Bitcoin Price

Bitcoin is the original cryptocurrency — a fixed-supply digital asset traded 24 hours a day on exchanges worldwide. This page shows its live price in U.S. dollars per coin, with the last 24 hours charted.

What moves the bitcoin price?

Bitcoin’s supply is capped at 21 million coins and issuance halves roughly every four years, so price is driven almost entirely by demand. The main forces are macro liquidity and interest rates, flows into spot bitcoin ETFs, adoption news, and plain market sentiment — which can shift fast.

Why it’s so volatile

Crypto trades 24/7 with no daily close and thinner liquidity than major stock or bond markets, so sentiment moves price quickly and double-digit days are not unusual. That potential for sharp gains comes with equally sharp drawdowns — size positions accordingly.

The halving and bitcoin’s supply schedule

New bitcoin enters circulation as a reward to miners, and that reward is cut in half roughly every four years in an event called the halving. Each halving slows the rate of new supply, tightening scarcity on the way to the 21-million cap expected around the year 2140. Historically, the period after a halving has drawn intense attention because issuance drops while demand often holds or grows — though past patterns are no guarantee of future moves.

How to buy and store bitcoin

Most people buy bitcoin on a regulated exchange, funding the account from a bank and placing an order much like buying a stock. Storage is where crypto differs: you can leave coins on the exchange (convenient, but you’re trusting their security) or move them to your own wallet, where you control the private keys. The mantra “not your keys, not your coins” captures the trade-off — self-custody removes counterparty risk but puts the responsibility for safekeeping entirely on you.

Is bitcoin “digital gold”?

The bull case is that bitcoin’s fixed supply and decentralization make it a modern store of value — scarce, portable, and beyond any government’s power to print more. Skeptics point to its volatility, its short history, and its sensitivity to interest rates as evidence it still trades more like a risk asset than a safe haven. Both can be true at once: a long-term scarcity story playing out through wild short-term swings.

Risks and scams to watch for

Beyond price volatility, the biggest dangers in crypto are self-inflicted or fraudulent: lost keys with no password reset, phishing sites that drain wallets, fake “giveaways,” and platforms promising guaranteed returns. A few habits prevent most losses — use well-known exchanges, turn on two-factor authentication, double-check every address before sending, and treat any “send one coin to receive two” offer as outright theft. If a return sounds guaranteed, it isn’t.

Bitcoin and taxes

In the United States the IRS treats bitcoin as property, not currency, so selling, trading, or spending it is generally a taxable event — you owe capital-gains tax on any increase in value since you acquired it. Simply buying and holding is not taxable, and rules vary by country and change over time. Keep records of what you paid and when, and check current guidance or a tax professional before you file. This is general information, not tax advice.