Is Bitcoin a Good Investment in 2024?
Disclaimer: The Industry Talk section features insights from crypto industry players and is not a part of the editorial content of Cryptonews.com.
Is Bitcoin a good investment? This is a question posed relentlessly in today’s market, given the tremendous growth in the BTC price over the past decade. However, the coin’s high volatility and colossal carbon footprint have pushed crypto investors towards other projects in recent times – leading many to speculate whether Bitcoin can thrive in the long term.
In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at Bitcoin and its place in today’s crypto market, covering its price history and looking at its prospects. We’ll also detail where investors can buy Bitcoin today before providing our thoughts on whether BTC represents a good investment, given the current market conditions.
Is Bitcoin a Good Investment? Our Verdict
So, is investing in Bitcoin a good idea? There’s no questioning that Bitcoin has been one of the top crypto gainers since it hit the public consciousness in the early 2010s – yet it’s hard to imagine the coin providing the same level of returns as it did back then.
Most retail traders gravitate towards Bitcoin for two reasons – they’re interested in the world of cryptocurrency, and they’re hopeful of generating market-beating returns. However, what these traders often don’t realize is that Bitcoin is now a relatively ‘mature’ asset within the context of the market. As such, the days of 2,500% returns are likely in the past.
There are some good points concerning Bitcoin, such as the fact that it’s now part of many crypto index funds, making it the first cryptocurrency to be adopted by the traditional financial markets. From this perspective, BTC may actually represent a good opportunity for investors with a higher risk tolerance and who wish to gain exposure to digital currencies.
However, those looking to get rich off crypto will need to look elsewhere. Yes, Bitcoin has outperformed the S&P 500 in six of the last seven years. This is over 3x more than the S&P 500’s drawdown and hints that Bitcoin’s time as a rapidly-growing asset could be coming to an end.
How Bitcoin Has Performed Since Launch & in 2023
People often ask, “Should I buy Bitcoin now?” yet fail to understand what the coin is and its price history. As defined by Forbes, Bitcoin is a digital version of cash that exists outside the framework of banks and governments. Two parties can exchange Bitcoin without the need for an intermediary – making it ‘decentralized’.
The mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto created the concept of Bitcoin in the paper titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”. The Bitcoin code was released in January 2009 and was initially used by murky websites like Silk Road to facilitate anonymous payments.
Over the following years, Bitcoin expanded and entered the public consciousness. People started wondering, “Should I invest in Bitcoin?” as the coin’s value began to rise exponentially. To put this into perspective, BTC was valued at $13.30 in 2013 yet rose to $770 by early 2014 – a remarkable 5,689% increase.
This growth continued in the following years, prompting many new cryptocurrency projects to spring up (dubbed ‘altcoins’). The popularity of altcoins grew in tandem with Bitcoin, helping set the stage for crypto exchanges like Binance and Coinbase to expand. By 2020, high-profile names like Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey had publicly expressed their optimism for BTC.
All told, if an investor had bought BTC at the beginning of its rise in early 2017 and the coin’s all-time high in November 2021, they’d have generated a return of 7,297%. To put this another way, an investment of $1,000 would have been worth $73,970 at the end of the bull run – highlighting why investors began clamoring to get involved in the crypto market.
However, since November 2021’s peak, it’s been challenging for BTC to maintain its status. The combination of rising inflation and interest rate increases has created a ‘risk-off’ environment, making cryptocurrency much less popular.
Nonetheless, since the start of 2023, BTC has performed quite well after rebounding from the $16.2K support. It almost re
Here’s a quick summary of the key points to be aware of regarding Bitcoin:
- Satoshi Nakamoto came up with the concept of Bitcoin in 2008
- Bitcoin’s source code was released in January 2009
- Dubious online sites initially used BTC to facilitate anonymous payments
- Bitcoin began entering the mainstream as an investment asset and helped kickstart the growth of the entire crypto market
- After peaking in November 2021, BTC has been on an extended downtrend
- Since the start of 2023, it has witnessed an uptrend before facing resistance at the $30.9K level.
Bitcoin Price History
Given the coin’s past, is it a good time to buy Bitcoin today? To answer this question, it’s essential to look more closely at the coin’s price history to determine whether what we’re seeing today has been seen before.
As mentioned in the previous section, Bitcoin’s first real ‘spike’ was between 2017 and 2018, when the price surged by over 5,600%. However, this peak was short-lived, and BTC’s value gradually decreased over the following year.
However, many believed Bitcoin was the best long-term crypto due to its size and reputation relative to others in the market. This helped BTC generate some momentum in late 2019 – yet it wasn’t until the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 that the coin’s true potential was unveiled.
Between March 2020 and November 2021, Bitcoin’s price rose by 1,657%. According to CoinMarketCap, this led BTC to create an all-time high of $68,789. At this point, the bullish sentiment around Bitcoin was at its peak – but this peak would be short-lived.
Between November 2021 and November 2022, Bitcoin’s value fell by 74%. The year 2022 has been challenging for BTC investors, as regulatory issues and rising interest rates have hampered price momentum.
However, 2023 has helped the king coin regain some momentum. Starting at around $16.5k, BTC almost doubled in price by July 2023, gathering huge momentum as major asset managers such as BlackRock, Fidelity and Wisdom Tree applied for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
The US SEC is seemingly dragging its heels on a decision over the ETFs, but it appears likely they will be approved, it is more a matter of when. Bitcoin has lost a bit of momentum in August and September – which has historically been one of the worst months for the coin and has not posted a green candle in six years.
However, with the next Bitcoin halving approaching in mid-2024 – a catalyst for all previous bull runs – there could be light at the end of a tunnel after two painful years in the space.
Bitcoin Highs & Lows
- High of $19,735 in December 2017
- Low of $3,270 in December 2018
- High of $13,910 in June 2019
- Low of $3,881 in March 2020
- All-time high of $68,789 in November 2021
- Current low of $18,120 in November 2022
- Regained High of $30,000 in July 2023
- Dipped to $26,300 in September 2023
Bitcoin Price Forecast
Is Bitcoin worth buying at today’s price? There’s an argument that BTC is relatively ‘undervalued’, given its worldwide adoption and popularity with institutional investors. It’s…
Read More:Is Bitcoin a Good Investment in 2024?
