Purchasing power: dollar, euro, gold and Bitcoin
The dollar loses value in two ways: against goods through inflation, measured with the US CPI-U, and against Bitcoin, measured in sats. This page keeps the two yardsticks apart and adds gold for comparison. How much it lost against Bitcoin depends heavily on the start date; since the start of 2025, the dollar has gained against Bitcoin.
Since January 2010, the dollar has lost 34.9% of its purchasing power: $1 from back then buys 65.1 cents' worth today (US CPI-U, as of August 2026).
Measured in Bitcoin, the dollar has lost 99.995% since the start of 2012: $1 bought 21.8M sats back then, 1,194 today.
The shrinking dollar
The left square stands for $100 in the start year, the right one for what $100 buys in goods and services today. The areas have the same ratio as the purchasing power (US CPI-U).
$1 from 2010 buys 65.1 cents' worth today.
Purchasing power lost 34.9% · area on the right = 65.1% of the left · US CPI-U
The sats staircase
How many sats (1 bitcoin = 100M sats) $1 bought at each year-end. Every step down means the dollar lost value against Bitcoin. Dark bars mark the years where it went the other way.
- 2010333.3M
- 201121.2M
- 20127.6M
- 2013136,623
- 2014311,526+128%
- 2015232,078
- 2016103,520
- 20177,215
- 201827,123+276%
- 201913,947
- 20203,444
- 20212,162
- 20226,050+180%
- 20232,368
- 20241,070
- 20251,143+7%
- 2026*1,194+4%
Sats for $1 at the last daily close of each year, log scale. * 2026: price of September 25, 2026. Green percentage: that many more sats than at the previous year-end.
What $100 became
$100 from the chosen start as cash, in gold and in Bitcoin, each adjusted for inflation to purchasing power at the start. A line below 100 means the position buys less today than at the start. Log scale: equal distances mean equal percentage changes.
The default start is early 2017: it sits neither at a cycle low nor at a high and spans two full cycles including the 2018 and 2022 crashes. Earlier starts make Bitcoin look orders of magnitude better, later starts at a peak worse; the buttons show both.
$100 by start year, today
All values in purchasing power at the start (US CPI-U, as of August 2026), Bitcoin price of September 25, 2026. Start at the first recorded price of the year, 2010 at the first daily value in our database. The lowest point is the lowest real daily-close value of the Bitcoin position between the start and today, measured against the $100 invested, not against an interim high.
| Start | Cash | Gold | Bitcoin | Bitcoin, lowest point |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jul 18, 2010 Price $0.086 | $65 | $237 | $63,561,614 nominal $97,598,427 | $59 -41% Jul 25, 2010 |
Jan 1, 2011 Price $0.30 | $66 | $201 | $18,486,475 nominal $27,926,163 | $98 -2% Jan 3, 2011 |
Jan 1, 2012 Price $4.58 | $68 | $188 | $1,247,338 nominal $1,829,225 | $92 -8% Feb 18, 2012 |
Jan 1, 2013 Price $13.24 | $69 | $179 | $438,747 nominal $632,768 | $98 -2% Jan 2, 2013 |
Jan 1, 2014 Price $732 | $70 | $253 | $8,059 nominal $11,445 | $24 -76% Jan 14, 2015 |
Jan 1, 2015 Price $321 | $70 | $256 | $18,336 nominal $26,099 | $54 -46% Jan 14, 2015 |
Jan 1, 2016 Price $431 | $71 | $290 | $13,829 nominal $19,443 | $84 -16% Jan 15, 2016 |
Jan 1, 2017 Price $966 | $73 | $274 | $6,321 nominal $8,670 | $81 -19% Jan 11, 2017 |
Jan 1, 2018 Price $13,890 | $74 | $246 | $449 nominal $603 | $23 -77% Dec 15, 2018 |
Jan 1, 2019 Price $3,691 | $76 | $255 | $1,716 nominal $2,270 | $91 -9% Feb 7, 2019 |
Jan 1, 2020 Price $7,161 | $78 | $221 | $907 nominal $1,170 | $67 -33% Mar 12, 2020 |
Jan 1, 2021 Price $29,083 | $79 | $179 | $226 nominal $288 | $48 -52% Nov 21, 2022 |
Jan 1, 2022 Price $46,278 | $85 | $200 | $153 nominal $181 | $32 -68% Nov 21, 2022 |
Jan 1, 2023 Price $16,529 | $90 | $213 | $456 nominal $507 | never below start |
Jan 1, 2024 Price $42,283 | $93 | $194 | $184 nominal $198 | $93 -7% Jan 22, 2024 |
Jan 1, 2025 Price $93,436 | $95 | $157 | $86 nominal $90 | $60 -40% Jun 30, 2026 |
Why timing matters
Anyone who bought at the 2021 high, the daily close of $67,530 on November 8, 2021, saw their $100 fall to $22 in real terms by November 21, 2022. Today it is worth $104 in real terms. Against Bitcoin, the dollar has lost 19.4% since that high, against goods 16.5%.
At the start of 2025, $1 bought 1,070 sats, today 1,194: the dollar has gained 11.5% against Bitcoin. Since then, $100 in Bitcoin is worth $86 in real terms, in gold $157, as cash $95.
Buying at every month-end since July 2010, Bitcoin was ahead of inflation after one year in 72% of cases, after four years in every four-year period, after eight years in every eight-year period. Gold managed that after four years in 65% of cases, cash never; over one year, cash was only ahead in phases of falling prices (2%). The long periods overlap heavily: since 2010, only 2 non-overlapping eight-year stretches fit into the data.
Share of periods in which the position was ahead of inflation
| Holding period | Bitcoin | Gold | Cash | Periods |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 72% | 56% | 2% | 183 |
| 4 years | 100% | 65% | 0% | 147 |
| 8 years | 100% | 69% | 0% | 99 |
Methodology & data
Frequently asked questions
01How much purchasing power has the dollar lost?
Measured with the US CPI-U, $1 from January 2010 buys 65.1 cents' worth today, a loss of 34.9% (as of August 2026). The euro lost 31.4% over the same period (euro-area HICP).
02How much has the dollar lost against Bitcoin?
At the start of 2012, $1 bought 21.8M sats, today 1,194, a loss of 99.995%. Since the start of 2017 (103,483 sats) it is 98.8%, since the start of 2020 (13,964 sats) 91.5%. Starting from a peak changes the picture: since the high of November 8, 2021, the dollar lost only 19.4%, and since the start of 2025 it has gained 11.5%.
03What became of $100 since 2017: cash, gold or Bitcoin?
In January 2017 purchasing power, $100 held as cash is worth $73 today, in gold $274, in Bitcoin $6,321. Nominally the Bitcoin position would be $8,670. Along the way it fell to $81 in real terms (January 11, 2017).
04Has Bitcoin always beaten inflation?
No. Buying at every month-end since July 2010, Bitcoin was ahead of inflation after one year in 72% of cases, after four years in 100%. The deepest real low in the table: start of 2018, $23 per $100 on December 15, 2018. A start in early 2025 stands at $86 in real terms today. The data goes back to July 2010; it says nothing about the future.
05Why are the values in purchasing power at the start date?
That keeps the amount invested at 100 and lets cash show the loss directly: $100 from back then buys today what the displayed amount bought then. Bitcoin and gold are adjusted with the same price index, so the three values compare directly. This page is not financial advice.