The first digital currency and still the largest, Bitcoin, makes up 46% of the total value of the biggest 250 cryptocurrency coins as of December 2023.
Bitcoin's founding is the stuff of legend: it was created in 2009 under the alias of Satoshi Nakamoto – an unknown entity who believed that future currencies shouldn't be controlled by a central government or agency.
How prevalent is cryptocurrency in Australia? A Finder survey of 1,004 Australians conducted in January 2021 revealed that 1 in 4 people (25%) invest in or plan to invest in cryptocurrency. That's equivalent to 5 million digital currency investors
The first Bitcoin hit the market in July 2010 at a cost of under $0.01. It took three years for the currency to reach over $300 in value, which it did in 2013. Since then, Bitcoin has smashed all records. It peaked at $93,482 back in November 2021. The current price of Bitcoin is $41,123, 6.1% lower than what it was just one month ago. All prices are quoted in Australian Dollars.
Over the last 24 hours, the price of Bitcoin has changed by $371, with a 24-hour low of $40,003 and a high of $41,250. The number of Bitcoin currently in circulation is 19,376,537 – and while there can only be 21 million Bitcoin created, it's estimated that this max capacity won't be reached within the next 100 years.
Bitcoin is by far the biggest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalisation (total value in existence), and there is currently $796 billion worth of Bitcoin out in the wild. Bitcoin surpassed a market cap of AUD$1 trillion for the first time in February 2021. Ethereum, the second most popular currency, has a market cap of $330 billion.
Over the last 24 hours, there has been $23 billion worth of Bitcoin traded. The graph below depicts the volume of Bitcoin traded daily. This figure can be somewhat volatile, with $6 billion being traded on one of its worst days and $82 billion on one of its best.
The price of Bitcoin can also be very volatile. In February 2021, Elon Musk announced that Tesla had purchased US$1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin and would be accepting the currency as payment, paving the way for larger companies to adopt Bitcoin and sending the price soaring. In May, he reversed that announcement and declared that Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin due to its high carbon footprint, leading to an immediate crash of the Bitcoin price to roughly where it was before his first tweet. While there are some excellent guides out there covering how to invest in Bitcoin, it would be wise to invest with caution. If you are after more statistics on other cryptocurrencies, head to our cryptocurrency statistics page for everything crypto.
Patrick Tedesco is Finder's international insights analyst, digging through data to help Finder's audience understand new trends and make better decisions. Patrick has a Bachelors degree in Information Technology. Outside work, you'll find him on the basketball court or keeping up with the latest tech trends.
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