12 Bitcoin for $0.01 Transaction Unfolded 15 Years Ago: Details

A fascinating piece of history for the first and largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), recently resurfaced. According to Bitcoin historian Pete Rizzo, exactly 15 years ago, you could buy 12 Bitcoin for $0.01 — a mind-blowing price compared to the current value of Bitcoin.

Rizzo shared this fun fact on social media platform X, sparking reflection in the crypto community about how far Bitcoin has journeyed through the years.

FUN FACT: 15 years ago today, you could buy 12 #Bitcoin for $0.01 ✨ pic.twitter.com/YYI4i2G30A

— The Bitcoin Historian (@pete_rizzo_) December 2, 2024

Bitcoin was launched in January 2009 by the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto, and its value was initially near zero.

In the early days of Bitcoin, there were no exchanges that resembled those available today. In an early transaction, for instance, 5,050 BTC were exchanged for $5.02, offering an estimate of a price of around $0.0009 per Bitcoin.

Bitcoin's price journey

Bitcoin traded for less than a cent, shortly after its launch in 2009. According to data from the Bitcoin Dashboard, Bitbo, Bitcoin's price did not reach $1 a year after it was launched; its highest price for the year 2010 was just $0.39. In 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz made the legendary purchase of two Domino's pizzas for 10,000 BTC.

On Feb. 9, 2011, BTC touched $1.00 for the first time in history. A few months later, in June, the price of a single Bitcoin reached $10, then $30 on Mt. Gox. This represents a 100x increase since 2011, when the price of Bitcoin was around $0.30. By the end of the year, Bitcoin had rebounded to a little under $5.

Bitcoin's price increased dramatically in 2013, for the first time since 2011. Bitcoin rose from $13 at the beginning of the year to roughly $250 in April. It subsequently cooled for a bit before rapidly appreciating again to more than $1,100 in December of that year.

Bitcoin's price steadily increased in 2017, culminating in a massive blow-off high of nearly $20,000. Bitcoin experienced another big rally in 2021, hitting $69,000 in November of that year.

Fast forward to last month, and Bitcoin neared $100,000, reaching a record high of $99,728 on Nov. 22. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $95,504.