Unless you have been living under a rock, there’s a good chance you know about Bitcoin in some capacity. The talk of cryptocurrency generally begins and ends with the original cryptocurrency.
Start with Bitcoin price history if you plan to start investing. If anything, the history of Bitcoin – and its rises and falls – can help you prepare to invest in the giant of the cryptocurrency world today.
Boom or Bust
When it comes to the history of Bitcoin, the huge changes in price jump out immediately. It has been talked about frequently just how valuable Bitcoin has become but the gains are not the only part of the equation.
Factors come into play all the time, altering the price of Bitcoin exponentially. Things felt unreal when prices surged to more than $1,200 in 2013 before ultimate falling to around $300. It took a couple of years but Bitcoin would ultimately rebound.
The best case of “boom or bust” is probably 2017. Bitcoin started the year at $1,000 but ended at an incredible $19,000 price tag per coin. With ebbs and flows, it would hold until ultimately falling to roughly $6,600 by the next year. If you are looking for a safe investment that isn’t going to move much, you should probably consider something other than Bitcoin.
Though Bitcoin currently trades in the neighborhood of $27,000 per coin, the major shifts are not in the distant past. It wasn’t all that long ago that investors were losing their minds, seeing Bitcoin drop from an all-time high of $69,000 to right around $49,000. The waves are tsunami-like in its highs and lows.
Checking out the competition
While Bitcoin is oftentimes the focus of cryptocurrency investors, it is far from the only one out there. Yes, Bitcoin was the originator but there have been plenty of altcoins – coins that are not Bitcoin – to emerge since the first one came to market in 2011.
Ethereum is the only one that can even get near Bitcoin in terms of value. Binance Coin, XRP, and others have also managed to find real value for investors, providing alternatives to the cryptocurrency king that is Bitcoin. Altcoins come and go all the time. Some competitors will be worth keeping a long-term eye on as they attempt to challenge Bitcoin for the top of the mountain.
The impact of cryptocurrency today
Until the last few years, you couldn’t really “do” anything with cryptocurrency. It didn’t really have any real-world practicality to it. That has changed and consumers can use Bitcoin to pay for transactions of all kinds.
That real-life practicality has helped give Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency world a stronger foundation. That’s no to say that dips won’t happen but there is less fear of a total bottom out than ever before. With even more applications, that foundation will become stronger.
Tracking prices today
Whether you plan on investing or just keeping an eye on Bitcoin from the sidelines, a tracker is a must. Keeping an eye on Bitcoin’s movement can give you a better idea of when to join the party. If you already invest, having a Bitcoin price tracker can also give you an idea of what to start selling.
Change is regular when it comes to cryptocurrency. That change can be scary to watch unfold in real-time. Just remember that Bitcoin has rebounded each time that it has fallen. Between that and having a long-term strategy, surviving the huge shifts in Bitcoin price becomes easier and helps you to make sounder decisions from an investment standpoint.
