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Bitcoin's history.

On 31 October 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto emailed a nine-page paper to a cryptography mailing list. Everything that followed is here, from two pizzas bought for 10,000 BTC to the halving due in 2028, each with its source and, where it happened on-chain, its block.

Price in US dollars from mempool.space, weekly from July 2010, on a log scale so each step up is ten times the one below. Each event sits on the line at the price of its day. Dates after 30 Oct 2026 are estimates from recent block times.

2009 to 2012

Miners earned 50 BTC a block until block 210,000, on 28 November 2012.

  1. 18 Jul 2010

    Mt. Gox opens as a bitcoin exchange

    Jed McCaleb announced Mt. Gox on the Bitcoin Forum with the words "I just put up a new bitcoin exchange." It went on to become, for a time, the world's leading bitcoin exchange.

    Markets · 01:57 UTCSourceBitcoin Forum, "New Bitcoin Exchange (mtgox.com)", first post by user mtgox (Wayback Machine copy)

  2. 9 Feb 2011

    Bitcoin reaches $1

    One bitcoin traded for $1.00 on Mt. Gox for the first time, reaching parity with the US dollar.

    Markets · 19:54 UTCSourceBitcoin Wiki, 2011 timeline (9 Feb: "1 bitcoin trades for 1 US dollar on Mt. Gox")

  3. 19 Jun 2011

    A hacked Mt. Gox account crashes the price to a cent

    Someone used a compromised Mt. Gox administrator account to sell a huge number of bitcoins on the exchange, driving its price there from $17.50 to $0.01 within 30 minutes. Mt. Gox halted trading to roll back the suspect trades and reopened on 26 June; prices on other exchanges fell far less.

    MarketsSourceMt. Gox, Clarification of Mt. Gox Compromised Accounts and Major Bitcoin Sell-Off (press release, 30 Jun 2011; Wayback Machine copy)

  4. 1 Mar 2012

    Bitcoins stolen in the Linode break-in

    An intruder used a customer-service portal at Linode, a web host, to get into the accounts of eight of its customers, all connected with bitcoin, and moved bitcoins out of their servers. The losses included 3,094 BTC waiting to be paid out by Marek Palatinus's mining pool, which he covered from his own money; more than 10,000 from the trading site Bitcoinica, by its own count; and the few coins in Gavin Andresen's Bitcoin Faucet.

    MarketsSee block 169,187See the paymentSourceslush, "Hacked Linode & coins stolen to 1NRy8GbX56MymBhDYM...", Bitcoin Forum (1 Mar 2012, with Gavin Andresen's reply on the Faucet; Wayback Machine copy)

2012 to 2016

Miners earned 25 BTC a block until block 420,000, on 9 July 2016.

  1. 27 Nov 2013

    Bitcoin passes $1,000

    Bitcoin traded at $1,000 on Mt. Gox, then the world's largest exchange for buying bitcoin with US dollars, for the first time.

    Markets · 14:49 UTCSourceCoinDesk, Bitcoin Price Hits $1,000 After Doubling in 7 Days (27 Nov 2013)

  2. 7 Feb 2014

    Mt. Gox halts withdrawals

    Mt. Gox stopped all bitcoin withdrawals, saying it needed to fix a technical problem. Trading on the exchange continued.

    MarketsSourceCoinDesk, Mt. Gox Halts ALL Bitcoin Withdrawals, Price Drop Follows (7 Feb 2014)

  3. 28 Feb 2014

    Mt. Gox files for bankruptcy

    Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy protection in Tokyo, saying it had lost about 850,000 bitcoins, 750,000 of them belonging to customers.

    MarketsSourceReuters via Business Standard, Mt. Gox in bankruptcy, says may have lost all its bitcoins to hackers (28 Feb 2014)What happened

2016 to 2020

Miners earned 12.5 BTC a block until block 630,000, on 11 May 2020.

  1. 2 Aug 2016

    Bitfinex is hacked

    Hackers stole 119,756 bitcoin, then worth about $72 million, from customer accounts at Bitfinex, a Hong Kong-based exchange, which halted trading. Bitfinex then spread the loss across all its customers, cutting every balance by about 36% and giving them tokens as credit for what they had lost.

