• Bitcoin was created in 2008 to challenge the existing system of centralized, credit-based money issued by bureaucrats and unstable banks.
• Its price has been volatile throughout its history, with multiple appreciations of 1,000% in value and subsequent drops of up to 80%-90%.
• Despite this volatility, bitcoin has consistently bounced back and broken new records.
Introduction
Bitcoin was created in 2008 to challenge the existing system of centralized, credit-based money issued by bureaucrats and unstable banks. By trusting code instead of human vulnerabilities, bitcoin offered a way out of that debacle. At first the new invention was nothing more than an experiment, but those who read the white paper and were knowledgeable of cryptography, money and finance saw that it could become something much bigger.
Price History
In 2010 Bitcoin started to be traded for goods and services which set it on its path toward becoming an alternative currency system. Since then its price has seen a range of variation from lows at $0.003 in 2010 to highs at $68,789 in 2021 – an increase of over 23 million percent! Despite this volatility bitcoin has consistently shown resilience bouncing back from major dips and breaking new records each year.
Halving Cycles
Bitcoin’s price swings are mainly driven by its own halving cycles as well as macroeconomic events. Halvings occur every four years when the reward for mining a block is cut in half – reducing future supply while maintaining demand resulting in a significant increase in price. This process will continue until all 21 million bitcoins have been mined whereupon there will no longer be any rewards for miners but transaction fees will still keep them incentivized to maintain network security.
Famous Crashes
The most famous crashes include 2014’s bear market which saw prices fall 80%, 2018’s crypto winter where prices dropped 72%, 2020’s pandemic plunge (down 40%), 2021’s dip (down 25%) which followed Elon Musk’s tweets about Tesla’s decision not to accept Bitcoin payments anymore due to environmental concerns regarding mining operations . All these crashes however were eventually followed by strong recoveries as investors regained confidence in cryptocurrency technology thus driving prices higher again..