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    Bitcoin (BTC)

    Also known as BTC, XBT

    Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer digital currency, launched in 2009, whose supply is capped at 21 million coins.[1][2][3] Its price is set by trading, not by any government.[4] It peaked at about $126,000 in October 2025 and Fortune quoted it at $82,413 on October 9, 2026.[5][6]

    Editor reviewedStrict sourcingUpdated CryptoMarkets and trading
    Key facts

    Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, a digital currency that runs on a public network rather than through banks. A white paper attributed to the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto described it as “a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash,” letting payments go directly between people without a bank in the middle.[1] The first coins were created in 2009.[2] Prices on this page are dated quotes, not live data. This page is not financial advice.

    How it works

    New bitcoin is created by “mining.” About every 10 minutes, on average, a new block of transactions is added to the blockchain. The computer that creates it currently earns 3.125 bitcoin.[7] That reward halves every 210,000 blocks, roughly every four years.[8] The most recent halving was on April 19, 2024.[9] Earlier halvings came in November 2012, July 2016 and May 2020.[10]

    Because of the halvings, total supply approaches a hard cap of 21 million coins. About 20.0 million existed at the end of 2025, and the last fraction is expected to be mined around 2140.[3]

    How the price is set

    No government or bank sets bitcoin’s value. It comes from supply and demand on trading platforms and in private trades.[4] Funds that hold bitcoin value it with reference indexes. These combine prices from several platforms and filter out anomalous trades.[11] Leveraged derivatives such as perpetual futures are a large part of trading and can drive sharp short-term moves.[12] For a fuller explanation, see How bitcoin’s price is determined.

    Price history

    Bitcoin has gone through repeated booms and busts. After each of the 2012, 2016 and 2020 halvings, the price rose to a new cycle high, but the size and timing of those rallies varied widely.[10] In the latest cycle, bitcoin set a record of about $126,000 on October 6, 2025.[5] Four days later it fell from about $122,000 to $105,000, and about $19 billion of leveraged positions were liquidated.[13] It fell below $64,000 on February 5, 2026.[14] It then recovered to $82,413 on the morning of October 9, 2026, according to Fortune.[6] The bitcoin price tracker lists the dated milestones.

    Bitcoin is volatile. CoinDesk calculated its annualized volatility at about 46% in 2026, down from 84% in 2018. It still counted more extreme single-day moves in 2026 than in all of 2018.[15]

    Institutions and government

    On January 10, 2024, the SEC approved spot bitcoin exchange-traded products, which trade on stock exchanges.[16] The largest, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, had about $66.3 billion in net assets on October 9, 2026.[17][18] See spot-crypto-etfs. In March 2025, President Trump signed an executive order creating a US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.[19] Strategy Inc reported holding 843,706 bitcoin at the end of May 2026.[20]

    Regulation

    US market-structure legislation for crypto is unsettled: the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act on September 15, 2026.[21] See clarity-act for the bill’s status. The stablecoin law, the GENIUS Act, was signed in July 2025.[22]

    Questions readers ask

    Who created Bitcoin?

    Bitcoin was described in a white paper attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonym. No individual with that name has been reliably identified.[1]

    How many bitcoins will there ever be?

    The supply is capped at 21 million. About 20.0 million were outstanding at the end of 2025, and the cap is expected to be reached around 2140.[3]

    What is the bitcoin halving?

    Every 210,000 blocks, roughly every four years, the reward paid to miners for each new block is cut in half. The April 2024 halving cut it from 6.25 to 3.125 bitcoin; the next is expected in mid-2028.[8][9]

    What was bitcoin's highest price?

    Bitcoin set a record of about $126,000 on October 6, 2025. investingLive puts the exact high at $126,080.[5]

    Can I buy bitcoin through a brokerage account?

    Yes. The SEC approved spot bitcoin exchange-traded products on January 10, 2024.[16]

    Sources

    Each numbered claim is a statement we checked against the sources listed with it. Status shows how well established it is.

