It’s highly unlikely that there is a person with access to any kind of media, who haven’t heard of Bitcoin yet. Bitcoin, followed by the digital assets that emerged after it, are believed to be the future of finances by many. Bitcoin’s influence on the cryptocurrency market is so big that the first asset serves as a synonym for “cryptocurrency”, but it can also move the market when it changes its price. That’s why it’s essential that every crypto trader follows the Bitcoin price, even if they are not interested in the asset as an investment, because it may influence the tokens they’re trading. In this article we will focus on the Bitcoin price in the past, the present, and the future and what factors can influence it. First, we’ll briefly explain what Bitcoin is and how it works, so the text can be beneficial for readers from different backgrounds.
What Is Bitcoin?
At the end of the 20th century, cryptographers and computer specialists made attempts to create different types of electronic money. However, the first cryptocurrency of the kind that is known and used today emerged in 2009 and that was Bitcoin. Bitcoin has no physical representation, unlike fiat money, and no bank or government determines the Bitcoin price. The price of Bitcoin increases when there are more people buying it and decreases when they are more selling. If you are looking to invest but the Bitcoin price seems too high for you, you should know that like traditional finances you can only buy a part of a bitcoin, called Satoshi.
Bitcoin Price at the Moment
If you’d like to know what the current Bitcoin price is, you can use the below live chart to get the information. If you follow Bitcoin’s price movements, you could find it easier to pick a time to buy it.
Bitcoin History – How BTC Came to Today’s Price?
Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin. Until this day it’s unclear whether this was one person or a group of individuals, but besides this, the creation of BTC certainly changed the whole world. Bitcoin’s developer’s reasoning behind the release of the first cryptocurrency was that according to them, traditional money is too reliant on third parties, banks and governments, so Bitcoin was created to serve as an alternative. When the digital asset was released into the market, its price traded at the lower levels for some time and nobody really knew what Bitcoin could be used for. As it’s much more anonymous than fiat money, the first users of bitcoin were black markets that took advantage of its privacy. But as time went on and the Bitcoin price grew, so did the number of people who recognized it as real money and investment. In 2017 Bitcoin reached its first big milestone and since, despite the ups and downs, has been growing consistently. After it became apparent cryptocurrencies are liked by the masses, other assets emerged following Bitcoin. This led to the creation of new laws regarding them and now you can even hire a cryptocurrency lawyer if something goes wrong law-wise with your assets.
How Are Bitcoins Created?
New bitcoins are mined. This means that individuals solve difficult mathematical problems in a block on their computers. In return, they receive bitcoins as a reward. This mechanism is called “proof-of-work”. When Bitcoin was released, everyone with a stronger computer could mine it. Today you need special equipment and a considerable amount of initial investment as mining requires a big amount of electricity to work.
When a miner receives a reward for mining bitcoins, it’s currently worth around 6.25 BTC. When Bitcoin was released the reward was 50. Since then the number has been gradually decreasing at events called “halving”. The next halving is expected to occur in 2024. Bitcoin has a limited supply, a number of coins that will ever exist in the world, of 21 million, and this number is expected to be reached by 2140.
The technology Bitcoin introduced called blockchain, has now become a new way of securely storing and transferring data. There are two types of keys used for the transactions, public keys, available for everyone to see, and a private key, known only to its user. This new method has been approved as innovative and efficient even by cryptocurrency critics.
Competition Comparison: The Bitcoin Price vs Altcoin Highest Prices
Many new digital assets emerged after people saw how successful Bitcoin was. They are regarded as Bitcoin alternatives and commonly called “altcoins”. Some of the most famous cryptocurrencies that compete with Bitcoin are:
- Ethereum (ETH) – all-time high price: $4,891.70 (16.11.2021)
- Cardano (ADA) – all-time high price: $3.10 (02.09.2021)
- Litecoin (LTC) – all-time high price: $690.93 (10.05.2021)
- BNB (BNB) – all-time high price: $412.96 (10.05.2021)
These cryptocurrencies have high market capitalization and that’s why they are one of the most famous Bitcoin alternatives. Price-wise, even when the mentioned assets reached their current all-time high value, they haven’t come close the highest Bitcoin price yet of $68K. There are almost 20K registered cryptocurrencies on the market today and more than half of them also claim to be “the next Bitcoin”. They take advantage of Bitcoin’s weaker sides and promote their features as solutions for the first crypto’s problems. As time goes, it’s undestandable that assets that were created more recently are using newer technology, as opposed to the crypto from almost 13 years ago. However, it should be noted that it’s Bitcoin that has so far established its place, the newer assets, no matter how big their potential really is, should first pass the test of time.
