Home / Year by year / 2023

2023The comeback begins

Bitcoin more than doubled as the industry recovered from FTX. Banking failures reminded investors of Bitcoin’s original pitch, the world’s largest asset manager filed for a Bitcoin ETF, and a new wave of experimentation arrived on the network.

Year-end price (approx.)

~$42,500

Block reward

6.25 BTC

Year change

≈ +155%

What happened

1. Jan 21

   The first inscription is recorded under the Ordinals protocol, opening a new use of Bitcoin’s block space.

2. Mar 10–12

   Silicon Valley Bank, Silvergate and Signature Bank fail within days, and Bitcoin climbs above $28,000 in the aftermath.

3. Jun 15

   BlackRock files to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF, the iShares Bitcoin Trust.

4. Aug 29

   A US appeals court rules that the SEC must reconsider its rejection of Grayscale’s ETF conversion.

5. Nov 21

   Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao plead guilty to US charges, and Zhao steps down as CEO.

6. Dec

   Bitcoin ends the year above $42,000, up about 155%.

Why it mattered

The court ruling and BlackRock’s filing changed the question about a US spot ETF from “if” to “when.”

Browse every year