Bitcoin Price History

The full annual price history of Bitcoin, from its first market price in 2010 to six figures, with the halvings, bubbles, and crashes behind every major move.

Bitcoin went from essentially worthless in 2009 to a peak near $126,000 in October 2025. This page tracks its annual average price for every year since real trading began in 2010, using the mean of daily closing prices. Click any year for that year's full breakdown.

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All-Time High

$126,000

Oct 2025

Bitcoin Price by Year (2010 to 2025)

Annual average of daily closing prices in USD. Click any year for that year's full breakdown.

Bitcoin Through the Cycles

Bitcoin was created in 2009 by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto as a decentralized digital currency with a fixed supply of 21 million coins. It had no market price for its first year. Continuous pricing only began in 2010, the year a developer famously paid 10,000 BTC for two pizzas, valuing the coins at a fraction of a cent each.

Bitcoin's history is defined by boom-and-bust cycles loosely tied to its halvings, the roughly four-year events that cut the rate of new supply in half. The first bubble in 2011 carried the price to about $30 before it crashed. In 2013 two separate rallies drove Bitcoin past $1,000 for the first time, only for the 2014 collapse of the Mt. Gox exchange to trigger a multi-year bear market that bottomed near $200 in 2015.

The 2017 bull run, fueled by retail mania and the initial coin offering boom, took Bitcoin to nearly $20,000 before the 2018 crypto winter erased most of the gains. The next cycle was powered by institutions: the 2020 halving, corporate treasury buying, and a wave of new investors drove Bitcoin to an all-time high near $69,000 in November 2021, the same year El Salvador adopted it as legal tender.

A brutal 2022 followed, as the collapse of the Terra stablecoin and the FTX exchange dragged Bitcoin back to around $16,500. The recovery accelerated sharply once US regulators approved the first spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024, months before that April's halving. Those ETF inflows and renewed institutional demand carried Bitcoin above $100,000 for the first time in late 2024 and on to a record near $126,000 in October 2025, before a fourth-quarter pullback.

2010: First Real-World Price

Continuous Bitcoin pricing began in 2010, with coins worth a fraction of a cent. In May, a developer paid 10,000 BTC for two pizzas, the first documented commercial transaction and now a symbol of how far the price would travel.

2013: The First $1,000

Two rallies, one in the spring around the Cyprus banking crisis and one in the fall driven by Chinese demand, carried Bitcoin from about $13 to over $1,100 for the first time before a long correction set in.

2017: Bull Run to Nearly $20,000

Retail mania and the ICO boom drove Bitcoin from about $1,000 at the start of the year to an all-time high near $19,700 in December, its first appearance in mainstream financial headlines worldwide.

2021: All-Time High Near $69,000

Institutional adoption, corporate treasuries, and the launch of the first US Bitcoin futures ETF drove a run to roughly $69,000 in November. El Salvador made Bitcoin legal tender the same year.

2024: Spot ETFs and the Fourth Halving

US regulators approved the first spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024, and the fourth halving followed in April. Heavy ETF inflows pushed Bitcoin above $100,000 for the first time late in the year.

2025: A Record Near $126,000

Bitcoin set a fresh all-time high around $126,000 in early October 2025 before a fourth-quarter pullback toward $87,000, its first full year with an average price above $100,000.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the highest Bitcoin price ever?

Bitcoin's all-time high is approximately $126,000, reached in early October 2025 during a cycle powered by spot-ETF inflows and institutional demand. That surpassed the prior records of about $69,000 in November 2021 and roughly $19,700 in December 2017. After the October 2025 peak, Bitcoin pulled back toward $87,000 by year-end.

What was Bitcoin's first price?

Bitcoin had no market price when it launched in 2009. Continuous pricing began in 2010 at a fraction of a cent per coin. The most famous early transaction was in May 2010, when a developer paid 10,000 BTC for two pizzas, valuing each coin at roughly $0.004 at the time.

What is the Bitcoin halving and how does it affect the price?

About every four years, the reward paid to Bitcoin miners is cut in half, slowing the rate of new supply. Halvings occurred in 2012, 2016, 2020, and April 2024. Historically, each halving has been followed within a year or so by a major bull run, though many other factors also drive the price and past cycles do not guarantee future results.

What was the Bitcoin price in 2017?

Bitcoin's annual average in 2017 was about $4,006, but the figure understates the year's drama: it started near $1,000 and ended close to $14,000 to $19,000, peaking at an all-time high near $19,700 in December during the ICO-fueled bull run.

What was the Bitcoin price in 2021?

Bitcoin averaged roughly $47,437 across 2021, up about 60% from 2020. It reached its cycle high near $69,000 in November before beginning the decline that continued into the 2022 bear market. 2021 was also the year El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as legal tender.

Why is Bitcoin so volatile?

