Cheaper in Bitcoin

In 2015, this cart of groceries cost $100.

Illustration of a shopping cart filled with everyday groceries: a milk carton, a loaf of bread, a carton of eggs, and fresh vegetables.

Today, the same cart costs $140. ↑ 40% since 2015

Illustration of the same dollar bill drawn three times in a row, each one noticeably smaller than the one before.

Your money did not shrink. It was diluted. This page explains what that means, in plain English, in about 7 minutes.

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Consumer prices (CPI)Money supply (M2)
Consumer prices and the US money supply, 1970 to todayTwo lines, both set to 100 in 1970. Consumer prices rise steadily to about 9 times their 1970 level. The amount of dollars rises faster, to about 38 times, with a visible bend steeper in 2020.0250500750100001000200030004000Index, 1970 = 100197019781986199420022010201820262020
Consumer prices (CPI) and the M2 money supply, both set to 100 in 1970. Sources: BLS and the Federal Reserve, via FRED. Updated nightly. How this is measured

Why prices rise

Start with the price of everyday things. For decades, the official cost of living in the United States has climbed year after year. What $1 buys keeps falling. This is inflation.

Where do new dollars come from? They are created. In 2020 alone, the amount of dollars grew by roughly a fifth.

More money chasing the same goods means higher prices. Your cart did not get fancier. There are simply more dollars bidding for the same groceries.

Illustration of a printing press calmly producing sheet after sheet of paper currency.

One burger, two rulers

This is the price of a Big Mac since 2015. Measured in dollars, it only goes up. Now measure the same burger in Bitcoin, money with a fixed limit of 21 million that nobody can print more of.

Illustration of a classic double-decker burger with a sesame seed bun on a small plate.
The price of a Big Mac, measured in dollars and in BitcoinOne chart with two rulers. Measured in dollars, the price of a Big Mac has risen since 2015. Measured in Bitcoin, using the four year average Bitcoin price, it has fallen sharply over the same years.201620182020202220242026$0$2$4$6$8USD$4.29$4.61$4.82$5.04$5.69$6.1200.0050.010.015BTC (4 year average)1.3M sats288k sats96k sats27k sats19k sats11k sats
Priced in dollars: up 45% since 2015Priced in Bitcoin: down 99% since 2015

The price of a Big Mac in the United States, divided by the dollar and by the four year average Bitcoin price. Sources: The Economist, Kraken. Updated nightly. How this is measured

It is not just burgers

The same pattern shows up wherever you look. Drag the cards, or open one for the full charts.

Illustration of a classic fuel pump with a nozzle and hose.

A gallon of gas

down 99% in Bitcoin since 2015

Dollars

$2.83$4.20

up 48%
Bitcoin

852k sats6,583 sats

down 99%
Priced in Bitcoin
00.0050.0120152026

The same amount of Bitcoin goes about 125 times as far today.

Open chart
Illustration of a door key with a house-shaped keychain tag.

Renting a home

down 99% in Bitcoin since 2015

Dollars

286449

up 57%
Bitcoin

86M sats704k sats

down 99%
Priced in Bitcoin
00.5120152026

The same amount of Bitcoin goes about 125 times as far today.

Open chart
Illustration of a single-family house with a pitched roof.

The median US home

down 99% in Bitcoin since 2015

Dollars

$296k$411k

up 39%
Bitcoin

889 BTC6.4 BTC

down 99%
Priced in Bitcoin
0500100020152026

The same amount of Bitcoin goes about 145 times as far today.

Open chart
Illustration of a full-size pickup truck in side profile.

A Ford F-150

down 99% in Bitcoin since 2015

Dollars

$26k$37.9k

up 46%
Bitcoin

78.3 BTC0.59 BTC

down 99%
Priced in Bitcoin
05010020152026

The same amount of Bitcoin goes about 125 times as far today.

Open chart
Illustration of an open carton holding a dozen eggs.

A dozen eggs

down 99.5% in Bitcoin since 2015

Dollars

$2.57$2.27

down 12%
Bitcoin

773k sats3,561 sats

down 99.5%
Priced in Bitcoin
00.0050.0120152026

The same amount of Bitcoin goes about 200 times as far today.

Open chart

Same phone. Different ruler.

A new iPhone cost $649 in 2015 and $799 today — up only 23% in a decade.

2015

One Bitcoin bought 0.5 of an iPhone.

Today

79iPhones

The same Bitcoin buys a whole shelf.

Priced in Bitcoin, the iPhone costs 99% less than in 2015. See the full chart.

The honest part

Bitcoin does not go up in a straight line. It has fallen more than 70% four separate times. Zoom in on the wrong two years and everything looks more expensive in Bitcoin, not less. So do not take our word for it over two years. Look at every four year period.

Each tile is one four year period, starting one month after the last. Green ended higher, red ended lower, and the number is how Bitcoin's dollar price changed over those four years (×12 means it ended twelve times higher). Hover a tile to see which years it covers. Our daily price history begins in 2013, so the earliest period here starts then and the most recent one that has already finished ends today. How these periods are measured

115 of 115 four year periods ended with the dollar buying less than Bitcoin.

Try it yourself

Enter any amount and any year. The calculator shows what it would have bought in Bitcoin, and what that is worth today.

Type

Enter an amount from $1 to $100,000,000.

In 2016, $1,000 bought 1.76 BTC.

Today that Bitcoin is worth $151,613, 152 times the original amount.

The $1,000 itself now buys what $718 bought in 2016.

Uses the average Bitcoin price for 2016 and the latest daily close (September 22, 2026). No fees, taxes or exchange spreads are included. Past results do not predict the future. How every number is measured

Prefer a full page? Open the calculator on its own

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