Despite the volatility, these early on rumblings were enough to persuade Nelson Merchan, CEO of the blockchain events firm Light Node Media, to await into crypto. A college educatee at the time, Merchan first bought bitcoin when the toll was around $600.

“I was a sophomore in college when I stumbled upon a Reddit post in early on 2014 talking about this digital currency that had hit $1,000,” Merchan tells NextAdvisor. “I thought, ‘if people are willing to pay $1,000 for the digital currency, in that location’due south clearly something more to this.’”

Merchan proceeded to practice more enquiry on bitcoin, and in detail its unique supply framework: “I found out that there was just going to exist 21 million BTC e’er in being. So I was like, ‘OK, if information technology’s already at $1,000 and there’s only 21 million ever going to be created in the world, that’s going to exist huge. We’ve never really seen a currency of any sort accept a restricted supply corporeality,” he says.

However, the next two years required lots of patience, says Merchan. The cost of BTC stagnated and wouldn’t hit $1,000 again until 2017. Not sure of what the time to come would bring, Merchan avoided telling his friends almost his mysterious investment.

“People weren’t really that interested in this cryptocurrency thing. And the thing is, when you know crypto, y’all don’t really want to get people into it. I’ve seen really horrible experiences of people telling others to get in then losing all their money.”

2017: Bitcoin Breaks $ane,000 and Kicks Off a Bull Run

Later on years of price fluctuations ranging between $100 and $900, bitcoin finally broke $1,000 again in January 2017. This kicked off a euphoric bull run phase. Prices doubled to $2,000 in mid-May and then skyrocketed to over $xix,000 by December.

Merchan says he saw his initial investments (he estimates they were under $fifteen,000) abound to millions, seemingly overnight. The unexpected fasten in net worth was an adjustment for Merchan, but he maintained a degree of cautious skepticism on this newfound source of wealth.

“I’m a big laic that if it’s non in cash, y’all don’t really accept that money because in crypto, annihilation can drop pretty dramatically overnight,” Merchan says. “If you have a 1000000 dollars in the depository financial institution (in crypto) you’ve got to be very careful because if your monthly expenses go on to grow and the market drops 50%, now you lot really accept to tighten your belt.”

It turns out, Merchan’s long-term mindset would exist necessary for bitcoin’s next phase.

2017 to 2019: More Ups and Downs

Thanks to media coverage and the steep ascension in bitcoin’southward price, the crypto industry started to take off. Thousands of altcoins were minted, while international diplomats, governments, mathematicians, economists, tech professionals, and fiscal experts increasingly discussed cryptocurrency regulation and mainstream adoption.

Bitcoin’s toll moved sideways during this time, with a few pocket-sized spikes. The highest pinnacle was in January 2018, around $17,527. The everyman dip was around $iii,236 in December 2018.

“I went from having millions of dollars in crypto, to having a couple of hundred g,” Merchan recalls.

At the end of 2019, bitcoin’south price was almost $7,200.

2020: The Coronavirus Pandemic

When the coronavirus pandemic shut down the economy and stirred up fears of inflationary pressure on the U.Southward. dollar, bitcoin’south price started to accelerate in its upward climb. By December 2020, bitcoin’s price had increased by over 300% since January. The year concluded at a price of about $29,374 — the highest information technology had ever been.

2021 to Nowadays

Bitcoin doubled its value in 2021, but in Jan 2022 saw a big drop that erased almost all of the previous year’s gains. We saw bitcoin skyrocket to an all-time high over $64,000 in the get-go half of 2021, then simply as rapidly fall back below $thirty,000 over the summertime. Bitcoin hit some other all-fourth dimension high over $68,000 in November, simply by January 2022 had dropped back below $35,000.

While it approached $50,000 in March, bitcoin roughshod brusque and has been on a downward trend ever since — hovering around $20,000 throughout the summer. Bitcoin has increasingly tracked the stock market in recent months, and then it has struggled along with it in the confront of high inflation, ascension rates, and lower investor conviction.

Some experts still say the price of bitcoin will surpass $100,000 — describing it as a matter of when information technology happens, rather than if.

How High Volition Bitcoin Become In the Future?

Experts say bitcoin will nevertheless likely surpass $100,000, though on a longer timeline than originally expected when it was flying loftier in 2021. They’re predicting an upside of $28,000 for the balance of 2022, and a loftier of $100,000 in 2023-2024. Looking fifty-fifty further ahead, to 2030 and across, the range of predictions is wide, with some saying it could still be worth millions at some indicate in the futurity.

Because bitcoin (and crypto in general) is so new, price predictions are by and large informed speculations. Financial planners therefore recommend only investing in crypto what you could afford to lose. Or, you lot can simply relax knowing that past investing in mainstream low-cost index funds and ETFs, you could possibly already be investing in crypto, albeit in an indirect way. Several blue-chip companies including Tesla and Square either concord crypto in their portfolios or programme to incorporate blockchain technology into their business organisation models. For example, the eastward-signature company DocuSign has experimented with Ethereum integration for making advanced smart contracts.

What Drives Bitcoin’south Price?

Bitcoin is valuable thanks to its limited supply steadily increasing demand by a greater number of investors. Information technology has also been described by some as an inflation hedge.

People across many different industries also believe blockchain (the tech upon which all crypto is minted) could exist a game-changer and provide transparency beyond various industries.

“[Bitcoin has] captured the imagination of investors,” says Dave Abner, global head of business development at pop crypto substitution Gemini. With a current market cap of about $900 billion, the volume of bitcoin at present being bought and sold is large enough that institutional investors see an opportunity to participate, he explains.

What Practise Investors Demand to Know About Bitcoin?

More than than annihilation, Abner encourages consumers to know what kind of investor they are and buy bitcoin merely in a fashion that works with their long-term strategies. He points to the famous value investor Warren Buffet as an example of someone who’s chosen to opt out of the crypto market considering it doesn’t fit in with his overall approach.

“People accept FOMO,” says Abner — aka “fear of missing out.” “A lot of people start questioning, ‘what am I missing?’ But you want to wait at your portfolio” before investing in crypto just because others are doing it.