    MarketsSourceReuters, Bitcoin worth $72 million stolen from Bitfinex exchange in Hong Kong, 3 Aug 2016 (Wayback Machine copy)

  2. 29 Nov 2017

    Bitcoin passes $10,000

    Bitcoin rose above $10,000 for the first time on CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index.

    MarketsSourceCoinDesk, It's Official: Bitcoin's Price Makes History Passing $10k (29 Nov 2017)

  3. 10 Dec 2017

    Bitcoin futures start trading

    Cboe Futures Exchange began trading bitcoin futures, contracts to buy or sell bitcoin at a set price on a future date, settled in cash. CNBC called them the first bitcoin futures on an established exchange.

    Markets · 23:00 UTCSourceCboe press release, Cboe Bitcoin Futures Open For Trading (10 Dec 2017, reprint)

  4. 17 Dec 2017

    Bitcoin peaks near $20,000

    Bitcoin reached $19,783.21 on CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index, the high point of its 2017 rally.

    MarketsSourceCoinDesk, From $900 to $20,000: Bitcoin's Historic 2017 Price Run Revisited (29 Dec 2017)

  5. 17 Dec 2017

    CME starts trading bitcoin futures

    CME, the world's largest futures exchange, began trading bitcoin futures, a week after Cboe. Each contract covered five bitcoin and was settled in cash against a once-a-day bitcoin reference price, so no coins changed hands.

    Markets · 23:00 UTCSourceCME Group press release, CME Group Self-Certifies Bitcoin Futures to Launch Dec. 18, 1 Dec 2017 (Mondo Visione reprint)

  6. 31 Jan 2019

    QuadrigaCX seeks creditor protection

    QuadrigaCX, one of Canada's largest crypto exchanges, asked a Nova Scotia court to halt lawsuits against it, saying it could not reach most customers' funds after its founder, Gerald Cotten, died in December 2018. A 2020 review by Ontario Securities Commission staff concluded that clients lost at least C$169 million, mostly through Cotten's fraud rather than coins locked away by his death.

    Markets · Until 5 FebSourceCBC News, Canadian cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX seeks creditor protection after founder's death, 4 Feb 2019

  7. 12 Mar 2020

    Black Thursday

    Bitcoin fell nearly 39% in one day on CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index as markets sold off over the spread of the coronavirus.

    Markets · Until 13 MarSourceCoinDesk, Bitcoin Price Briefly Dips to 12-Month Low in Overnight Trading (13 Mar 2020)What happened

2020 to 2024

Miners earned 6.25 BTC a block until block 840,000, on 20 April 2024.

  1. 11 Aug 2020

    MicroStrategy buys bitcoin for its treasury

    MicroStrategy, a Nasdaq-listed software company, said it had bought 21,454 bitcoins for about $250 million and made bitcoin its primary treasury reserve asset, the main asset in which it holds its spare cash.

    MarketsSourceMicroStrategy press release, MicroStrategy Adopts Bitcoin as Primary Treasury Reserve Asset (SEC Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1)

  2. 16 Dec 2020

    Bitcoin passes $20,000

    Bitcoin rose above $20,000 for the first time on CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index during early US trading hours, and was trading above $21,000 by 8:48 a.m. New York time.

    MarketsSourceCoinDesk, Bitcoin Tops $21K, Blowing Past $20K Record (16 Dec 2020)

  3. 8 Feb 2021

    Tesla discloses $1.5 billion in bitcoin

    Tesla said in its annual report to the SEC (a 10-K) that it had invested $1.50 billion in bitcoin, and that it expected to start accepting bitcoin as payment for its products.

    Markets · 12:27 UTCSourceTesla, Form 10-K for 2020 (sec.gov)

  4. 16 Feb 2021

    Bitcoin passes $50,000

    Bitcoin passed $50,000 for the first time during early New York trading, reaching a record $50,584.85 on CoinDesk's Bitcoin Price Index before slipping back.

    MarketsSourceCoinDesk, After Breaching $50K, Bitcoin Gives Up Earlier Gains (16 Feb 2021)

  5. 14 Apr 2021

    Coinbase lists on Nasdaq

    Coinbase, a US cryptocurrency exchange, began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker COIN through a direct listing, in which existing shareholders sell shares on the market instead of the company running a traditional public offering.

