Bitcoin price (BTC)

What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer digital currency that lets anyone transfer value without a bank, clearinghouse, or government issuer. It solved the double-spend problem — preventing the same digital coin from being spent twice — without a trusted intermediary, using a public ledger that thousands of independent nodes verify. A fixed supply of 21 million coins made it the first credibly scarce digital asset, which is why many holders treat it as a savings vehicle rather than a payment rail.

Miners running SHA-256 hardware compete to add blocks roughly every ten minutes, and proof-of-work difficulty adjusts every 2,016 blocks to keep that cadence. Block rewards halve every 210,000 blocks; the April 2024 halving cut issuance to 3.125 BTC per block. Upgrades arrive slowly by design: SegWit in 2017 fixed transaction malleability, and Taproot in 2021 added Schnorr signatures, improving privacy and multisig efficiency. Transaction fees go to miners; nothing is burned.

Satoshi Nakamoto, a still-anonymous developer, mined the genesis block on January 3, 2009, and withdrew from public view in 2011. Since then the network has survived the Mt. Gox collapse, the 2017 block-size wars, and multiple drawdowns above 75%. US spot ETFs approved in January 2024 — led by BlackRock's IBIT and Fidelity's FBTC — pulled in tens of billions of dollars, and Bitcoin remains the largest cryptocurrency, holding roughly half of the sector's total market value.

What moves the BTC price?

Halvings have historically framed Bitcoin's multi-year cycles: the 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024 supply cuts each preceded major rallies, though the effect has weakened as new issuance shrinks relative to traded volume. Since January 2024, daily ETF creations and redemptions have become a dominant flow signal, with IBIT alone accumulating hundreds of thousands of BTC.

Macro conditions matter as much as crypto-native factors. Bitcoin trades with sensitivity to real interest rates, dollar strength, and global liquidity, while corporate treasury buyers — Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, holds over half a million BTC — add a persistent bid. Regulatory shifts, exchange failures like FTX in 2022, and miner selling around halvings have all moved the price sharply.

Bitcoin FAQ

What is Bitcoin used for?

Primarily as a store of value and settlement asset. Holders treat it like digital gold because supply is capped, while the base layer settles large transfers globally in about an hour. The Lightning Network handles smaller, faster payments, and institutions use spot ETFs for exposure without holding coins directly.

How many bitcoins will ever exist?

Exactly 21 million, with the final fraction expected to be mined around 2140. More than 19.8 million are already in circulation, and issuance currently runs at 3.125 BTC per block. Estimates suggest several million coins are permanently lost, so the effective liquid supply is meaningfully smaller than the headline cap.

Is Bitcoin a good investment in 2026?

It has the longest track record, the deepest liquidity, and regulated ETF access, but it remains volatile — drawdowns above 50% have occurred in every cycle — and it produces no cash flow. Position sizing and time horizon matter more than timing. This is general information, not financial advice, and no recommendation is implied.

Where can I buy BTC?

Stick with a regulated exchange that publishes its licensing. CEX.IO has operated since 2013 and supports card and bank funding; enter promo code FREECRYPTO at signup and a 100 USDC trading-fee bonus is credited after your first deposit, valid for 30 days.