Bitcoin Was $8 in 2011 After a 75% Crash — Today It Trades Near $80K

Fifteen years ago today, Bitcoin closed at $7.97.

At roughly $79,500 now, that means BTC has increased almost 10,000-fold, representing a gain of roughly 998,000% and an annualized return near 85% over 15 years. Historical pricing data show Bitcoin opened Sept. 5, 2011 at $8.36, briefly touched $9.96 and closed at $7.97.

But the more interesting part of the anniversary is where Bitcoin stood at the time.

Buying BTC at $8 in September 2011 did not feel like buying an obviously successful asset. Bitcoin had already experienced its first spectacular boom and collapse.

$8 Bitcoin Was Already Down About 75%

Bitcoin had surged to roughly $31.91 in June 2011, giving the network a market capitalization of about $206 million at its peak. Within days, the market suffered one of its earliest major crashes.

Mt. Gox was also compromised that summer, with an attacker accessing an administrator account and briefly forcing trades down to one cent on the exchange.

By Sept. 5, Bitcoin at $7.97 was therefore roughly 75% below its June peak.

That gives the WatcherGuru anniversary a different meaning. The person buying Bitcoin for $8 was not buying an untouched technology at the beginning of an obvious uptrend. They were buying an asset that had already crashed violently and whose future was highly uncertain.