Bitcoin Price Today – Live BTC Chart
Track the live Bitcoin price in USD, EUR, GBP & 20+ currencies. Real-time BTC/USD chart with 24h change, market cap, volume, and OHLC data.
$62,784.00
-0.23% · 24h- Price (USD)
- $62,784.00
- 24h Change
- -0.23%
- Market Cap
- $1.26T
- 24h Volume
- $3.44B
- All-Time High
- $126.08K
- Circulating Supply
- 20.06M BTC
- Market Cap Rank
- #1
What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin (BTC) is the world's first decentralized cryptocurrency, created in 2009 by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto. It runs on a peer-to-peer network secured by proof-of-work mining — a public, immutable ledger that settles value transfers without banks or intermediaries.
With a hard cap of 21 million coins — over 95% of which have already been mined — Bitcoin is the scarcest major monetary asset ever created. That programmed scarcity, enforced by the halving schedule rather than a central bank, is the foundation of the digital-gold thesis and the reason institutions treat BTC as a macro asset rather than a tech bet.
The market structure around Bitcoin changed permanently in January 2024, when US spot ETFs opened a regulated demand channel through ordinary brokerage accounts. Together with CME futures, options, and MiCA-authorized venues in Europe, BTC now trades inside the regulated financial system as much as outside it — one reason its price increasingly responds to Federal Reserve policy, real yields, and ETF flow data alongside crypto-native catalysts.
BTC/USD is the most liquid trading pair in crypto and the reference price for the entire asset class. Most derivatives — perpetual futures, options, and the funding rates this site tracks — settle against USD or USD-stablecoin indexes, which is why serious traders watch the USD pair even when they buy in another currency.
As of July 2026, Bitcoin trades roughly half below its October 2025 all-time high of $126,080 — the kind of deep drawdown that has punctuated every Bitcoin cycle so far. Whether that reads as risk or opportunity depends entirely on your time horizon and risk tolerance; both have historically been tested severely by this asset.
Key Features of Bitcoin
- Fixed Supply, Programmed Issuance: The 21 million cap is enforced by consensus rules, and new issuance halves every 210,000 blocks (~4 years). Monetary policy is code — no committee can dilute it.
- Proof-of-Work Security: The largest computing network on earth secures settlement. Rewriting history would require out-spending the global mining industry in real time — the property that makes final settlement in BTC meaningful.
- Deepest Liquidity in Crypto: BTC anchors every major exchange, ETF, and derivatives venue. Spreads are the tightest in the asset class, and BTC collateral underpins most of the perpetual futures market.
- Self-Custody and Final Settlement: Anyone can hold private keys and settle value globally in ~10-minute blocks, without permission — the property that separates Bitcoin from every account-based financial rail.
Bitcoin Use Cases
- Store of Value: The core allocation thesis: a scarce, censorship-resistant asset held against currency debasement over multi-year horizons.
- Derivatives Collateral: BTC is the base collateral of crypto derivatives — margin for perpetual futures, options, and structured products across every major venue.
- Cross-Border Settlement: Large-value transfers settle in under an hour for a few dollars, without correspondent banks — used in practice for remittances and treasury movements.
- Portfolio Diversifier: Institutional portfolios increasingly hold a small BTC allocation via ETFs for its asymmetric return profile and historically low long-run correlation to bonds.
Bitcoin Tokenomics
Hard cap
21,000,000 BTC
Mined (Jul 2026)
≈20.06M — 95.5%
Block reward
3.125 BTC
Annual issuance
≈0.8%
Next halving
≈ spring 2028
- Total Supply
- 21,000,000 BTC — hard cap enforced by consensus; roughly 3–4 million estimated permanently lost.
- Circulating
- ≈20.06 million BTC mined as of July 2026 — over 95.5% of all bitcoin that will ever exist.
- Utility
- Monetary asset and settlement layer; base collateral across crypto derivatives and regulated products (ETFs, futures).
