Let’s break down why Bitcoin is jumping up and down. In fact, once you understand what Bitcoin’s price depends on, half of the questions about the crypto market immediately become clearer.

I’ll start with the most obvious thing—supply and demand. This is not just theory; it’s reality. When there are more people who want to buy than those willing to sell, the price goes up. And vice versa. Bitcoin is traded on hundreds of platforms at the same time, with millions of people participating in trading. On major exchanges, volumes are enormous; on smaller ones, they’re smaller, so the price may differ slightly between platforms. But arbitrage traders quickly even it out by selling at a higher price and buying at a lower one.

The second point is regulation. It might seem that crypto operates outside government control, but in practice, news about regulation strongly affects the price. Cryptocurrency bans can send the market crashing, while creating legal frameworks, on the contrary, lifts it. People want to see at least some rules of the game.

The third factor is competition. When Bitcoin first appeared, it was the only one. Now there are thousands of alternative coins around it. If earlier Bitcoin accounted for 80% of the entire crypto market capitalization, then now its share has fallen to roughly 37–40%. Ethereum, USDT, BNB, XRP—all of them are taking bites out of the market. Still, it’s worth admitting that in recent years the situation has been shifting in favor of BTC.

The fourth factor is the cost of mining. Coins are mined by solving complex mathematical problems, which requires powerful equipment and electricity. The algorithm’s difficulty is constantly adjusted so that a new block is created in roughly 10 minutes. The more complex the algorithm, the more resources you need to spend, and the higher the minimum cost of BTC becomes.

And last but not least is your choice of exchange where you trade. On large platforms with high liquidity, the price is steadier; on smaller ones, there can be a significant spread. This is simply because large trading volumes smooth out price swings, while a small volume allows one large trade to strongly affect the price.

So that’s basically the whole set of factors that determine Bitcoin’s price. Of course, it’s important to remember that all of this is interconnected. Regulation affects demand, competition affects demand, and the cost of mining also influences minimum demand. But underneath it all is still a simple formula: whoever wants to buy more is the one who sets the higher price. By the way, Bitcoin is currently showing an interesting trend—its share is growing, the price has risen to the $78K level, and BTC’s market capitalization is already more than 57% of the entire crypto market value. This suggests that institutional interest is returning.