The value of one bitcoin (BTCUSD) has risen by more than 1,600% as of this writing and currently sits at about $16,700 (BTC/USD). With performance like this, you may think that 2017 has been bitcoin's best year in its roughly nine-year history, but you'd be wrong.It's tough to say what the "starting value" of bitcoin is for the purposes of calculating its all-time gain.