Bitcoin Price History: Complete Timeline from 2009 to 2026

Bitcoin Price History: The Complete Timeline

Bitcoin's price history is one of the most remarkable stories in the history of financial assets. From worthless novelty to a multi-trillion-dollar asset class in just 17 years, Bitcoin's price trajectory reflects the progressive monetization of a new form of money.

All historical price data on this page is sourced from Onramp Terminal, cross-referenced with major exchange data and on-chain metrics.

Era 1: Genesis (2009-2010) - From Zero to Fractions of a Cent

Bitcoin price at start of era: $0.00

Bitcoin price at end of era: ~$0.30

Key Events

• January 3, 2009: The Genesis Block is mined. Bitcoin has no market price.
• October 5, 2009: First recorded Bitcoin exchange rate: 1,309.03 BTC = $1 (approximately $0.000764 per BTC), established by New Liberty Standard based on electricity cost of mining.
• May 22, 2010: Bitcoin Pizza Day. Laszlo Hanyecz pays 10,000 BTC for two Papa John's pizzas, establishing a real-world price of approximately $0.004 per BTC. Those pizzas would be worth over $1 billion at 2026 prices.
• July 17, 2010: Mt. Gox exchange launches, providing the first reliable price discovery mechanism. BTC trades at approximately $0.07.
• November 2010: Bitcoin market cap reaches $1 million for the first time.

Era 2: First Boom and Bust (2011-2012) - The Dollar and Beyond

Year-open prices: 2011: $0.30 | 2012: $5.27

Year-end prices: 2011: $4.72 | 2012: $13.51

Key Milestones

• February 9, 2011: Bitcoin reaches $1.00 for the first time. Parity with the U.S. dollar is a symbolic milestone.
• June 8, 2011: Bitcoin hits $31.91 on Mt. Gox, its first major spike, driven partly by a Gawker article about Silk Road.
• June-November 2011: First major crash. Bitcoin falls from $31.91 to $2.00, a 93.7% decline.
• November 28, 2012: First halving. Block reward drops from 50 to 25 BTC. Price: ~$12.35.

What Drove This Era

Early adoption was fueled by cypherpunks, libertarians, and technologists. Media coverage of Bitcoin's use on Silk Road brought attention but also controversy. The Mt. Gox exchange became the dominant trading venue.

Era 3: The First Mainstream Cycle (2013-2015)

Year-open prices: 2013: $13.30 | 2014: $770 | 2015: $314

Year-end prices: 2013: $757 | 2014: $318 | 2015: $430

Key Milestones

• April 1, 2013: Bitcoin breaks $100 for the first time.
• November 29, 2013: Bitcoin reaches $1,163 on Mt. Gox, briefly surpassing the price of one ounce of gold.
• February 7, 2014: Mt. Gox halts all withdrawals. The exchange eventually reveals it lost 850,000 BTC to hackers.
• February 24, 2014: Mt. Gox files for bankruptcy. Bitcoin price crashes to ~$400.
• January 14, 2015: Bitcoin bottoms at ~$178, down 84.7% from the 2013 high.
• October 2015: The European Court of Justice rules that Bitcoin transactions are exempt from VAT.

What Drove This Era

The Cyprus banking crisis in March 2013 introduced Bitcoin as a potential safe haven. Chinese exchange volume surged. The collapse of Mt. Gox shook confidence but ultimately proved Bitcoin's antifragility: the network continued operating without interruption.

Era 4: The ICO Boom (2016-2018)

Year-open prices: 2016: $430 | 2017: $998 | 2018: $13,412

Year-end prices: 2016: $963 | 2017: $14,156 | 2018: $3,693

Key Milestones

• July 9, 2016: Second halving. Block reward drops from 25 to 12.5 BTC. Price: ~$650.
• March 10, 2017: SEC rejects Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF application. Bitcoin briefly dips but recovers.
• August 1, 2017: Bitcoin Cash (BCH) forks from Bitcoin. The "Block Size Wars" reach their climax.
• November 28, 2017: Bitcoin surpasses $10,000 for the first time.
• December 17, 2017: Bitcoin reaches its then-all-time high of $19,783 on Coinbase.
• December 18, 2017: CBOE launches Bitcoin futures. CME follows a week later.
• February 6, 2018: Bitcoin crashes to $6,000. The ICO bubble bursts.
• December 15, 2018: Bitcoin bottoms at $3,128, down 84.2% from peak.

What Drove This Era

The halving in July 2016 preceded the most speculative cycle in Bitcoin's history. The ICO (Initial Coin Offering) craze brought millions of new participants into the crypto space. Mainstream media coverage reached fever pitch. The introduction of futures trading on CBOE and CME marked Wall Street's first direct exposure.

Era 5: Institutional Adoption (2019-2022)

Year-open prices: 2019: $3,693 | 2020: $7,195 | 2021: $29,374 | 2022: $46,306

Year-end prices: 2019: $7,193 | 2020: $29,001 | 2021: $46,306 | 2022: $16,537

Key Milestones

• June 26, 2019: Bitcoin briefly touches $13,880 amid Facebook's Libra announcement.
• March 12-13, 2020: "Black Thursday." COVID-19 panic sends Bitcoin from $7,900 to $3,858 in 24 hours, a 51% crash.
• August 11, 2020: MicroStrategy announces $250 million Bitcoin purchase. The corporate treasury era begins.
• October 2020: PayPal announces Bitcoin buying and selling for 346 million users.
• February 8, 2021: Tesla reveals $1.5 billion Bitcoin purchase.
• April 14, 2021: Coinbase goes public via direct listing. Bitcoin hits $64,863.
• May 19, 2021: China bans crypto mining. Bitcoin crashes to $30,000.
• September 7, 2021: El Salvador becomes the first nation to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.
• November 10, 2021: Bitcoin reaches all-time high of $68,789.
• May 2022: Terra/Luna collapse triggers cascading failures across crypto lending.
• June 2022: Celsius, Three Arrows Capital, and Voyager collapse. Bitcoin falls below $18,000.
• November 11, 2022: FTX files for bankruptcy. Bitcoin drops to $15,476.

