Bitcoin price in 2018
How bitcoin's price moved through 2018, month by month, and the events behind the moves.
Bitcoin started at $13,921 on January 1, 2018 and ended 2018 at $3,687, a fall of 73.5%. Its highest daily close was $17,104 on January 6, 2018 and its lowest was $3,185 on December 15, 2018.
2018 at a glance
- Open
- $13,921
- Close
- $3,687
- Change over the year
- −73.5%
- Highest daily close
- $17,104 (Jan 6)
- Lowest daily close
- $3,185 (Dec 15)
- Intraday high (StatMuse)
- $17,712
- Intraday low (StatMuse)
- $3,191
Bitcoin price by month in 2018
| Month | Close | High (daily close) | Low (daily close) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | $10,050 | $17,104 | $9,960 | −27.8% |
| February | $10,307 | $11,246 | $6,850 | +2.6% |
| March | $6,922 | $11,541 | $6,832 | −32.8% |
| April | $9,229 | $9,652 | $6,610 | +33.3% |
| May | $7,479 | $9,796 | $7,111 | −19.0% |
| June | $6,376 | $7,702 | $5,859 | −14.8% |
| July | $7,725 | $8,398 | $6,159 | +21.2% |
| August | $7,025 | $7,597 | $6,136 | −9.1% |
| September | $6,604 | $7,359 | $6,188 | −6.0% |
| October | $6,306 | $6,605 | $6,159 | −4.5% |
| November | $3,973 | $6,501 | $3,700 | −37.0% |
| December | $3,687 | $4,148 | $3,185 | −7.2% |
"Close" is the price at the end of the month's last day. Change is against the previous month's close.
What happened in 2018
- The 2017 bubble deflates: bitcoin falls about 73% over the year.
- November: a fight over Bitcoin Cash's rules coincides with bitcoin dropping below $4,000; the year's low comes in mid-December.
What $100 did in 2018
$100 of bitcoin bought at the start of the year ($13,921) would have been worth about $26.49 at the end of 2018, before fees and taxes. Bought at the year's high close instead, it would have been worth $21.56. Timing within a single year mattered a lot. To see what it would be worth today, use the Bitcoin investment calculator.
About these numbers
Prices are Coin Metrics' daily closing reference prices in US dollars. Other sources differ a little: the 2018 close was $3,743 on StatMuse and $3,746 on Coinlore, a gap of 1.6% from ours. See the method and cross-check for every year.
Frequently asked questions
What was the price of bitcoin in 2018?
It ranged from a low daily close of $3,185 to a high of $17,104. It started at $13,921 and ended the year at $3,687.
What was bitcoin's highest price in 2018?
The highest daily close was $17,104 on January 6, 2018. The highest intraday trade, per StatMuse, was $17,712.
Did bitcoin go up or down in 2018?
Down: it lost 73.5% from its opening price to the December 31 close.
Sources
- Coin Metrics free daily network data, PriceUSD (GitHub archive, CC BY-NC 4.0)
- Bitcoin price by year: open, high, low, close (StatMuse Money)
- Bitcoin historical data and yearly returns (Coinlore)
- History of bitcoin (Wikipedia)
Written for beginners and checked against the sources listed. Last reviewed November 4, 2026. This page is educational and is not financial, tax or legal advice. How we write and check pages.