Bitcoin Obituaries: 477 Deaths and Counting

The website 99bitcoins.com has been tracking every time a notable publication or figure declared Bitcoin dead. As of 2025, the count stands at 477 obituaries. The first was written in 2010 when BTC was worth $0.23. Bitcoin is currently worth over $75,000. That's a 32,608,596% return since its first declared death.

The obituaries follow a pattern so predictable it could be an algorithm. Bitcoin crashes. Media outlets publish articles explaining why this time it really is over. Bitcoin recovers. Nobody retracts their article. Bitcoin hits a new all-time high. The same outlets publish new obituaries at the next crash. Repeat forever.

Some highlights from the death count: Forbes declared Bitcoin dead in 2012 ($12), 2014 ($350), and 2017 ($4,000). Business Insider killed it in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2018. Bloomberg called time of death multiple times before launching a crypto index. The same publications that wrote obituaries now have dedicated crypto sections staffed with full-time reporters.

The obituaries peaked in 2017-2018, with 124 death notices in a single year. The second biggest spike was in 2022 after FTX collapsed. Each time, the narrative was the same: this is different from previous crashes, the technology is fundamentally flawed, the smart money has moved on. Each time, the narrative was wrong.

There is a statistical argument that Bitcoin obituaries are actually bullish signals. Peaks in death declarations correlate strongly with local price bottoms. If you had bought $100 worth of Bitcoin every time a major outlet declared it dead, you would be a millionaire several times over. The media's track record on Bitcoin is not just bad - it is consistently, reliably, exploitably bad.

The 477th obituary was written in August 2025. Bitcoin responded by continuing to exist. The 478th is inevitable. So is the recovery that follows.