Key Insights
- Bitcoin turned 18 on October 31, with BTC trading near $77.3K at press time.
- U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs held about 1.28M BTC, while Strategy held 848,517 BTC.
- More than 95% of the 21M BTC supply had been mined by March 2026.
Bitcoin marked 18 years since the release of its whitepaper on October 31, 2026. Satoshi Nakamoto published the nine-page paper on a cryptography mailing list in 2008.
The paper outlined peer-to-peer electronic cash that needed no bank. It introduced a public ledger secured by proof-of-work. At press time, the network’s market value stood near $1.55 trillion.
How the Bitcoin Price Climbed from Zero to $126,000
Satoshi mined the first block on January 3, 2009. The first published exchange rate in 2009 was near $0.000764.
In May 2010, a user paid 10,000 BTC for two pizzas. The price crossed $1,000 in 2013 and approached $20,000 in December 2017.
BTC peaked near $69,000 in November 2021. The 2022 crypto winter then erased over $2 trillion in market value. U.S. spot ETFs launched in January 2024. BTC set a record near $73,798 that March.
Bitcoin crossed $100,000 for the first time in December 2024. The record came on October 6, 2025, at an intraday high of $126,223, according to CoinDesk.
Roughly $19 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated in a single day that October. Bitcoin ended 2025 about 30% below its record.
By February 6, 2026, BTC had dropped to about $60,100. It then fell to $58,586 on June 30, 2026, about 53% below that peak.
That drawdown was shallower than the roughly 77% fall after the 2021 peak.
At press time, Bitcoin price traded near $77,300, about 39% below the record. Bloomberg reported that Bitcoin was heading for its weakest month since June.
How Institutions Changed the Bitcoin Price Picture
As of October 31, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs held about 1.28 million BTC. That equaled roughly 6.36% of the circulating supply.
Their combined net assets stood near $102.97 billion at press time. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) led with about $66 billion in assets.
IBIT logged a $665.16 million net inflow on October 19, its largest since October 2025.
Corporate treasuries added another layer. Strategy (MSTR) held 848,517 BTC as of October 25, according to its latest filing. The holdings were worth about $67.5 billion, Michael Saylor said.
It bought those coins at an average price of $75,446, for about $64 billion. The stake exceeded 4% of Bitcoin’s maximum supply.
Strategy paused purchases from October 19 to 25, ending a five-week streak. It also held $5.1 billion in USD assets, Saylor said.
However, MSCI adopted rules that could result in MSTR’s exclusion from its index. The U.S. government also established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve in March 2025.
How Close Did Bitcoin Come to Its Supply Limit?
The 20 millionth BTC was mined on March 9, 2026, at block 940,000. That left fewer than 1 million coins to be issued over roughly 114 years.
Full issuance was expected around 2140. The 21 million cap came from Bitcoin’s software, not the whitepaper.
Block rewards started at 50 BTC and halved every 210,000 blocks, roughly four years. The April 2024 halving cut the reward to 3.125 BTC. The next halving was due in 2028.