    MarketsSourceCNBC, Coinbase closes at $328.28 per share in Nasdaq debut (14 Apr 2021)

  6. 12 May 2021

    Tesla stops taking bitcoin

    Elon Musk said on Twitter that Tesla would stop accepting bitcoin for car purchases, less than two months after it started, citing the growing use of fossil fuels, especially coal, to mine bitcoin. He said Tesla would keep the bitcoin it held and accept it again once mining moved to more sustainable energy.

    Markets · 22:06 UTCSourceX, Elon Musk, "Tesla & Bitcoin", 12 May 2021

  7. 10 Nov 2021

    Bitcoin's November 2021 record

    Bitcoin reached a record of about $68,950, according to CoinDesk, soon after US data showed consumer prices up 6.2% on a year earlier, the fastest rise since 1990.

    MarketsSourceCoinDesk, Bitcoin Jumps to New All-Time High as Inflation Spikes to 6.2% in October (10 Nov 2021)

  8. 9 May 2022

    Terra's UST stablecoin collapses

    TerraUSD (UST), a stablecoin meant to stay worth $1, lost its peg and collapsed within days, and its sister token LUNA fell to almost zero. UST relied on an algorithm linked to LUNA to hold its value, rather than reserves of cash or bonds.

    Markets · Until 13 MaySourceCoinDesk, UST Stablecoin Loses Dollar Peg for Second Time in 48 Hours (9 May 2022)

  9. 13 Jun 2022

    Celsius freezes customer withdrawals

    Celsius Network, one of the biggest crypto lenders, paused all withdrawals, swaps and transfers between customer accounts, citing "extreme market conditions". It said the pause would put it in a better position to honour withdrawals over time.

    Markets · 01:59 UTCSourceCelsius, A Memo to the Celsius Community, 13 Jun 2022 UTC (Medium, Wayback Machine copy)

  10. 27 Jun 2022

    Three Arrows Capital is ordered into liquidation

    A British Virgin Islands court ordered Three Arrows Capital, a Singapore-based crypto hedge fund, into liquidation, a court-run winding-up in which appointed liquidators collect its assets to repay creditors, after falling crypto prices exposed a cash crisis. On 1 July its representatives asked a New York bankruptcy court to shield its US assets from creditors under Chapter 15, the US law for foreign insolvencies.

    Markets · Until 1 JulSourceThree Arrows Capital, Ltd. (In Liquidation), official liquidation website run by the joint liquidators at Teneo

  11. 8 Nov 2022

    FTX halts withdrawals and files for bankruptcy

    The crypto exchange FTX paused all customer withdrawals on 8 November and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware on 11 November. Chapter 11 is the US process that shields a company from creditors while it reorganises or sells its assets.

    Markets · Until 11 NovSourceSEC complaint, SEC v. Samuel Bankman-Fried, filed 13 Dec 2022 (sec.gov)What happened

  12. 15 Jun 2023

    BlackRock files for a spot bitcoin ETF

    BlackRock asked the US Securities and Exchange Commission to register shares in the iShares Bitcoin Trust, a proposed exchange-traded fund (ETF) that would hold bitcoin itself and trade on Nasdaq like a share. Coinbase was named to look after the trust's bitcoin.

    MarketsSourceSEC EDGAR, iShares Bitcoin Trust, Form S-1 filing index (filed 15 June 2023)

  13. 11 Jan 2024

    First US spot bitcoin ETFs trade

    The first US spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), funds that hold bitcoin and trade on stock exchanges like shares, began trading, a day after the SEC approved them.

    MarketsSourceSEC, Statement on the Approval of Spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Products, Chair Gary Gensler (10 Jan 2024)What happened

  14. 5 Mar 2024

    Bitcoin passes its 2021 record

    Bitcoin set its first record high since November 2021, rising above $69,000 on Coinbase.

    MarketsSourceCoinDesk, Bitcoin Soars to New All-Time High Above $69K (5 Mar 2024)

2024 to now

Miners earn 3.125 BTC a block until block 1,050,000, expected around June 2028.

