Bitcoin has had quite the year so far in 2017, with the price up by 320% since Jan. 1. However, this type of move pales in comparison with the digital currency's climb in its early years. In fact, you might be shocked to discover just how much a few dollars' worth of bitcoin in the early days would be worth today.
Bitcoin began trading in 2010, as the first bitcoin exchange opened in March 2010 with a per-coin value of $0.003. The first real-world transaction took place in May 2010, when 10,000 bitcoins were exchanged for two pizzas in Jacksonville, Florida. Since that time, the price of bitcoin has been on quite the roller-coaster ride. The first spike in the price of bitcoin occurred in July 2010, when the price jumped tenfold in a five-day period, from $0.008 to $0.08.
In early September 2017, bitcoin reached $5,000 for the first time. As I write in September 2017, one bitcoin is worth just over $3,722 and one "bitcoin cash" is worth about $445.