Bitcoin has no cash flows or central bank to anchor its value, so its price is set purely by supply and demand and by shifting expectations about adoption, regulation, and macro conditions. Its relatively young, sentiment-driven market produces far larger swings than gold or major currencies, including drawdowns of 70% or more in past bear markets.

How does Bitcoin compare to gold?

Bitcoin is often called digital gold because of its fixed supply and use as a store of value, but the two behave very differently. Gold has a multi-thousand-year history and low volatility, while Bitcoin is far more volatile and far younger. See our gold versus Bitcoin comparison for a deeper look at how they stack up as long-term holdings.

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Annual figures are the mean of daily closing prices in US dollars, compiled by MetalCharts from multiple exchange feeds and cross-checked against public reference data. They are for research and may differ slightly from figures published elsewhere.

Year	Avg Price (USD)	YoY Change	Notable Event
2010s: From Cents to the First Bull Runs
2010 First real market pricing; continuous daily data begins ~July 13, 2010. Famous 10,000-BTC pizza trade in May.	$0.14	n/a	First real market pricing; continuous daily data begins ~July 13, 2010. Famous 10,000-BTC pizza trade in May.
2011 First bubble to ~$29-32 in June on Mt. Gox, then crash to ~$2-5 by year-end.	$5.85	+4078.6%	First bubble to ~$29-32 in June on Mt. Gox, then crash to ~$2-5 by year-end.
2012 Quiet recovery year, trading mostly near $5-13; first block-reward halving (50 to 25 BTC) in November.	$8.36	+42.9%	Quiet recovery year, trading mostly near $5-13; first block-reward halving (50 to 25 BTC) in November.
2013 First major bubble: ~$13 to ~$260 in April, then to ~$1,100-1,150 in December; Cyprus crisis and China demand.	$192.65	+2204.4%	First major bubble: ~$13 to ~$260 in April, then to ~$1,100-1,150 in December; Cyprus crisis and China demand.
2014 Mt. Gox collapse (Feb); start of multi-year bear market; year opened ~$760, closed ~$379.	$527.24	+173.7%	Mt. Gox collapse (Feb); start of multi-year bear market; year opened ~$760, closed ~$379.
2015 Bear-market bottom; price mostly $200-500; recovery began late in the year.	$272.45	-48.3%	Bear-market bottom; price mostly $200-500; recovery began late in the year.
2016 Steady recovery; second halving (25 to 12.5 BTC) in July; year-end approached ~$1,000.	$568.49	+108.7%	Steady recovery; second halving (25 to 12.5 BTC) in July; year-end approached ~$1,000.
2017 Major bull run and ICO mania; year-end near $14k-19k with ATH ~$19,700 in December.	$4,006.03	+604.7%	Major bull run and ICO mania; year-end near $14k-19k with ATH ~$19,700 in December.
2018 Crypto-winter crash; fell from ~$17k toward ~$3,700 by year-end.	$7,572.91	+89.0%	Crypto-winter crash; fell from ~$17k toward ~$3,700 by year-end.
2019 Partial recovery; mid-year peak near $13k then faded to ~$7k.	$7,395.25	-2.3%	Partial recovery; mid-year peak near $13k then faded to ~$7k.
2020s: Institutional Era & Six Figures
2020 COVID crash in March then recovery; third halving (12.5 to 6.25 BTC) in May; institutional adoption; year-end surge past $29k.	$11,116.38	+50.3%	COVID crash in March then recovery; third halving (12.5 to 6.25 BTC) in May; institutional adoption; year-end surge past $29k.
2021 Bull run to all-time high ~$69k in November; El Salvador legal-tender adoption; first US BTC futures ETF (ProShares).	$47,436.93	+326.7%	Bull run to all-time high ~$69k in November; El Salvador legal-tender adoption; first US BTC futures ETF (ProShares).
2022 Bear market; Terra/LUNA (May) and FTX (Nov) collapses; fell to ~$16.5k by year-end.	$28,197.88	-40.6%	Bear market; Terra/LUNA (May) and FTX (Nov) collapses; fell to ~$16.5k by year-end.
2023 Recovery year; banking-stress and ETF-anticipation rallies lifted BTC to ~$42k by year-end.	$28,859.47	+2.3%	Recovery year; banking-stress and ETF-anticipation rallies lifted BTC to ~$42k by year-end.
2024 US spot-ETF approvals (Jan) and fourth halving (6.25 to 3.125 BTC) in April; new highs above $100k late in the year.	$65,964.11	+128.6%	US spot-ETF approvals (Jan) and fourth halving (6.25 to 3.125 BTC) in April; new highs above $100k late in the year.
2025 First full year averaging above $100k; ATH ~$126,000 in early October before a Q4 pullback to around $87k by year-end.	$101,642.00	+54.1%	First full year averaging above $100k; ATH ~$126,000 in early October before a Q4 pullback to around $87k by year-end.