Issues Bitcoin Competitors Are Claiming to Be Able to Solve
The first cryptocurrency came to be more than a decade ago. Since then technology in all sectors, the blockchain included, hasn’t stopped developing. This has given an advantage to new cryptocurrencies. Some of the technological problems with Bitcoin that its competitors are aiming to improve are:
- Sustainability: Bitcoin is known for needing a considerable amount of power to be mined. This has raised many concerns in society, as crypto assets are becoming more adopted by the public. That’s why new cryptocurrencies aim to be less energy-consuming than the first crypto. Some new cryptocurrencies even use another mechanism for creation called proof-of-stake, which requires less energy.
- Use cases: Bitcoin was created as an alternative for fiat money and that is the main purpose it serves – as a payment method in different areas. It hasn’t replaced traditional money yet, that’s why new altcoins emerge with different use cases. Newer assets can be used not only as payment for physical locations but also as parts of bigger ecosystems.
- Transaction speed: Because Bitcoin was created first, its transactions are quite slow, compared to assets that emerge today. Bitcoin transactions can take up to 40 minutes when in comparison Cardano, which was released 8 years after BTC, can handle 2 million transactions per second.
- Affordability: Today’s Bitcoin price could be too high for beginner investors or people who want to invest smaller sums of money. There are many cryptocurrencies that costs considerably less, some much less than a cent even, that could be more affordable for people.
The Easiest Ways to Buy BTC, No Matter the Bitcoin Price
There are multiple ways how to buy Bitcoin. If the Bitcoin price is too high for you, you can buy a fraction of it, as earlier mentioned. You can also buy a whole or multiple bitcoins. Here we’ve summarized some of the possible ways of buying Bitcoin:
- Buy Bitcoin on a trading platform: One of the easiest and quickest ways to buy bitcoin is online, using a brokerage platform or cryptocurrency exchange. You should only pick the best platforms for crypto trading according to your needs, created an account, deposit your funds and buy the amount you want.
- Buy Bitcoin at a Bitcoin ATM: Bitcoin ATMs are similar to fiat ATMs, you must use cash to make your purchase at a physical location. To buy bitcoins at an ATM, find the nearest ATM to you, create a bitcoin wallet, show the code to the device, insert your cash and buy bitcoins that will go to your wallet. Consider that the fees at Bitcoin ATMs may be high. Calculate them along with the Bitcoin price when purchasing your assets.
- Buy Bitcoin on an app: Some trading platforms provide not only websites but also apps for their users. There are also trading apps existing on their own. To buy Bitcoin using an app you only need your smartphone. This is the fastest way of purchasing, especially if you’re waiting for a specific Bitcoin price to make your purchase.
After you’ve completed your bitcoin purchase in your preferred way, you can store your assets in a bitcoin wallet. There are different wallets, for online and offline storage, and you can choose the one that suits your needs the best.
The Bitcoin Price – History, Influential Factors & Predictions
At the moment, the Bitcoin price may seem low for some investors and too expensive for others. Since Bitcoin was released, its price has grown considerably, along with its real-life value. In this section, we’ll take a look at the Bitcoin price in the past, what factors can affect it, and some of the future forecasts for the BTC value. Considering this information, you’ll be able to get a general idea of everything related to the price of the biggest digital asset.
Bitcoin Price History
Bitcoin needed two years after its creation to pair with the US dollar. Once this happened, the first cryptocurrency began to grow in popularity which benefited its price. These are some of the memorable Bitcoin prices through the years.
- 2011: $10
- 2013: $1,000
- 2017: $19,783
- 2020: $28,000
- 2021: $64,000
- 2021: $69,760
The Bitcoin price rose just as many times and it dropped throughout the years, due to cryptocurrencies’ volatile nature. In 2017 Bitcoin hit its first big milestone but then couldn’t raise to a higher value for the next three years. In 2021 twice reached big milestones, and both times it was followed by drops in the market afterward. Currently, the cryptocurrency market is still suffering the drop after the November 2021 Bitcoin milestone. However, investors expect that soon the dip will be followed by another rise, as seen before.
Factors That Could Influence the Bitcoin Price
Different factors can affect the Bitcoin price. Here we list some of them.
- Bitcoin supply and demand: As mentioned, there will ever only exist 21 million bitcoins. This means the cryptocurrency’s supply is limited and with time it’s decreasing. As the supply lowers, the demand for the biggest digital asset increases. If the demand continues, then the price of Bitcoin will too be able to sustain and even rise again.
- Cryptocurrency laws and regulations: There aren’t many specific cryptocurrency laws yet. Digital assets seem to be establishing their position in society’s lives and that means that more regulations about them will also come to be, trying to control them in some way. Previous laws and policies have affected the Bitcoin price. When China started banning mining in the country in 2021, the price of BTC dropped. Similar events may again push up or down the price of the asset.
