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The first digital currency and the largest, Bitcoin makes up 46% of the total value of the biggest 250 cryptocurrency coins as of September 2023.
Bitcoin’s founding is the stuff of legend: It was created in 2009 under the alias Satoshi Nakamoto – an unknown entity who believes future currencies shouldn’t be controlled by a central government or agency.
The first Bitcoin hit the market in July 2010 at a cost of under $0.01. It took three years for the currency to reach more than $1,000. Since 2013, Bitcoin has smashed all records. It peaked at $69,045 back in November 2021. The current price of Bitcoin is around $26,758 — or 10.5% lower than what it was just one month ago. All prices are quoted in US dollars.
The price of Bitcoin has changed by -$353 over the past day, with yesterday’s price of about $26,755 and today’s price of $26,758. The number of Bitcoin currently in circulation is 19,375,956. While there can only be 21 million Bitcoin created, it’s estimated that this maximum won’t be reached within the next 100 years.
Bitcoin is by far the biggest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization — or total value in existence. Currently, $519 billion worth of Bitcoin is out in the wild. Bitcoin surpassed a market cap of $1 trillion for the first time in February 2021. Ethereum, the second most popular currency, has a market cap of $216 billion.
Some $13 billion worth of Bitcoin has been traded over the past 24 hours. The graph below depicts the volume of Bitcoin traded daily. This figure can be somewhat volatile, with $4 billion traded on one of its worst days and $55 billion traded on one of its best.
The price of Bitcoin can also be volatile. Elon Musk announced in February 2021 that Tesla had purchased $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin and would be accepting the currency as payment, paving the way for larger companies to adopt Bitcoin and sending the price soaring. Musk reversed that announcement in May and declared that Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin due to its high carbon footprint, leading to an immediate crash of the Bitcoin price to roughly where it was before his first tweet.
While you’ll find excellent guides covering how to invest in Bitcoin, as with any cryptocurrency, it’s wise to invest with caution.
Interest in crypto
Interest in crypto seems to be waning, with terms like “bitcoin” or “crypto” trending downwards in Google Trends.
However, while search interest has been on the decline, ownership is trending up going from 18% in April to 23% in July, 2023.
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Patrick Tedesco is Finder's international insights analyst, digging through data to help Finder's audience understand new trends and make better decisions. Patrick has a Bachelors degree in Information Technology. Outside work, you'll find him on the basketball court or in a cocktail bar.
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