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2008 → 2026Bitcoin, year by year
From a nine-page white paper to a trillion-dollar asset class: what happened in Bitcoin in every year, with the dates, prices and turning points that mattered. Pick a year to read the story.
2008–2012 Genesis and the early days
2008The idea arrivesBitcoin did not exist yet, but its blueprint did.2009The genesis blockThe network went live.2010The pizza yearBitcoin acquired its first real-world price, its first exchange and its first major bug.2011Dollar parity, boom and bustBitcoin reached parity with the US dollar, shot up to roughly $30 by June and then lost more than 90 percent of that value within months.2012The first halvingBitcoin passed its first scheduled supply cut, and the ecosystem began to professionalise with payment processors, a foundation and dedicated media.
2013–2016 Headlines, hacks and halvings
2013The first $1,000Bitcoin entered the headlines.2014The Mt. Gox collapseMt.2015Rebuilding after Mt. GoxPrices fell close to $200 in January and then traded in a quiet range.2016The second halvingThe block reward halved again, the year ended with Bitcoin back near $1,000, and developers quietly worked on the upgrade that would arrive in 2017.
2017–2020 Mania, winter and Wall Street
2017The maniaBitcoin rose from about $1,000 to nearly $20,000, drew in a wave of retail investors, spawned a boom in initial coin offerings and finally gained regulated futures markets.2018Crypto winterAfter the mania came the long unwinding.2019The slow recoveryBitcoin more than doubled from its lows to a mid-year high near $13,800, then gave back much of it.2020The third halving and the institutionsA pandemic crash, a third halving and a wave of corporate and fintech adoption turned 2020 into the year institutions arrived.
2021–2026 Bitcoin goes mainstream
2021New highs, and a country adopts BitcoinBitcoin more than doubled early in the year, hit about $69,000 in November and became legal tender in El Salvador.2022Collapses and contagionRising interest rates and a chain of high-profile failures pushed Bitcoin down about 64% over the year.2023The comeback beginsBitcoin more than doubled as the industry recovered from FTX.2024Spot ETFs and the fourth halvingUS-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs finally launched, Bitcoin set a new record before the halving, and after the US election it crossed $100,000 for the first time.2025Six figures and a new recordBitcoin traded above $80,000 for most of the year, set records in July and October and became part of US policy through a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.2026The year so farBitcoin opened the year near $87,500, tested $98,000 in January and then fell hard, touching roughly $60,000 in February and about $58,000 at its mid-year low.
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