Editor’s Note
This article examines Bitcoin’s trajectory as both a digital currency and investment vehicle, highlighting its record-breaking price milestones in late 2024 and 2025. It also addresses the ongoing challenges and complexities within the cryptocurrency landscape.
Bitcoin, known as the world’s first cryptocurrency (virtual asset), is widely recognized. As a payment method and investment target, Bitcoin is used globally, but it also faces several issues and challenges.
Notably, on December 5, 2024, it reached the historic milestone of $100,000, becoming a major topic. Furthermore, in October 2025, it updated its record high to $120,000 in USD terms and 18.9 million yen in yen terms, making it a noteworthy currency.
This article will examine the characteristics of Bitcoin, its history so far, and its future outlook.
The price trend of Bitcoin as of February 2026 is as follows.
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To explain in detail, Bitcoin’s price surged rapidly in 2023, temporarily reaching 4 million yen, but then experienced several downward adjustments.
However, from the latter half of June 2023, the price showed an upward trend again, breaking through 4.5 million yen in July 2023. After that, it declined again, but on October 24, 2023, Bitcoin broke through 5 million yen, updating its year-to-date high and becoming a major topic.
After that, it remained stagnant at high levels until December 2023, but showed high volatility again from December 4, 2023.
This rise was due to expectations for the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF.
After the high volatility, it remained stagnant at high levels, but in January 2024, news of the formal approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF caused the price to extend, temporarily attracting bids around 7 million yen.
It temporarily fell to 5 million yen, but in February 2024, it updated its high again to 7.8 million yen, setting a new all-time high in yen terms.
Entering March of the same year, the price rise paused, but it again updated its high to 10 million yen.
This was an update of the all-time high in yen terms, but on March 11, 2024, the all-time high in USD terms was also updated.
Temporarily, the market became risk-off due to US economic instability and high yen, but by the end of 2024, the price rose to 16 million yen as favorable news for cryptocurrency emerged again with the US presidential election.
Entering 2025, it continued to push higher ranges, but from February 2025 onwards, the market became risk-off due to views that Trump’s related policies would rekindle inflation and the hacking of the major exchange Bybit, causing the entire market to decline.
However, in August 2025, expectations for cryptocurrency regulation harmonization and observations of an early US rate cut provided support, and the entire market including Bitcoin was rising.
Especially, Bitcoin’s rise was significant, temporarily updating its past all-time high to 18 million yen in yen terms and $120,000 in USD terms.
As of February 2026, the entire market has become risk-off due to risks of the US government’s re-shutdown and escalating tensions in Iran, pushing down to the 10 million yen range.
Name
Bitcoin
Ticker Symbol / Currency Unit
BTC
Consensus Algorithm
Proof of Work
Price*
¥10,355,201.95
Market Cap*
¥207,428,967,792,744.97
FDV (Fully Diluted Valuation)*
¥217,526,901,296,009.9
Market Cap Ranking*
1st
Major Cryptocurrency Exchanges with Availability
Coincheck
bitbank
GMO Coin
Rakuten Wallet
*As of February 20, 2026, according to CoinMarketCap
Bitcoin is known as the world’s first cryptocurrency, with a whitepaper published under the name Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 and launched in 2009.
Bitcoin was released as a new form of currency that operates without a manager through a “P2P” method. While typical currencies have a central bank holding the right to issue currency, Bitcoin has no central authority supporting its issuance.
The issuance limit of this currency is set at 21 million coins, and the issuance quantity cannot be changed, meaning the currency’s value is protected from increasing beyond that.
