ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS

It was inevitable that Bitcoin would reach $100; it was just a question of when. BTC had already reached $30 during its first price run in 2011, and while it rapidly retreated back to single figures, the consolidation phase could only last so long. All through 2012, Bitcoin underwent a period of slow recovery, characterised by lower volatility than before as liquidity deepened. It spent the year trading between $4 and $13, with this prolonged winter serving to shake out short-term speculators and build a more resilient base of long-term believers.

The turn of the calendar in 2013 signaled a decisive shift in market dynamics. Beginning the year at approximately $13, Bitcoin embarked on a powerful rally that saw it surpass $20 by the end of January. Its climb was driven not just by traders but also by individuals seeking to actively use it, from libertarians escaping capital controls to buyers on Silk Road. In April 2013, BTC was essentially a ticket to the notorious darknet marketplace and LocalBitcoins was seeing an influx of new users intent on getting their hands on the digital currency.

By early March, Bitcoin had broken through $40 as new capital flowed in and by the month’s end, full-blown market mania had set in, pushing Bitcoin's total market capitalisation beyond $1 billion for the first time when the price per coin reached $92. The three-figure club was on its way and the community braced itself for this milestone. Would Bitcoin break through and continue pushing higher or would this psychological price point form the local top before it retreated into another consolidation phase? Speculators wouldn’t have long to wait.

A New Plateau

Around 11:00 UTC on April 1, 2013, Bitcoin achieved what three years earlier would have seemed unthinkable but which for months now had seemed inevitable, breaking past $100 for the first time. Bitcoinity.org, then the most popular price chart, updated its ticker to mark the $100 milestone with an animated nyan cat GIF. For a community accustomed to valuing the asset in single or double figures, entering the three-figure club was a powerful validation. It transformed Bitcoin in the public imagination from a hobbyist's curiosity into a serious financial asset. Now, the digital gold rush began in earnest.

$100 was uncharted territory and it was anyone’s guess where Bitcoin went next now that it was in price discovery mode. Its true believers had known from the very start that Bitcoin was precious – but how precious? What was a fair value for the digital currency? It was a question the market attempted to get to grips with in the following days by doing what markets do best: trade intensively.

What followed was a rapid ascent as media attention and speculative interest fed on each other. The price blew past $147 by April 3 and exceeded $182 by April 8. Now everyone knew about Bitcoin and many wanted in. But were they too late to the party? It appeared not, for Bitcoin continued climbing in the ensuing days, with holders growing accustomed to waking up and checking the price chart before they’d even gotten out of bed. Every day they were a little richer.

The rally culminated on April 10 when the price on Mt. Gox exchange hit $266. This represented a staggering gain of over 160% in just ten days, and a more than 20x increase since the start of the year. Bitcoin had been many things during its first four years but now its primary use case was for speculation.

It was in this crucible of extreme volatility that one of the most enduring cultural artifacts of the Bitcoin world was forged: the Bitcoin Roller Coaster Guy meme. The simple animated GIF, depicting a man experiencing a rapid sequence of joy, terror, and grim acceptance while riding a roller coaster, resonated deeply with the community. Like it or not, they were all now along for the ride. 

Meme creator Marcus Connor recounts: “At the time I was drawing a daily web comic brimming with wordplay and puns so the idea for the art naturally came to me and I was quick to make it a reality. I made it just for Bitcoiners and shared it on the BitcoinTalk forum and Reddit, where it was downvoted to zero and barely seen. Later, others picked up on the roller coaster meme and made it popular, for which I feel quite fortunate. I made it with the idea that we should be grateful and happy for the wild price undulations because they are a product of free market forces at work.

“At the time I was living among and associating with many Bitcoiners. This crowd was composed of rebels, free thinkers, and most importantly active doers. The mood was absolutely electric. Many of us were shocked at the sudden price movements. Could this decentralised electronic money actually be catching on?”

It had been a remarkable rally, but it couldn’t last forever. With many holders now up multiples, including early miners with tens of thousands of coins at their disposal, the temptation to sell was strong. Without new money pouring in to sustain the momentum, the rally couldn’t hold. 

On the very same day it hit $266, the price plummeted by over 60% within a matter of hours, wiping out weeks of gains and closing the day around $105. The sell-off continued over the next 48 hours, with the price finding a bottom in the $50-$70 range across various exchanges. Those who’d FOMO’d in and bet the house on Bitcoin, a digital currency they scarcely understood, had learned the hard way about the perils of speculative bubbles.

But despite the brutal drawdown, Bitcoin wasn’t done. Having shaken out the paper hands, BTC quickly reclaimed triple figures and closed out April at $139. While later studies would attribute the early April pump to market manipulation, driven by two prominent trading bots, the cause of the catalysts was largely academic: Bitcoin had proven that it was a $1B asset class, and while further volatility and drawdowns were guaranteed, there was a strong probability that it would go higher still.