    1. [1]

      Bitcoin was described in a white paper attributed to the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto as "a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash" that lets payments go directly between parties without a financial institution. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    2. [2]

      The first bitcoins were created in 2009 after Satoshi Nakamoto released the Bitcoin network's source code. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    3. [3]

      Bitcoin's supply is capped at 21 million coins; about 20.0 million were outstanding at the end of 2025, and the cap is expected to be reached around 2140. confirmedas of 2025-12-31

    4. [4]

      No government or financial intermediary sets bitcoin's value; it is determined by supply and demand on digital asset trading platforms and in private trades. confirmedas of 2026-02-25

    5. [5]

      Bitcoin set a record high of about $126,000 ($126,080 per investingLive) on October 6, 2025. confirmedas of 2025-10-06

    6. [6]

      Fortune quoted bitcoin at $82,413.19 at 6:45 a.m. ET on October 9, 2026, about $38,285 lower than a year earlier and well below the record above $126,000 set in October 2025. confirmedas of 2026-10-09

    7. [7]

      A new Bitcoin block is added about every 10 minutes on average, and the miner who creates it currently receives 3.125 bitcoin. confirmedas of 2026-02-25

    8. [8]

      The bitcoin block reward halves every 210,000 blocks, roughly every four years; the next halving is expected in mid-2028. confirmedas of 2026-02-25

    9. [9]

      The Bitcoin network completed its fourth halving on April 19, 2024, cutting the miner reward from 6.25 to 3.125 bitcoin. confirmedas of 2024-04-19

    10. [10]

      Earlier halvings took place on November 28, 2012, July 9, 2016 and May 11, 2020, and each was followed by a price rise to a new cycle high, though of very different size and timing. confirmedas of 2024-04-19

    11. [11]

      Bitcoin ETFs value their holdings using reference indexes that combine prices from several trading platforms, weighting more liquid venues more heavily and filtering out anomalous trades. confirmedas of 2026-02-25

    12. [12]

      Perpetual futures, which let traders bet on price moves without owning bitcoin, remain a major part of crypto trading, and round-the-clock trading with heavy leverage made crypto the hardest-hit market in the October 2025 selloff. reportedas of 2026-10-10· interpretation

    13. [13]

      On October 10, 2025, after President Trump announced 100% tariffs on Chinese imports, bitcoin fell from around $122,000 to $105,000 and about $19 billion of leveraged crypto positions were liquidated, the largest such event on record. confirmedas of 2025-10-10

    14. [14]

      On February 5, 2026, bitcoin fell below $64,000, its lowest level since October 2024 and nearly 50% below its October 2025 peak. confirmedas of 2026-02-05

    15. [15]

      CoinDesk calculated bitcoin's annualized volatility at about 46% in 2026, compared with 84% in 2018, but counted 10 days in 2026 with moves of at least three standard deviations, more than the eight in all of 2018. Single-day drops of more than 10% still occurred, as on February 5, 2026. reportedas of 2026-10-09

    16. [16]

      On January 10, 2024, the SEC approved the listing and trading of several spot bitcoin exchange-traded products, after earlier disapproving more than 20 such filings and losing a court case brought by Grayscale. confirmedas of 2024-01-10

    17. [17]

      BlackRock said its iShares funds captured about 95% of flows into digital asset ETPs in 2025; in March 2026 IBIT and ETHA were the largest bitcoin and ether ETFs, with more than $55 billion and $6.5 billion in assets. reportedas of 2026-03-12

    18. [18]

      BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) charges a 0.25% sponsor fee and had net assets of about $66.3 billion as of October 9, 2026; its NAV total return for 2026 was -6.71% as of October 8. confirmedas of 2026-10-09

    19. [19]

      On March 6, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a US Digital Asset Stockpile. confirmedas of 2025-03-06

    20. [20]

      Strategy Inc disclosed on June 1, 2026 that it sold 32 bitcoin for about $2.5 million between May 26 and May 31 to fund preferred-stock distributions, while holding 843,706 bitcoin. confirmedas of 2026-05-31

    21. [21]

      On September 15, 2026, the Senate rejected cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3633 by 49 to 50 (Rollcall Vote No. 234), with Sen. Chris Coons not voting. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    22. [22]

      The President signed the GENIUS Act on July 18, 2025, and it became Public Law 119-27. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    Revision history (1)
    1. Page created.

    Created Oct 10, 2026. Last reviewed by an editor on Oct 10, 2026. Next scheduled review: Jan 10, 2027.

    Cite this page

    "Bitcoin (BTC)." ContentLora, updated Oct 10, 2026. https://contentlora.com/wiki/bitcoin

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