Whether you’re a cryptocurrency trader or investor, or you’ve just heard it on the news, the Bitcoin price is always a topic of interest for a wide audience. Every time the volatile digital asset moves in value, it affects the whole market, and as it’s influenced by many factors, that happens quite often. That’s why even if you don’t know anything about cryptocurrency, or you think Bitcoin is the only crypto in the world, you’d have heard about its price at some point.
But have you ever wondered how much was Bitcoin when it first came out? Influenced by its 2021 milestone of almost $69,000, many would take this value for granted and impatiently expect it to reach a million within a few months. However, that’s not how the crypto market, or any financial one, works, as almost with every rise, there’s a drop that follows. Here we’ll take a closer look at the launch price of BTC, how it increased and what factors can influence it. If you want to learn more about the price of the king crypto in the past and potential future, we suggest you keep reading.
Bitcoin: Explaining the First Digital Asset and Blockchain
Before we even begin to answer how much was Bitcoin when it first came out, let’s first explain what it is and how it came to be. Bitcoin was created in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto, a person or group of people whose identity is unknown to this day. Their intention was to introduce an alternative to fiat money and traditional banking which won’t be controlled by governments or authorities and will be the people’s money. The BTC cryptocurrency was created on the Bitcoin blockchain, a decentralized network where transactions happen.
Like all digital assets, there’s no real-life embodiment of Bitcoin, it’s created and stored on a blockchain and you can’t touch it. The asset has a limited supply of 21 million bitcoins, meaning that’s how there only ever be in the world. The fixed supply is the reason why Bitcoin is considered a scarce asset at this point and as the supply gets lower, with every new emerging (mined) cryptocurrency, the demand for bitcoins grows. Currently, we’ve reached around 19 million bitcoins in circulation and the last one is expected to be mined in 2140.
We’ve briefly covered what is Bitcoin as a blockchain and cryptocurrency so let’s now move on to answer how much was Bitcoin when it first came out.
How Much Was Bitcoin When It First Came Out?
The popularity of Bitcoin brought many new digital assets with it. To be exact, over 20,000 were available at the time of writing. Some of them came to the crypto market with staggering launch prices, for example, Internet Computer, SafeMoon, and ApeCoin, which impressed investors with their first trading value. However, their stars didn’t shine for very long as they haven’t been able to reach such prices after their value normalized from the initial craze. But that sure has you wondering how much was Bitcoin when it first came out, right? Did it launch at $100 or at $1000?
When in 2009 Satoshi Nakamoto mined the first 50 bitcoins and they entered circulation the price of a single Bitcoin was $0.00. That’s correct, the answer to how much was Bitcoin when it first came out is “zero”, it was worth absolutely nothing. It took it almost a year to reach around 10 cents and then the real price journey began.
How Much Was Bitcoin When It First Came Out: The First Real Price Goal
Bitcoin needed two years to reach parity with the dollar, the milestone was recorded in April 2011. Only then more people besides Internet enthusiasts began to notice it and in a few months, it grew to $30. That price jump is quite impressive even by today’s crypto market standards, but also if you consider how much was Bitcoin when it first came out and how long it took to reach this value.
Two more years and Bitcoin reached $230 in 2013. Then the price fluctuated to reach $1000 in December that same year. Then like after the previous price milestones, a period of decline followed but for early investors who held their assets, it was worth it, when Bitcoin reached $19,345 in 2017. That was the first big milestone of BTC and though it took eight years to get there from how much was Bitcoin when it first came out, everyone seemed happy about it. Not only BTC holders but also the public, in the face of individuals, and institutions, saw the potential of the asset and that’s when the adoption of Bitcoin began growing at a big speed.
How Much Was Bitcoin When It First Came Out: BTC to the Moon but Where From There?
Again a period of volatility and fluctuations followed, 2020 came and the pandemic started and affected all financial markets, not sparing the crypto one in the slightest. By the end of that year, BTC had managed to rise in price again and reach around $30K. But then 2021 came, by far the strongest year for digital assets and DeFi as a whole. Bitcoin first reached $64K and then $68K by the end of the year. Investors were happy, holders were happy, and everyone was talking about cryptocurrencies.
But this time wasn’t without accidents too. After the king crypto reached $64K China banned crypto mining and around the same time, Elon Musk declared Tesla won’t be accepting bitcoins. That brought the price of the asset down, though luckily not as close as how much was Bitcoin when it first came out. Towards the end of the summer of 2021 digital assets began to recover, and cryptos like Solana reached their big milestones. In November Bitcoin got to its current all-time high of $68,789.
However, as the whole world was watching it and rooting for BTC to $100K, it didn’t manage to rise to that target at the time. A bear market started in December 2021 and it’s been continuing through the first half of 2022, bringing the prices of all assets substantially down. Some are even speculating that this crypto winter will continue for so long that we’ll see the BTC price reach as low as how much was Bitcoin when it first came out. We can’t really predict that but we’ll look shortly at some factors that influence its value.