What Drove This Era

The COVID-19 monetary response (trillions in stimulus) drove institutional interest in Bitcoin as an inflation hedge. MicroStrategy, Tesla, and publicly traded miners accumulated aggressively. However, the leveraged excesses of centralized crypto lending platforms (Celsius, BlockFi, Voyager) and the fraud at FTX led to a severe bear market.

Era 6: The ETF Era (2023-Present)

Year-open prices: 2023: $16,537 | 2024: $44,172 | 2025: $93,429 | 2026: ~$98,000

Key Milestones

• January 2023: Bitcoin begins recovery from FTX bottom. Trades at ~$16,500.
• June 15, 2023: BlackRock files for spot Bitcoin ETF. Price jumps above $25,000.
• January 10, 2024: SEC approves 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs. IBIT, FBTC, and others begin trading.
• March 14, 2024: Bitcoin hits new all-time high of $73,750 pre-halving, driven by ETF inflows.
• April 19, 2024: Fourth halving. Block reward drops to 3.125 BTC.
• December 5, 2024: Bitcoin surpasses $100,000 for the first time, reaching $103,713.
• January 20, 2025: Bitcoin hits $109,071 on inauguration day.
• March 2025: U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve announced via Executive Order.

What Drove This Era

The approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024 was a watershed moment. BlackRock's IBIT became the fastest ETF in history to reach $10 billion in AUM. Institutional capital flooded into Bitcoin through regulated, familiar investment vehicles. The 2024 halving reduced supply growth to below 1% annually for the first time, while ETF demand created a structural supply deficit.

Bitcoin Price Milestones Summary

Milestone | Date | Days from Genesis

$0.01 | ~May 2010 | ~485

$1 | Feb 9, 2011 | ~768

$10 | June 2, 2011 | ~880

$100 | April 1, 2013 | ~1,549

$1,000 | Nov 27, 2013 | ~1,789

$10,000 | Nov 28, 2017 | ~3,252

$20,000 | Dec 17, 2017 | ~3,271

$50,000 | Feb 16, 2021 | ~4,428

$69,000 | Nov 10, 2021 | ~4,695

$100,000 | Dec 5, 2024 | ~5,816

Bitcoin's Drawdown History

Bitcoin's volatility has been a defining characteristic. Major drawdowns from all-time highs:

Period | Peak | Bottom | Drawdown | Recovery Time

2011 | $31.91 | $2.00 | -93.7% | ~2 years

2013-2015 | $1,163 | $178 | -84.7% | ~3 years

2017-2018 | $19,783 | $3,128 | -84.2% | ~3 years

2021-2022 | $68,789 | $15,476 | -77.5% | ~2 years

A consistent pattern emerges: each cycle's drawdown has been less severe, and recovery times have shortened as the market matures and institutional participation deepens.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What was Bitcoin's highest price ever?

Bitcoin's all-time high was set on January 20, 2025, at $109,071, reached on inauguration day. Previous all-time highs were $68,789 (November 10, 2021), $19,783 (December 17, 2017), and $1,163 (November 29, 2013). Bitcoin first surpassed $100,000 on December 5, 2024.

How much was 1 Bitcoin worth in 2010?

In 2010, Bitcoin's price ranged from fractions of a cent to approximately $0.30 by year end. The most famous price reference from 2010 is Bitcoin Pizza Day (May 22), when 10,000 BTC was exchanged for two pizzas, implying a price of approximately $0.004 per Bitcoin. By July 2010, when Mt. Gox launched, Bitcoin was trading around $0.07.

How many times has Bitcoin crashed?

Bitcoin has experienced four major crashes of 75% or more from all-time highs: -93.7% in 2011 ($31 to $2), -84.7% in 2013-2015 ($1,163 to $178), -84.2% in 2017-2018 ($19,783 to $3,128), and -77.5% in 2021-2022 ($68,789 to $15,476). Notably, each successive crash has been less severe, and Bitcoin has recovered to set new all-time highs every time.

What drives Bitcoin's price?

Bitcoin's price is driven by the interaction of fixed supply (21 million cap, halving every ~4 years) with variable demand. Major demand drivers include: institutional adoption (ETFs, corporate treasuries), monetary policy (money printing, inflation), regulatory developments, halving cycles reducing new supply, and network effects as adoption grows. The 2024 ETF approvals created a structural new demand source of billions in monthly inflows.

Is Bitcoin a good long-term investment based on history?

Bitcoin has been the best-performing asset of the last 15 years by a wide margin. A $100 investment at $1 in 2011 would be worth over $10 million today. However, Bitcoin is volatile: investors have endured drawdowns exceeding 75% in every cycle. Historical data shows that investors who held through full 4-year cycles have never lost money. Onramp's DCA and Multi-Institution Custody tools are designed for this long-term approach.