BTCUSD

BTCUSD is the notation used to quote the price of Bitcoin (BTC) in United States dollars (USD). It represents the amount of USD required to purchase one Bitcoin on a given trading venue. On major cryptocurrency exchanges, BTCUSD is the standard spot trading pair, though some platforms use BTC-USD or XBTUSD in different quoting conventions.

Trading happens 24/7 across global venues, with prices determined by real-time supply and demand. Because the pair is traded on many exchanges, the reported price can vary slightly between platforms, creating small bid-ask spreads. Traders use BTCUSD for price discovery, liquidity provision, and as a reference for derivatives, lending, and settlement on various products.

Prices are influenced by Bitcoin's fundamentals (network activity, mining rewards, adoption), macroeconomic factors (USD value, inflation expectations, risk appetite), regulatory developments, and market sentiment. The BTCUSD rate is volatile and can experience large swings within short periods.

Several benchmarks aggregate BTCUSD prices across venues, such as index providers and reference rates, to offer a more representative price. Observers should treat BTCUSD as a market quote rather than a single universal price.