Contents

• Bitcoin’s first price surge
• Making up lost ground
• The bitcoin crash of 2018 
• 2021: A bullish new year 
• New Year’s Day predictions
• FAQs

Bitcoin has welcomed the beginning of most years with fireworks. The cryptocurrency has celebrated a year-on-year increase in its price on New Year’s Day seven times over the past decade.

But like New Year’s resolutions, sometimes bitcoin has maintained its January price goals, while other years proved more difficult.

Although bitcoin was on a bearish trend in December 2021, experts predict the price will be higher this New Year’s Day than any other 1 January. Whether bitcoin can keep this price up is much debated, however.

Bitcoin’s first price surge

Bitcoin had been on a steady rise towards the end of 2012, passing the $10 mark for the first time. Looking back at bitcoin’s price history, it seems surreal to reminisce of a time the price of one bitcoin was that low. Despite the low price, bitcoin still broke a New Year’s Day record, reaching $13.31 on 1 January 2013 – more double its value against the dollar the previous year.

This new price record was just the start and bitcoin would be nowhere near as low as $13 in January ever again. Bitcoin broke the $100 barrier early in 2013 and by 1 January 2014, it hit $772.53, setting a new goal on New Year’s Day for the second year in a row.

Bitcoin failed to keep the streak going, dropping to $316.90 on 1 January 2015. It proved to be the beginning of a bearish month and year for the cryptocurrency. On 14 January 2015, bitcoin had fallen to $178.10, and it struggled to reach its 2014 price over the next two years.

Making up lost ground

The bitcoin price history from January 2015 set the tone of the cryptocurrency’s following years. It was on a journey to make up for the ground it had lost. This was a slow and gradual process.

On New Year’s Day in 2016, bitcoin’s price reached $433.38, an increase from the previous year, but still not as high as 2014. It was 1 January 2017 when bitcoin finally set a new price record for New Year’s Day of $976.65, more than double its 2016 price. The cryptocurrency managed to keep the momentum going and on 3 January that year, bitcoin passed the $1,000 barrier. 

The bitcoin crash of 2018 

January 2017 was the start of an incredibly bullish year for the cryptocurrency, which peaked at the beginning of 2018. For the third year in a row, bitcoin set a new record for its price on New Year’s Day. It reached a staggering $13,546.15 on 1 January 2018, which peaked above the $17,000 mark over the following days.

Just as in 2015, this price was too good to last and bitcoin crashed – a fall that plagued the cryptocurrency for years to come. The price began dropping midway through January and the bearish trend continued throughout the year.

By New Year’s Day 2019, bitcoin had fallen to $3,801.68. It was only towards the end of that year the bitcoin price trend began making up lost ground.

As the world brought in a new decade, the price of bitcoin reached $7,188.46. This upward trend continued and by the following year bitcoin set a new record.

2021: A bullish new year 

Bitcoin’s price of $29,374.15 on 1 January 2021 was the highest it had been on any New Year’s Day. It was also bitcoin’s all-time high, but not for long. 

The bitcoin price history was action-packed in 2021, filled with many price records and corrections. The coin surged above $50,000 in February, then dropped below $30,000 in July. After this drop, bitcoin reached its highest point in the year of $68,789.63 on 10 November 2021.

The bitcoin price dropped again over the last week of 2021, falling below the $50,000 mark. Despite this, there are still optimistic price predictions for bitcoin.

New Year’s Day predictions

Aside from 2016 and 2019, the bitcoin price on the last 10 New Year’s Days has grown and it is looking like this year will not be an exception. Rakesh Upadhyay, trading expert and Currency.com contributor, wrote in a December bitcoin price analysis that the bulls and bears are fighting over the 20-day exponential moving average. He remarked: “If the price breaks and sustains below this support, the bears will fancy their chances and attempt to sink the pair to $45,462.90.”

Even if bitcoin drops to this level, however, the price would still be higher than it was on last New Year’s Day.

WalletInvestor also forecasts bitcoin reaching the highest price it has been on any New Year’s Day. Its bitcoin price prediction for 1 January 2022 is $45,538.80. It forecasts this will reflect a bullish year for the cryptocurrency over the following 12 months that will see its price surge above $80,000 by New Year’s Day 2023.

It is a similar price prediction from GovCapital, which forecasts that the cryptocurrency would be just below $50,000 on 1 January 2022. The prediction site estimates that the bitcoin price in 2022 will climb and, by the following New Year’s Day, reach $75,717.52. 

There are warning signs, however. Upadhyay says if the cryptocurrency drops below the 50-week simple moving average and the $39,000 support level, bitcoin could continue to fall closer to $30,000.

An analyst under the pseudonym PlanB created a model based on the circulation and mining of bitcoin, which showed another red flag. Although the model correctly forecasted the 2020 and 2021 bullish run, the bitcoin price now has begun to lag behind. The stock-to-flow model expected it to reach $100,000 by the end of the year, which did not happen.

While bulls will be hoping for fireworks in 2022, as ever there are many concerning factors for investors.

FAQs

Further reading

Bitcoin price prediction 2022: Can BTC continue to make a comeback?

Bitcoin price prediction for 2030: Where will it be?