  1. 19 Jun 2024

    German state of Saxony sells about 50,000 bitcoins

    The German state of Saxony sold about 49,858 bitcoins that a suspect in the Movie2k film-piracy case had handed to the authorities, raising about €2.64 billion. Prosecutors said the law required an emergency sale because bitcoin's price swings threatened the coins' value while the criminal case went on.

    Markets · Until 12 JulSourceGeneralstaatsanwaltschaft Dresden (Saxony's chief public prosecutor), Notveräußerung von fast 50.000 Bitcoins abgeschlossen, press release (16 July 2024, PDF, German)

  2. 5 Jul 2024

    Mt. Gox starts repaying creditors in bitcoin

    The trustee of Mt. Gox, the exchange that collapsed in 2014, said he had started repaying some of its creditors in bitcoin and bitcoin cash through designated crypto exchanges. Others were to be paid once their accounts and the exchanges' arrangements were confirmed.

    MarketsSourceMt. Gox Rehabilitation Trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi, Notice regarding Repayment in Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash (5 July 2024, PDF)

  3. 5 Dec 2024

    Bitcoin passes $100,000

    Bitcoin passed $100,000 for the first time in the early hours of 5 December UTC, which was the evening of 4 December in the US.

    MarketsSourceCoinDesk, Bitcoin at $100K: The Financial World Reacts (5 Dec 2024)

  4. 6 Oct 2025

    Bitcoin's October 2025 record

    Bitcoin reached a record above $126,000. CoinGecko records the all-time high as $126,080 at 10:57 UTC.

    Markets · 10:57 UTCSourceCoinDesk, a year after its record high bitcoin is down 32% (6 Oct 2026; record above $126,000 on 6 Oct 2025)

  5. 10 Oct 2025

    The biggest liquidation crash on record

    About $19 billion of leveraged crypto trades were liquidated in 24 hours, the largest such event on record, after President Trump announced an extra 100% tariff on Chinese imports. Liquidations happen when exchanges forcibly close borrowed bets that have lost too much.

    Markets · Until 11 OctSourceCoinDesk Research, Market Spotlight: Inside Crypto's $19 Billion Liquidation Event

  6. 2 Dec 2025

    Vanguard lets clients buy bitcoin ETFs

    Vanguard, which had refused to offer spot bitcoin ETFs since they launched in January 2024, began letting its brokerage clients trade ETFs and mutual funds that mainly hold crypto, opening them to about 50 million customers.

    MarketsSourceCoinDesk, $11T Asset Management Giant Vanguard to Allow Client Access to Crypto ETFs (1 Dec 2025)

  7. 5 Feb 2026

    Bitcoin's biggest one-day fall since 2022

    On mempool.space's price feed, bitcoin fell 13.9% during 5 February, from about $73,000 to $62,900, its biggest one-day fall since FTX collapsed in November 2022. On exchanges it touched $60,000 just after midnight UTC, less than half its October 2025 record.

    MarketsSourceThe Block, Bitcoin flash crashes to $60,000 (5 Feb 2026)

  8. 8 Apr 2026

    Morgan Stanley launches a spot bitcoin ETF

    Morgan Stanley's own spot bitcoin ETF, MSBT, began trading with a 0.14% annual fee, which the bank called the lowest for any bitcoin fund at the time. It took in about $34 million on its first day.

    MarketsSourceThe Block, Morgan Stanley's low-cost spot Bitcoin ETF launches (8 Apr 2026)

  9. 1 Jun 2026

    Strategy sells bitcoin for the first time since 2022

    Strategy, which held about 844,000 bitcoin, disclosed that it had sold 32 of them in late May for about $2.5 million to pay dividends on its preferred shares, its first sale since December 2022. It sold another 3,588 bitcoin between 29 June and 5 July.

    MarketsSourceSEC, Strategy Inc Form 8-K (1 Jun 2026)

  10. 25 Jun 2026

    Bitcoin falls to its lowest since 2024

    Bitcoin fell to about $58,000 on 25 June and to the same level again on 30 June, its lowest since late 2024 and about 54% below its October 2025 record. US spot bitcoin ETFs had $4.5 billion of net outflows in June, their worst month since they launched in January 2024.

    MarketsSourceCoinDesk, Bitcoin plunges to new multi-year low of $58,000 (25 Jun 2026)