- Emission
- 3.125 BTC per block since the April 2024 halving (~450 BTC/day, under 0.8% annual issuance). Next halving: block 1,050,000, expected around spring 2028.
Bitcoin Historical Price Performance
First $1,000
November 2013
2017 cycle peak
$19,783 — December 2017
2021 cycle peak
$69,045 — November 2021
All-time high
$126,080 — 6 October 2025
Set 21 months after US spot-ETF approval
July 2026
≈50% below ATH
Drawdowns of 50–85% have occurred in every prior cycle
Bitcoin's history is a sequence of violent cycles rather than a smooth curve. It first crossed $1,000 in November 2013, peaked near $19,783 in December 2017, reached $69,045 in November 2021, and set its current all-time high of $126,080 on 6 October 2025 — extending the rally that began with US spot-ETF approval in January 2024. As of July 2026 it trades roughly half below that high, a drawdown entirely in character: every previous cycle has included peak-to-trough declines of 50–85%, and every previous all-time high looked unreachable from the bottom that followed it. Past cycles are context, not a forecast — position sizing matters more than conviction.
Frequently Asked Questions
What drives Bitcoin's price?
Four forces dominate: supply mechanics (the halving cycle cutting new issuance), regulated demand channels (spot ETF flows since January 2024 are now a daily-watched indicator), macro conditions (real yields, dollar strength, global liquidity), and market structure (leverage, funding rates, and liquidations amplify moves in both directions). News and sentiment move the price for days; these four move it for years.
What is the Bitcoin halving?
Every 210,000 blocks — roughly four years — the new-BTC reward paid to miners is cut in half. The April 2024 halving reduced it to 3.125 BTC per block; the next, around spring 2028, will cut it to 1.5625 BTC. Halvings mechanically tighten new supply to under 1% a year, and every previous bull market followed one within 12–18 months — though with only four halvings in history, that pattern is a small sample, not a law.
Are Bitcoin ETFs a good way to get exposure?
Spot ETFs (US-approved January 2024) give regulated exposure through an ordinary brokerage account: no keys, no exchange risk, annual fees of roughly 0.2–1.5%. The trade-off is that you hold a claim on BTC, not BTC itself — no self-custody, no on-chain settlement, and trading only in market hours. For long-term allocation inside tax-advantaged accounts they are hard to beat; for using bitcoin as collateral or money, you need the real asset.
How do I store Bitcoin safely?
For small amounts, a reputable exchange with a strong security history works. For serious holdings, a hardware wallet (offline keys) is the standard: the device signs transactions and the keys never touch the internet. Back up the seed phrase on paper or steel — never digitally — and treat anyone who asks for it as an attacker, because that phrase is the bitcoin.
How much Bitcoin is left to mine?
About 940,000 BTC as of July 2026 — roughly 20.06 million of the 21 million cap are already in circulation (over 95.5%). Because issuance halves every four years, the remaining coins stretch out to around the year 2140, but more than 99% of all BTC will exist by the early 2030s. Effective supply is tighter still: an estimated 3–4 million coins are permanently lost.
Why is Bitcoin trading so far below its all-time high?
As of July 2026, BTC sits roughly 50% below the $126,080 peak of October 2025. That is normal Bitcoin behavior, not an anomaly: every cycle since 2011 has seen drawdowns between 50% and 85% after its top. The mechanics repeat — leverage builds near highs, liquidations cascade on the way down, and long-term holders have historically accumulated through the trough. None of this predicts where the bottom is; it only says the current drawdown is within the historical pattern.
Is Bitcoin legal in Europe?
Yes. Under MiCA — fully applicable across the EU since 30 December 2024 — Bitcoin is a regulated crypto-asset: exchanges and custodians serving EEA users must hold CASP authorization, which major venues now do. Buying, holding, and trading BTC is legal throughout the EEA; tax treatment varies by country. Rules differ elsewhere and change often — verifying what applies where you live is your responsibility.
Risk Warning
Cryptocurrency prices are highly volatile and can change rapidly. The information on this site is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or trading advice.