- Altcoins with good potentials: It was mentioned earlier that most of the emerging cryptocurrency assets strive to compete with Bitcoin, some claiming to solve its problems, some solely using its fame. While not all new assets can be “the next Bitcoin”, the altcoins with real potential could record real progress. If an altcoin proves its actual worth, this could potentially influence the Bitcoin price as well.
- Cryptocurrency news: Economic and political news can affect the Bitcoin price. However, cryptocurrencies are volatile enough that also statements from influential people could move their prices. An example of this is when Elon Musk first made the price of Bitcoin rise and then drop by connecting the asset with his company Tesla.
- The cost of mining Bitcoin: The equipment and electricity that the mining of Bitcoin requires can be considered quite expensive. If the price of the process increases, even more, this could also affect the price of the first cryptocurrency in the future.
The listed factors can affect the price of Bitcoin. But the price of the asset can also move the whole market in both directions. This is due to the fact that Bitcoin is the first crypto and to this day also remains the most popular one, first by capitalization and with the biggest share of the market. That’s why it’s important to follow the Bitcoin price movements if you’re trading cryptocurrency – even if you’re not interested in the asset, it may give you a hint how the crypto you’re trading will go.
Bitcoin Price Predictions
There are many predictions by experts, financial advisors, and websites, about cryptocurrency prices. Unlike the stock market, past performance isn’t a pattern to be repeated in the future with cryptocurrencies. That’s why nobody can really tell nor guarantee how a cryptocurrency will behave again, it’s all speculations, based on different factors. That means you shouldn’t base your investment decision merely on forecasts saying a cryptocurrency will drop or rise.
Since Bitcoin is the biggest cryptocurrency, the price predictions for it are the most widely spread. Gathered from sites like Walletinvestor, TradingBeasts, DigitalCoinPrice, and Coin Price Forecast, we will list the lowest and highest prices possible for the asset in the coming years. This is not financial advice. This is only an informative view of how some sites think Bitcoin may move in the future, price-wise.
Bitcoin price prediction 2022
Low: $26,555.83
High: $53,722.10
Bitcoin price prediction 2023
Low: $22,728.12
High: $72,126.50
Bitcoin price prediction 2024
Low: $19,229.88
High: $92,173.10
Bitcoin price prediction 2025
Low: $28,059.753
High: $112,125
Bitcoin price prediction 2026
Low: $52,455
High: $133,277
Bitcoin price prediction 2027
Low: $51,645.53
High: $139,217
Bitcoin price prediction 2028
Low: $61,093.45
High: $103,249.29
Bitcoin price prediction 2029
Low: $75,170
High: $130,634.81
Bitcoin price prediction 2030
Low: $70,606
High: $145,551.87
Again, please remember, that the listed prices are generated by AI or a person, based on expectations, but not real evidence, since nobody can tell for certain how a cryptocurrency will perform in the future. You can consider the predictions, but also with a grain of salt.
What Will Be BTC’s Future and How Will It Affect the Bitcoin Price?
More than a decade since Bitcoin’s emergence, even cryptocurrency skeptics would have to admit that the digital assets, and the ones that followed, changed the world. The growing popularity of digital money is one of the indications that it may be a part of our finances in the future. However, nobody can tell for certain how cryptocurrencies will develop in the future or if the Bitcoin price will reach another milestone any time soon. Or ever at that matter.
Considering this, there are a few things that could be pointed out for the future of BTC. Even if the Bitcoin price doesn’t rise immensely soon, the asset is likely to continue to be used and adopted by more people and businesses in the future. The demand for Bitcoin from people who have recognized it as either a payment alternative for fiat or an investment option will affect positively its price.
Another factor that will play a huge role not only in Bitcoin’s but in the future of all digital assets are regulations by different countries or even global cryptocurrency laws. The efforts of regulatory authorities to control cryptocurrencies may affect negatively the price of the first cryptocurrency, making people turn away from it if it loses its decentralized nature. This would certainly decrease the Bitcoin price as well.
Lastly, the progress of technology could affect the price of Bitcoin in the future. The consensus mechanism that Bitcoin introduced, proof-of-work, is now found very faulty by cryptocurrency lovers and environmental activists. If Bitcoin could change its mechanism to a newer, more sustainable kind, proof-of-stake, for example, it could create a positive outlook for it and increase its price. However, it’s questionable if that’s even possible.
In conclusion, it’s obvious that predicting the Bitcoin price and the future of the asset are almost impossible tasks. If we consider the factors that affect the price of BTC, trading the cryptocurrency may be a bit easier. The leader in the crypto market is an asset worth following, whether you want to invest or learn what the direction the whole market may take. No matter what direction Bitcoin takes next, it’s certain that a lot still remains to be shown from the cryptocurrency.
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