Investing $100 in Bitcoin in 2009, when it was virtually worthless (starting around $0), could have turned into millions or even billions of dollars by today, depending on when exactly you acquired it and the peak prices you sold at, as early adopters received massive amounts for tiny sums, making it the best-performing asset ever, though early access was extremely difficult and risky.
A $100 Bitcoin buy in 2009 at $0.001 would equal about 100,000 BTC, which is billionaire territory at today's prices. Even “late” buyers from 2010–2011 could have turned $100 into multi-million-dollar positions if they held. By 2016, $100 still had 100x+ potential, but the easy, world-changing upside was mostly gone.
Bitcoin first made its debut for trading at the beginning of July 2010 at a price of $0.0008 per token. That's just eight-hundredths of a penny. If we make the hypothetical assumption that there were no transaction fees, a $100 investment on its debut day could have purchased 125,000 Bitcoin.
15 Years Ago (2009): For those who invested at Bitcoin's inception, a $1,000 investment in 2009 would be worth an astounding $68.3 billion, given that Bitcoin traded at around $0.00099 in October 2009, translating to about 1,309.03 BTC per dollar.
15 years ago: A $1 investment would be worth $1.62 million since Bitcoin is up 162 million percent from August 2010.
Laszlo Hanyecz, a programmer and early Bitcoin miner, famously traded 10,000 Bitcoin for two Papa John's pizzas on May 22, 2010, marking the first documented commercial transaction for physical goods with cryptocurrency, a day now celebrated as "Bitcoin Pizza Day". At the time, the Bitcoins were worth only about $41, but the value of those coins would later grow to be worth hundreds of millions, even over a billion dollars, making it one of history's most expensive pizzas.
Despite extreme volatility, Bitcoin's price has skyrocketed 1,060% in the past five years as I write this. This monster gain would've turned a $10,000 initial capital outlay in October 2020 to a whopping $115,700 on Oct. 6.
Bitcoin's price finally broke through the US$1 mark in 2011, and moved as high as US$29.60 that year. However, in 2012 Bitcoin pulled back and remained relatively muted. Bitcoin's price saw its first significant growth in earnest in 2013, the year it broke through both US$100 and US$1,000.
Imagine this: Back in 2011, if you invested just $100 into Bitcoin, you'd have 30.7588 BTC. Fast forward to today… that same $100 would now be worth $3,108,237.52! 🤯💸 Opportunities like this don't come around often, but the lesson is clear: start investing smartly today.
Once Nakamoto released Bitcoin's software in January 2009, there were only two ways to obtain bitcoin — by mining it yourself or arranging a peer-to-peer (P2P) trade via a forum like Bitcointalk, which Nakamoto founded to host Bitcoin-related discussions.
August 22, 2008, BTC Price: $0 – Satoshi Nakamoto begins an email exchange with Wei Dai, the creator of b-money, pictured below. October 31, 2008, BTC Price: $0 – Satoshi posts a message titled “Bitcoin P2P e-cash paper” on a cryptography mailing.
Widespread media coverage of Bitcoin reminded Kristoffer of the investment he made years prior, and after some time trying to work out his password, he logged into his account to find he had 5000 bitcoins, which at this point was worth approximately $886000.
I bought Bitcoin in 2010 and forgot — is it still recoverable? Only if you still have access to the wallet file or private key. If not, the Bitcoin is likely lost permanently.
The first notable retail transaction involving physical goods was paid on May 22, 2010, by exchanging 10,000 mined BTC for two pizzas delivered from a Papa John's in Jacksonville, Florida.
But does Laszlo Hanyecz still hold Bitcoins today? There has been no record of him holding any bitcoins of great worth publicly. Laszlo Hanyecz's net worth is not publicly known. Laszlo Hanyecz today lives in seclusion.
If you buy 1 bitcoin for $1000, you will have 1 bitcoin, no matter what happens to the value of 'Bitcoin' itself. If the bitcoin price decreases to $10, you still have 1 bitcoin.
Key Takeaways. The IRS treats cryptocurrency as property, meaning that when you buy, sell or exchange it, this counts as a taxable event and typically results in either a capital gain or loss. When you earn income from cryptocurrency activities, this is taxed as ordinary income.