Why This the Value of How Much Was Bitcoin When It First Came Out?
There are various reasons why this was how much was Bitcoin when it first come out. Some of them include:
- The financial crisis
- The young crypto market
- The time of introduction of new technology
- The use cases of Bitcoin
To put it simply, even though Satoshi Nakamoto presented Bitcoin to the world as an alternative to the fiat money they were losing at the moment, to help them never repeat this situation in the future, the timing wasn’t quite right as the majority weren’t trustful of new technologies and inventions at the time which involved risk with their decreasing finances. Bitcoin also has no other use cases than being a payment vehicle so here’s another reason why it took so long to grow in value. When it came to the world the crypto market was not only young, it was actually non-existent, so nobody knew if it was a real thing or just some financial scheme.
That’s the answer to the question of why was its value how much was Bitcoin when it first came out, zero dollars because nobody trusted it. It took the first crypto asset a long time to gain the trust of society but since it managed to establish itself, many assets have followed and since they emerged in more favorable market conditions, this can be used to explain why their launch value was higher than BTC’s.
In Summary: What Brought the Value of How Much Was Bitcoin When It First Came Out to Today’s Number
After explaining how much was Bitcoin when it first came out and what are the reasons behind its initial price, we’ll take a quick look at what factors influence its price and why the volatility we’ve mentioned occurs.
- BTC supply and demand: Unlike newer assets that have trillions in supply, or even some have unlimited supplies, Bitcoin was created with a fixed supply of 21 million, as we’ve already discussed. This makes it scarce, which in return makes it more valuable and wanted. In financial markets, there’s an unwritten rule that the lower the supply, the higher the demand, boosting the price of the asset, in the case of BTC as well, along the way too.
- Emotions on the market: There’s a crypto index measuring the two most influential emotions for digital assets – fear and greed. When the market is in fear, investors are selling and the price of assets, Bitcoin included decreases. When greed is the prevailing emotion, the price of Bitcoin will likely rise as investors are buying. Both times are followed by each other and when some are selling, others are buying at a lower price. Vise versa, when some are buying at a higher price, expecting a further rise, others are selling to get a profit. But what’s more, the index we’ve mentioned is also measured by the Bitcoin price movements, as it’s the most influential digital asset on the market today, so that’s interesting to know and consider.
- Other factors: We’ve already mentioned how influential figures and governmental decisions have affected Bitcoin. At the same time, the news of economic events moves the value of BTC, and regulations regarding cryptocurrencies too. Since cryptocurrencies aren’t backed by governments or banks, they’re much easier to be influenced by external factors than other investment assets.
How Much Was Bitcoin When It First Came Out but Also How Far Can It Get?
2021 was definitely the best year yet for digital assets and when Bitcoin first got to $64K and then to $68K, everyone was eager to see it get to $100K. Except that didn’t happen because in crypto past performance isn’t a guarantee for future gains. Many so-called experts and other prediction websites were absolutely sure Bitcoin will reach that target but just like every other price rise, the market went downhill. Nobody can tell if Bitcoin or any digital asset will hit another all-time high or as skeptics are speculating, BTC will get as low as how much was Bitcoin when it first came out.
We can’t give you any financial advice but would like to warn you that you can’t fully rely on price prediction websites, for the reasons we’ve listed above. According to some sites by the end of 2022 Bitcoin will reach $40K again and by 2025, just three years from now, it’ll be around $100K. Some aren’t as optimistic and expect it not to get above $20K for a while. In reality, nobody can tell you an exact number. If you’re going to base your entire investment strategy on price predictions, you may experience more losses than you usually would with these risky assets, as any forecast is just a mathematical guess and should be taken with a grain of salt.
Knowing How Much Was Bitcoin When It First Came Out: What’s Next?
There are two main ways the price of Bitcoin could go from here: up or down. It’s currently in between its all-time high and how much was Bitcoin when it first came out. While some are taking advantage to accumulate the asset while its value is lower than its last year’s price, others are sorry they didn’t sell when BTC was close to $70K.
As you saw from our historical look at how much was Bitcoin when it first came out, it took quite a while for the asset to reach a real value. But can it take a moment for it to drop back to zero again? It’s possible, however, a little less likely than if we were in 2009 or 2012, for example. That’s because today Bitcoin is so widely accepted and established asset, you can buy your car with the crypto at this point, that it’ll be a little harder to be completely forgotten by society.
Neither we nor anyone can really tell you if the price of the first crypto will rise to the targets that many were expecting from it. We can only be hopeful that it won’t get as low as how much was Bitcoin when it first came out. It’s certainly worth following the price movements of this fiat alternative, as it’s influential not only to the whole crypto market but in our everyday lives as well.
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