In the wake of a crypto bull run that has seen sub-$1 altcoins surge, many new investors have hailed their chosen coins as future Bitcoin killers. However, this narrative often ignores a fundamental economic principle: digital scarcity. The Bitcoin Price Equivalence (BPE) website aims to correct the misconception by eliminating “unit bias” and revealing the true cost of these seemingly cheap assets.
Unit Bias: The Illusion of Low Prices
The crypto community has recently debated the real value of low-priced tokens. A widely shared tweet last week asked, “If everything had the same supply cap as Bitcoin, would you still buy it?” and illustrated the equivalent price of several popular cryptocurrencies under that condition. Bitcoin columnist Eric Wall elaborated in his weekly trading feature: “Of course, the unit price of a coin is a totally senseless basis for making investment choices. Any cryptocurrency – even Bitcoin – could have been a sub-cent item if Satoshi chose the final cap to be 21 quadrillion instead of 21 million.”
The BPE tool normalizes prices by dividing a coin's market cap by Bitcoin's fixed supply of 21 million. As the site states, “Normalizes price by removing unit bias; coins that look ‘cheap’ are probably not as cheap as you think.”
BPE in Action: Startling Comparisons
For example, if Ripple (XRP) and Stellar (XLM) had the same circulating supply as Bitcoin (21 million), one XRP would be worth approximately $15,000 and one XLM would be $4,000. Currently, they trade at around $2.50 and $0.66, respectively. The question every buyer should ask is: “Would I pay that BPE price for this coin?” Many are willing to spend a few dollars for XRP, but few would shell out $15,000. Bitcoin, on the other hand, still attracts buyers at that level.
Dentacoin (DCN), a token for the dental industry, has seen its market cap soar to $1.8 billion despite a massive supply of eight trillion tokens. Its BPE is $633. Should DCN ever reach that valuation, patients would pay for checkups using fractions of a coin.
Which Coins Still Have Room to Grow?
The BPE is also useful for identifying undervalued projects. Ethereum (ETH), for instance, has a BPE of about $6,700. While Ethereum faces challenges such as scaling and centralization, its network is widely used and has tangible demand. A $6,700 Ethereum seems far more plausible than a $15,000 XRP, $633 Dentacoin, or $600 Kin (KIN).
In conclusion, the Bitcoin Price Equivalence provides a rational lens through which investors can assess scarcity and relative value. Before buying into any “cheap” altcoin, a quick BPE calculation may reveal whether you are truly getting a bargain — or just falling for unit bias.