What price ceiling should Bitcoin reach to account for the last three years of US dollar inflation?

The price of the Bitcoin (BTC) rose to almost $20,000 in 2017, before losing more than 80% of its value in a bearish market that lasted several years. In the following years, the asset never came close to that price hike – until now. At the time of publication of this article, the first of the cryptomaps is once again being traded a few percentage points below the previous mark.

While the US$20,000 overshoot may soon be celebrated as a psychologically significant limit, Bitcoin will not reach its all-time high in purchasing power thanks to inflation.

„If you bought #Bitcoin at the top in December 2017, you won’t really regain your purchasing power until we reach 21,400,“ Vlad Costea podcaster said in a tweet on Tuesday. Costea used $20,000 as the Bitcoin maximum, putting the numbers and dates on an inflation calculator to determine the most accurate figures.

Holders of US dollars lose approximately 2% of their purchasing power each year on average with inflation. Official figures show inflation at 2.13% in 2017, 2.49% in 2018, 1.76% in 2019 and 1.86% in 2020.

The latest all-time Bitcoin high varied between exchanges. The Coinbase price index shows that Bitcoin reached a record US$19,891.99 on 16 December 2017. Using this figure, Bitcoin should reach $21,131.02 to once again maintain the same purchasing power it had in 2017, according to the Officialdata.org inflation calculator.

Other previous Bitcoin historical levels also show an inflationary impact, although it is not particularly remarkable. The US$1,200 level of Bitcoin in 2013 is worth about US$1,341 in dollars today.

However, with all the money printing from the United States in 2020, the future will tell whether this year will end up having a higher inflationary impact on the US dollar than the currently expected around 2%.