BitcoinBTC
The first cryptocurrency, and still the largest.
30-day price
Where the chart sits — description, not prediction
Between its 50-day ($63.3K) and 200-day ($71.8K) averages — a trend in transition. 30-day range $58.6K–$66.5K; currently in the middle third of that range. RSI(14) 42 — momentum weak.
Computed from daily closing prices (CoinGecko), July 28, 2026. Compare all coins →
What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a digital currency that runs without any company, bank, or government behind it. Instead, a worldwide network of computers maintains a shared, public ledger of every transaction, and the rules of the system are enforced by software rather than by an institution. It launched in January 2009, created by an anonymous figure known only as Satoshi Nakamoto, and it remains the largest cryptocurrency by a wide margin.
What makes Bitcoin distinctive is its fixed supply. The code caps the total number of coins that can ever exist at 21 million, and new coins enter circulation on a predictable, slowing schedule through a process called mining. Roughly every four years the rate of new issuance is cut in half — an event known as the halving — which is why supply scarcity is central to how people think about Bitcoin's long-term value. More than 90% of all bitcoin that will ever exist has already been issued.
People use Bitcoin in different ways: as a long-term store of value (the "digital gold" argument), as a way to move money across borders without an intermediary, and increasingly as an asset held through regulated products like spot exchange-traded funds. It is also famously volatile — large price swings are normal, not a malfunction — which is why it is widely treated as a high-risk holding rather than a stable currency.
What has moved Bitcoin
2017 — the first mania
Bitcoin ran from under $1,000 to nearly $20,000 in a single year as retail interest exploded, then lost roughly 80% of its value through 2018. This boom-and-bust rhythm — a parabolic rally followed by a deep multi-year drawdown — has repeated across every cycle since.
2021 — institutions arrive
Bitcoin pushed to around $69,000, propelled by corporate treasury purchases (most famously Tesla's $1.5 billion buy), the public listing of Coinbase, and a wave of mainstream adoption. It then fell hard through 2022.
2022 — the FTX collapse
The implosion of the FTX exchange and a cascade of failures across crypto lenders dragged Bitcoin back below $17,000, in one of the sector's worst confidence shocks.
Jan 2024 — the spot ETF
After a decade of rejections, US regulators approved the first 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs on January 10, 2024, letting investors hold Bitcoin through an ordinary brokerage account. They became the most successful ETF launch in history — roughly $35 billion of net inflows in year one, with BlackRock's fund alone taking in over $52 billion — and that institutional demand powered the next leg up.
Oct 2025 — record high
Bitcoin reached an all-time high of about $126,000 on October 6, 2025, lifted by sustained ETF inflows, Federal Reserve rate cuts, and a more favourable US regulatory stance.
2026 — the first macro-driven crash
Bitcoin fell more than 50% from that peak, touching roughly $60,000 by February 2026. Unusually, the trigger came from outside crypto: a broad tech-stock sell-off, unwinding leveraged positions, and over $3 billion of ETF outflows in January alone — later compounded by large holders selling and speculative money chasing AI stocks. Unlike the retail-driven crashes of 2018 and 2022, this one was largely institutional and macroeconomic.
Notable moments
The $1 billion pizzas
In May 2010 a programmer paid 10,000 BTC for two pizzas — the first real-world Bitcoin purchase. At later prices those coins would have been worth over a billion dollars, and "Bitcoin Pizza Day" is now celebrated every May 22.
The landfill fortune
A Welsh IT worker accidentally threw away a hard drive holding thousands of bitcoin in 2013 and has spent years petitioning to excavate his local landfill to recover it — a saga that has become crypto folklore about the finality of lost keys.
Nobody knows who made it
Bitcoin's creator, "Satoshi Nakamoto," published the whitepaper in 2008 and vanished from public communication by 2011. Their identity has never been confirmed, and the roughly 1 million bitcoin believed to be in their wallets has never moved.
Common questions
What is Bitcoin in simple terms?
A digital currency maintained by a global network of computers rather than a bank, with a supply permanently capped at 21 million coins by its own code.
Why does Bitcoin's price move so much?
Bitcoin trades 24/7 in a relatively young, sentiment-driven market with no central stabiliser, so it routinely moves more in a day than traditional assets do in a month. Volatility is a defining feature, not a temporary phase.
What is the Bitcoin halving?
Roughly every four years the reward miners receive for adding new blocks is cut in half, slowing the creation of new coins. These scheduled events draw significant market attention because they tighten new supply.
What was Bitcoin's highest price?
Bitcoin reached an all-time high near $126,000 in October 2025. Prices change constantly — the markets page shows where it sits today relative to its averages and recent range.